Modern Benoni, Classical Variation

The Classical Variation begins from the characteristic Modern Benoni structure. Black exchanges the e-pawn for White's d-pawn, and White's c-pawn arrives on d5. White usually adds another pawn on e4. This gives White more central space , while Black retains a queenside pawn majority, on the side where the queen began, and seeks activity against that center.

White develops the king's knight to f3, the king's bishop to e2, and usually castles, the special move that relocates the king and a rook together. This secures the king and allows White to prepare an e-pawn advance to e5. It is less forcing than the Taimanov Variation, where the f-pawn advances and the bishop checks from b5.

Modern Benoni, Classical Variation: canonical line

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

a1

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

Start

d4

Nf6

c4

c5

d5

e6

Nc3

exd5

cxd5

d6

e4

g6

Nf3

Bg7

Be2

O-O

O-O

The line begins from the starting position

The board replays every move in the notation maintained by the article, without adding continuations.

Black develops the bishop to g7, pressures the center, and prepares a b-pawn advance to b5 to open queenside lines. If White stabilizes the center before that activity arrives, the space advantage matters. If Black opens lines in time, active pieces can compensate for the lack of space.