A GM's Approach to the Benoni

So it's come to this

I never thought I’d say this, but here we are. An Opening Update on the Benoni.

But in all seriousness, I think this opening is actually good. It crushes in the Lichess data, and the strategic downsides are mostly relevant at a very high (IM+) level. At lower levels, White’s big pawn center is more of a liability than strength, whereas Black’s counterplay tends to carry the day.

As always, Eugene puts his GM touches on the preparation, explaining why (at a very high level) you might want to combine the Benoni with the Nimzo-Indian to avoid White’s most dangerous lines with f4. He also goes over some move order subtleties I didn’t know about, which take Black’s winrate in the stats from good to stratospheric.

Maybe it’s time to learn the Benoni?!