Franco-Benoni
1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5!?
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| How should White respond to Black's somewhat unusual opening? |
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Actually, the position is arguably not all that unusual - there are 8,270 examples in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database. Surprisingly, at least to me, 4,274 games (52%) saw White continue with 3.Nf3, transposing into an ...e6 Sicilian. I guess there are two main reasons for this: i) whites want to stay in their known theory; ii) they reason the opponent, being a 1...e6 player, will not welcome playing the black side of a Sicilian.
3.d5
This must be the theoretically approved response, but it has the practical defect that Black will probably have greater experience of the resulting lines.
3...exd5 4.exd5 d6 5.Nf3 a6 6.a4
This is almost a reflex-reply to ...a6 in Benoni-like setups, but Komodo14.1 suggests preventing ...b5 with 6.c4!?, while Stockfish16 wants White to ignore Black's 'threat', and instead play 6.Bd3!?
6....Nd7 7.Nc3 g6?!
Black probably cannot afford in this particular setup the luxury of fianchettoing the kingside bishop, even though that is the normal idea in Benoni setups.
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| How can White exploit Black's slow play? |
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8.Bf4
White is better after this, but stronger seems to be Stockfish16's 8.Qe2+!? If 8...Qe7?!, then 9.Ne4, threatening 10.Nxd6+, is very unpleasant. Even worse is 8...Ne7? 9.Ne4, which leaves 8...Be7 - not what Black wants to play after ...g6.
8...Ndf6 9.Be2 Bg7 10.Qd2 h6!? 11.0-0 Ne7 12.Rfe1 g5!?
This is the type of move novices are warned against, but the position is similar to those arising from the Hippopotamus, in which, with the centre relatively locked and White having committed to castling short, Black launches a pawn-led kingside attack.
13.Be3 0-0 14.h3 Nf5 15.Bd3 Nxe3 16.Rxe3 Nd7!?
More promising is 16...Nh5, with pressure against the white king's position.
17.Rae1 Ne5
Consistent, but the engines reckon Black should eat humble pie and play 17...Nf6!?
18.Nxe5 Bxe5 19.Rxe5!?
The engines reckon 19.Qe2 is also strong, but the text creates practical problems, as well as being good anyway.
19...dxe5 20.Rxe5
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| In return for the exchange, White has a passed pawn, and tempting black kingside weaknesses to target, while also enjoying a large lead in development |
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20...Bd7
The engines suggest 20...Qf6!?, which develops a piece with tempo, while bringing help to to the black kingside.
21.d6 b6?
Black does not have time to defend c5. However, after the engines' 21...Qf6 the simple 22.Rxc5 is good.
22.Nd5 Re8 23.Ne7+ Rxe7
Slightly better, according to the engines, but still clearly losing, is 23...Qxe7!?
24.dxe7 Qe8 25.Rxg5+! Kh8
Or 25...hxg5 26.Qxg5+ Kh8 27.Qh6+ Kg8 28.Qh7#.
26.Qc3+ 1-0
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