This article was published originally on The Chess Improver blog on 2017-01-24
I have reposted it here for reference.
Bob Taylor, one of my friends from Eastern Canada, has given me some very interesting insight after reading my previous article Volga-Benko Gambit Line Busted (1). He was enthusiastic about my call to help improve black's play for a better outcome. In this article we offer together a few ideas to get things rolling for those willing to take on this task more seriously.
Idea #1
It is probably not a good idea to play such gambit at long time controls. It works well in over the board games, especially in quick ones such as blitz or less than 1 hour per player because black's quick development pressures white's position. The quicker white needs to figure out a way to deal with that pressure, the more likely it is to play less correct. In correspondence chess (or turn based chess) with 3 days or more per move, where both players can consult literature and/ or have engine support, the gambit looks very desperate and probably is.
Idea #2
The following line is interesting. Studying it might not lead to the discovery of many sample games at the beginning, but one should look further down the road after a few more moves are played:
[Event "Volga-Benko Gambit Line"][Date "2017.01.23"][White "?"][Black "?"][ECO "A58"][Result "?-?"]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.a7 {only 6 games available} Rxa7 8.e4 O-O 9.Be2 {no games available} d6 10.Nf3 {now we have 5 games available} Ba6 11.a4 {reverse move order; here it could be 11.O-O} Nfd7 12.O-O {reverse move order; here it could be 11.O-O} Bxe2 13.Qxe2 Na6 14.Nb5 Ra8
Only after going this deep you can truly start the study of it. In the first article I mentioned briefly two sample games and now I have added them here to help your research. Please select each game from the pull-down menu on top of the diagram:
[Event "69th Moscow Blitz"][Site "Moscow RUS"][Date "2015.06.09"][White "Sychev, Klementy"][Black "Dubov, Daniil"][Result "0-1"]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 O-O 8.a7 Rxa7 9.e4 d6 10.Be2 Ba6 11.O-O Nfd7 12.a4 Nb6 13.Bxa6 Nxa6 14.Qe2 Nb4 15.Bg5 Re8 16.Rfd1 Qa8 17.Qb5 Rb8 18.Qe2 h6 19.Bh4 g5 20.Bg3 Nxa4 21.Nxa4 Rxa4 22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.e5 Rd8 24.exd6 exd6 25.Re1 Nxd5 26.h4 g4 27.Nd2 Nf6 28.Nc4 Re8 29.Ne3 d5 30.Qd1 Qxd1 31.Rxd1 d4 32.Nf5 Bf8 33.b4 cxb4 34.Rxd4 b3 35.Rd1 b2 36.Rb1 Ba3 37.Ne3 Rc8 [Event "Glitnir Blitz"][Site "Reykjavik ISL"][Round "3.1"][Date "2006.03.16"][White "Vasilevich, Tatjana"][Black "Lagerman, Robert"][Result "1/2-1/2"]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 g6 5.Qc2 Bg7 6.e4 d6 7.cxb5 a6 8.Nc3 O-O 9.a4 axb5 10.Bxb5 Ba6 11.O-O Bxb5 12.Nxb5 Na6 13.Qe2 Nd7 14.Rb1 Nc7 15.Nxc7 Qxc7 16.b3 Rfb8 17.Nd2 Nb6 18.f4 c4 19.bxc4 Nxa4 20.Rxb8+ Rxb8 21.e5 dxe5 22.f5 Qc5+ 23.Kh1 Nc3 24.Qd3 Qd4 25.Qxd4 exd4 26.Ba3 Bf6 27.fxg6 hxg6 28.d6 Bg5 29.Nf3 Bf6 30.dxe7 Re8 31.Re1 Kg7 32.Bc5 d3 33.Bb4 Ne2 34.Rd1 Bxe7 35.Bxe7 Rxe7 36.Rxd3 Rc7 37.Re3 Nf4 38.Re4
Idea #3:
The following move order looks more precise:
[Event "Volga-Benko Gambit Line"][Date "2017.01.23"][White "?"][Black "?"][ECO "A58"][Result "?-?"]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 {leads to position 1}
One thing to notice is the elimination of the 7.a7 ... option for white. IMO that is a good thing for black because being forced to take on a7 puts the a8-Rook on a less desired square. A Rook there is of no use later on, so moving it back or away when forced, it is going to waste a tempo. It is also important to compare middle game positions from different lines.
Here is one comparison found by Bob where black looks better in position 1. Please select each game from the pull-down menu on top of the diagram:
[Event "Volga-Benko Gambit Line"][Site "Position 1"][Date "2017.01.23"][White "Jianchao, Zhou"][Black "Zili, Wang"][ECO "A58"]{Game by Kaufman} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Nf3 d6 5. cxb5 a6 6. bxa6 g6 7. e4 Bxa6 8. Bxa6 Qa5+ 9. Nc3 Qxa6 10. a4 Bg7 11. Nb5 Qb7 12. Nd2 O-O 13. O-O Nbd7 14. Nc4 Nb6 15. Nxb6 Qxb6 {We have reached position 1} [Event "Volga-Benko Gambit Line"][Site "Position 2"][Date "2017.01.23"][White "MacTilstra, Ian"][Black "Demian, Valer-Eugen"][ECO "A58"]{My game} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cb5 a6 5. ba6 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. a7 Ra7 8. e4 O-O 9. Be2 d6 10. Nf3 Ba6 11. a4 Nfd7 12. O-O Be2 13. Qe2 {it is important to note here that white is defending the b2-pawn} Na6 14. Nb5 Ra8 15. Bg5 {Move possible because of the exchange on e2. We have reached position 2}
Hope you all find this information of interest. Thank you Bob for your contribution! If you have any games and/ or positions you would like me to look at, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will gladly include them in my column for everyone's benefit. Looking forward to your messages!
I have reposted it here for reference.
Bob Taylor, one of my friends from Eastern Canada, has given me some very interesting insight after reading my previous article Volga-Benko Gambit Line Busted (1). He was enthusiastic about my call to help improve black's play for a better outcome. In this article we offer together a few ideas to get things rolling for those willing to take on this task more seriously.
Idea #1
It is probably not a good idea to play such gambit at long time controls. It works well in over the board games, especially in quick ones such as blitz or less than 1 hour per player because black's quick development pressures white's position. The quicker white needs to figure out a way to deal with that pressure, the more likely it is to play less correct. In correspondence chess (or turn based chess) with 3 days or more per move, where both players can consult literature and/ or have engine support, the gambit looks very desperate and probably is.
Idea #2
The following line is interesting. Studying it might not lead to the discovery of many sample games at the beginning, but one should look further down the road after a few more moves are played:
[Event "Volga-Benko Gambit Line"][Date "2017.01.23"][White "?"][Black "?"][ECO "A58"][Result "?-?"]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.a7 {only 6 games available} Rxa7 8.e4 O-O 9.Be2 {no games available} d6 10.Nf3 {now we have 5 games available} Ba6 11.a4 {reverse move order; here it could be 11.O-O} Nfd7 12.O-O {reverse move order; here it could be 11.O-O} Bxe2 13.Qxe2 Na6 14.Nb5 Ra8
Only after going this deep you can truly start the study of it. In the first article I mentioned briefly two sample games and now I have added them here to help your research. Please select each game from the pull-down menu on top of the diagram:
[Event "69th Moscow Blitz"][Site "Moscow RUS"][Date "2015.06.09"][White "Sychev, Klementy"][Black "Dubov, Daniil"][Result "0-1"]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 O-O 8.a7 Rxa7 9.e4 d6 10.Be2 Ba6 11.O-O Nfd7 12.a4 Nb6 13.Bxa6 Nxa6 14.Qe2 Nb4 15.Bg5 Re8 16.Rfd1 Qa8 17.Qb5 Rb8 18.Qe2 h6 19.Bh4 g5 20.Bg3 Nxa4 21.Nxa4 Rxa4 22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.e5 Rd8 24.exd6 exd6 25.Re1 Nxd5 26.h4 g4 27.Nd2 Nf6 28.Nc4 Re8 29.Ne3 d5 30.Qd1 Qxd1 31.Rxd1 d4 32.Nf5 Bf8 33.b4 cxb4 34.Rxd4 b3 35.Rd1 b2 36.Rb1 Ba3 37.Ne3 Rc8 [Event "Glitnir Blitz"][Site "Reykjavik ISL"][Round "3.1"][Date "2006.03.16"][White "Vasilevich, Tatjana"][Black "Lagerman, Robert"][Result "1/2-1/2"]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Nf3 g6 5.Qc2 Bg7 6.e4 d6 7.cxb5 a6 8.Nc3 O-O 9.a4 axb5 10.Bxb5 Ba6 11.O-O Bxb5 12.Nxb5 Na6 13.Qe2 Nd7 14.Rb1 Nc7 15.Nxc7 Qxc7 16.b3 Rfb8 17.Nd2 Nb6 18.f4 c4 19.bxc4 Nxa4 20.Rxb8+ Rxb8 21.e5 dxe5 22.f5 Qc5+ 23.Kh1 Nc3 24.Qd3 Qd4 25.Qxd4 exd4 26.Ba3 Bf6 27.fxg6 hxg6 28.d6 Bg5 29.Nf3 Bf6 30.dxe7 Re8 31.Re1 Kg7 32.Bc5 d3 33.Bb4 Ne2 34.Rd1 Bxe7 35.Bxe7 Rxe7 36.Rxd3 Rc7 37.Re3 Nf4 38.Re4
Idea #3:
The following move order looks more precise:
[Event "Volga-Benko Gambit Line"][Date "2017.01.23"][White "?"][Black "?"][ECO "A58"][Result "?-?"]1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 {leads to position 1}
One thing to notice is the elimination of the 7.a7 ... option for white. IMO that is a good thing for black because being forced to take on a7 puts the a8-Rook on a less desired square. A Rook there is of no use later on, so moving it back or away when forced, it is going to waste a tempo. It is also important to compare middle game positions from different lines.
Here is one comparison found by Bob where black looks better in position 1. Please select each game from the pull-down menu on top of the diagram:
[Event "Volga-Benko Gambit Line"][Site "Position 1"][Date "2017.01.23"][White "Jianchao, Zhou"][Black "Zili, Wang"][ECO "A58"]{Game by Kaufman} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Nf3 d6 5. cxb5 a6 6. bxa6 g6 7. e4 Bxa6 8. Bxa6 Qa5+ 9. Nc3 Qxa6 10. a4 Bg7 11. Nb5 Qb7 12. Nd2 O-O 13. O-O Nbd7 14. Nc4 Nb6 15. Nxb6 Qxb6 {We have reached position 1} [Event "Volga-Benko Gambit Line"][Site "Position 2"][Date "2017.01.23"][White "MacTilstra, Ian"][Black "Demian, Valer-Eugen"][ECO "A58"]{My game} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cb5 a6 5. ba6 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. a7 Ra7 8. e4 O-O 9. Be2 d6 10. Nf3 Ba6 11. a4 Nfd7 12. O-O Be2 13. Qe2 {it is important to note here that white is defending the b2-pawn} Na6 14. Nb5 Ra8 15. Bg5 {Move possible because of the exchange on e2. We have reached position 2}
Hope you all find this information of interest. Thank you Bob for your contribution! If you have any games and/ or positions you would like me to look at, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will gladly include them in my column for everyone's benefit. Looking forward to your messages!