Alexey Kovalchuk

The Benko Revisited Volume 1 Alexey Kovalchuk New edition

You can play this opening against anyone. This opening is especially well suited for
rapid and blitz games, since in the reduced time control in particular the role of the
initiative increases. Generally speaking, not in every opening will you find such a
thing as Black having the initiative from the very first moves (although this pleasure
is paid for with a whole pawn!). I played this opening with a classical time control
against the ex-champion of Russia, Grandmaster Igor Lysyj, and very comfortably
equalized in the opening, although later the class difference showed and my
eminent opponent beat me. Nevertheless, the opening had absolutely nothing to
do with it. This opening worked great when I played it in Rostov-on-Don, when I
beat many strong players and after that they preferred to play 1.c4, doing whatever
they could to avoid the Benko Gambit. Of course, to my understanding this opening
is especially good to play against amateurs, or weaker players than yourself, who
do not know its intricacies - you can quickly get a promising position. This opening
is suitable for active players striving for a lively, initiative-rich game, with a strong
spirit. After all, you need to understand that if something goes wrong, you may face
big problems, since you do not have a pawn, but as in any opening there are pluses
and minuses, and in the Benko Gambit there are also disadvantages. First of all, in
some places you need to play very accurately (this will be especially evident in the
positions that we will consider in volume 2) and the cost of an error is quite high.
But if the reader carefully studies the books, then I think that there should be no
problems and the Benko Gambit will give you many of your most interesting fights!