Reversed Benoni
A sharp and aggressive approach where White immediately challenges Black's central pawn wedge with a queenside pawn advance. This creates reversed Benoni structures where White enjoys the extra tempo that typically benefits Black in normal Benoni positions.
ECO Code
A09
Difficulty
Advanced
Style
Sharp/Dynamic
Key Players
Volokitin, Korobov, Grischuk
Understanding the Position
The Reversed Benoni represents one of the most aggressive responses to Black's central advance. By playing 3.b4, White immediately attacks Black's pawn chain and creates sharp tactical complications. This structure mirrors the famous Benoni Defense, but with White enjoying the crucial extra tempo.
The resulting positions are highly complex and require deep understanding of pawn structure dynamics. White aims to create long-term pressure on the queenside while Black seeks to exploit the central space advantage and potential kingside attacking chances.
Strategic Ideas for White
- Queenside expansion: Continue with a4-a5, creating a mobile pawn majority
- Control dark squares: Use the light-squared bishop actively via a2-g8 diagonal
- Central undermining: Combine b4-b5 with e3 to attack Black's pawn chain
- Piece activity: Develop pieces to active squares, especially Ba3 and Nd2-c4
- King safety: Castle queenside in some lines to support the pawn advance
Key Defensive Resources for Black
- Central consolidation: Support the d4 pawn with ...c5 and ...Nc6
- Kingside counterplay: Create attacking chances with ...f5 and ...h5 advances
- Active piece development: Use ...Bg4, ...Nd7, and ...Qh4+ ideas
- Pawn breaks: Look for ...e5 or ...f5 advances to open the kingside
- Tactical alertness: Watch for ...c5 breaks and piece sacrifices on the kingside
Main Variations
Classical Acceptance
Black immediately challenges the queenside, leading to sharp tactical complications where both sides have clear plans and dangerous potential.
Solid Defense
Black blocks the queenside and prepares solid development. This leads to complex positional maneuvering with long-term strategic themes.
Sharp Counter
An aggressive response where Black immediately creates kingside threats. This leads to mutual attacks and tactical melees.
Critical Points
For White: The queenside pawn majority must be pushed quickly before Black consolidates the center. Timing is crucial - premature advances can leave weaknesses.
For Black: The central pawn mass provides excellent attacking potential, but king safety must not be neglected. Active piece play is essential to justify the pawn structure.
Tactical Themes
Queenside Breakthrough
White's main tactical idea involves pushing the queenside pawns to create threats against Black's king or win material through pawn promotion.
Central Explosion
Black often seeks to blow open the center and kingside, creating dangerous attacking chances against White's potentially exposed king.
Piece Sacrifices
Both sides must be alert to tactical opportunities involving piece sacrifices to destroy the opponent's pawn structure or expose the king.
Modern Assessment
The Reversed Benoni is considered one of the most challenging systems for both sides. Computer analysis shows that with precise play, Black can achieve dynamic equality, but the positions are so complex that practical results often depend more on understanding than pure calculation.
At the highest level, this variation appears regularly because it creates unbalanced positions where the stronger player has excellent winning chances. The extra tempo compared to normal Benoni structures gives White realistic hopes for an advantage.
Famous Games
Volokitin vs. Grischuk (2005)
A brilliant display of dynamic play where Volokitin demonstrated the power of White's queenside initiative, eventually breaking through with a beautiful pawn sacrifice.
Korobov vs. Eljanov (2010)
This game showcased Black's counterattacking potential, with a spectacular kingside attack that overwhelmed White's queenside demonstration.
Grischuk vs. Kramnik (2012)
A positional masterpiece where Grischuk gradually improved his position, showing the long-term potential of the reversed Benoni structure.
Related Variations
Master the Reversed Benoni
Explore the sharp dynamics of this aggressive system and learn to handle the complex pawn structures and tactical themes that arise.
Back to Réti Opening Explore Normal Benoni