The Benko Gambit

Book excerpt: The Benko Gambit is one of the most dynamic defences for Black against 1.d4 and is favoured by world class players such as Veselin Topalov and Alexander Khalifman, both of whom have used this defence to score memorable victories. The dynamic counterplay Black receives in return for the sacrificed queenside pawn gives Black compensation, often lasting all the way into the endgame. In this entertaining and instructive book renowned theoretician Jan Pinski clearly identifies the critical lines every player needs to know in order to play this opening, and clearly explains the core ideas of the opening. Besides being completely up-to-date and thoroughly researched, the book also contains a large amount of new analysis, including in the currently popular Epishin variation.