Benko Gambit

	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	a	b	c	d	e	f	g	h

Moves

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5

ECO

A57–A59

Named after

Pal Benko

Parent

Benoni Defense

Synonym(s)

Volga Gambit
Volga–Benko Gambit

The Benko Gambit (or Volga Gambit) is a chess opening characterised by the move 3...b5 in the Benoni Defense arising after:

The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings (ECO) has three codes for the Benko Gambit:

The idea of sacrificing a pawn with ...b5 and ...a6 is quite old. Karel Opočenský applied the idea against, among others, Gideon Ståhlberg at Poděbrady 1936,Paul Keres at Pärnu 1937,Erich Eliskases at Prague 1937, and Theo van Scheltinga at the Buenos Aires Chess Olympiad 1939. Later the Mark Taimanov versus David Bronstein game at the Candidates Tournament, Zürich 1953, drew attention. Most of these games began as a King's Indian, with Black only later playing ...c5 and ...b5. Possibly the first to use the now-standard move order 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 was Thorvaldsson–Vaitonis, Munich Olympiad 1936.

In many countries, particularly in the Eastern Bloc, the opening is known as the Volga Gambit. This name is derived from the Volga River after an article about 3...b5!? by B. Argunow written in Kuibyshev (Samara since 1991), Russia, that was published in the second 1946 issue of the magazine Shakhmaty v SSSR.

Beginning in the late 1960s, this opening idea was also promoted by Pal Benko, a Hungarian-American Grandmaster, who provided many new suggestions and published his book The Benko Gambit in 1974. The name Benko Gambit stuck and is particularly used in English-speaking countries.

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Wikipedia