You think the Benoni is bad(and yes, I've tried it plenty); quite a while ago, I decided to play the Polish Defense against 1.d4. I played many, many Lichess games with this before conclusively deciding that yes, the Polish Defense is exactly as terrible you think it is, and so I quit playing it. I'm not sure what this says about my mindset in general. Maybe that I'm willing to do something everyone says is bad just to see if they're right?
I do like the applications for real life in this post. Part of why I'm subscribed.
I have a confession. I play the Benoni all the time because I just can't play another game in the London System. And if I play Nf6 and c5 against d4... What you end up with against white a lot of the time is kinda Benoni-ish.
In my defense, a lot of white players I face are so committed to the London System, I get 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 c5 3. d5 d6 4. c4 e5 5. dxe6 Bxe6 A LOT.
These posts are exactly why I just don't know how to quit you, even 5 games into a 100-blitz game challenge with less than a week to go, hating blitz as much as ever. Beautifully written, as always, with your usual astute observations and compelling points. Maybe I'll play 95 games of the Benoni (reverse as White) over Thanksgiving break and see where it takes me. At least it's probably hard to dwell on moves and lose on time when you've already given up on basic opening principles.
I had to start playing the Benoni to stop Benoni-ing myself. That’s cool. 😎 haha. 😂
David Maciver (Overthinking Everything on here, would recommend) occasionally phrases this as "have you tried solving the problem?"
You think the Benoni is bad(and yes, I've tried it plenty); quite a while ago, I decided to play the Polish Defense against 1.d4. I played many, many Lichess games with this before conclusively deciding that yes, the Polish Defense is exactly as terrible you think it is, and so I quit playing it. I'm not sure what this says about my mindset in general. Maybe that I'm willing to do something everyone says is bad just to see if they're right?
I do like the applications for real life in this post. Part of why I'm subscribed.
Well, I kind of think the Benoni is secretly good.
Reminds me a lot of the themes in Cate Hall's Maybe You're Not Actually Trying. https://usefulfictions.substack.com/p/maybe-youre-not-actually-trying
Nate, did you write something already referring to her work? Or is the universe converging?
I can't remember writing about her, but I'm certainly familiar with this piece and I'm a fan of her work.
I have a confession. I play the Benoni all the time because I just can't play another game in the London System. And if I play Nf6 and c5 against d4... What you end up with against white a lot of the time is kinda Benoni-ish.
In my defense, a lot of white players I face are so committed to the London System, I get 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 c5 3. d5 d6 4. c4 e5 5. dxe6 Bxe6 A LOT.
These posts are exactly why I just don't know how to quit you, even 5 games into a 100-blitz game challenge with less than a week to go, hating blitz as much as ever. Beautifully written, as always, with your usual astute observations and compelling points. Maybe I'll play 95 games of the Benoni (reverse as White) over Thanksgiving break and see where it takes me. At least it's probably hard to dwell on moves and lose on time when you've already given up on basic opening principles.
Fischer beat Spassky with the Benoni in game 3 in Reykjavik, being 0:2 down. It can’t be that bad!
I say in the post that I think it's good!