Benko Gambit Accepted

Benko Gambit Accepted is a chess opening with the ECO code A57. It goes 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6. White opens with 1. d4 (the queen's pawn) and Black answers 1... Nf6. After 8 moves it is White to move. After the last move White is a pawn ahead in material. The lesson on the board explains every move of the line and lets you play it yourself; it is free.

The moves

• 1. d4 – White plays the pawn to d4
• 1... Nf6 – Black plays the knight to f6
• 2. c4 – White plays the pawn to c4
• 2... c5 – Black plays the pawn to c5
• 3. d5 – White plays the pawn to d5
• 3... b5 – Black plays the pawn to b5
• 4. cxb5 – White captures on b5 with the c-pawn
• 4... a6 – Black plays the pawn to a6

In chessGM's opening book this position continues with 5. bxa6.

About the Benko Gambit Accepted

White takes the b5 pawn and Black gives a pawn with ...a6 to open the a- and b-files. Black gets long-lasting queenside pressure.

• Black puts rooks on a8 and b8 to hit a2 and b2.
• The g7 bishop on the long diagonal adds big pressure.
• Even an endgame is fine for Black, because the pressure stays.

chessGM has a full course for this line: open the Benko Gambit Accepted course lesson.

Related openings

• It extends: Benko Gambit (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5)
• Continues with: Benko Gambit Accepted: Dlugy Variation – adds 5. f3
• Continues with: Benko Gambit Accepted: Modern Variation – adds 5. e3
• Continues with: Benko Gambit Accepted: Pawn Return Variation – adds 5. b6
• Continues with: Benko Gambit: Zaitsev System – adds 5. Nc3
• Continues with: Benko Gambit Accepted: Fully Accepted Variation – adds 5. bxa6
• Related line: Benko Gambit Accepted: Dlugy Variation (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. f3)
• Related line: Benko Gambit Accepted: Modern Variation (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. e3)
• Related line: Benko Gambit Accepted: Pawn Return Variation (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. b6)
• Related line: Benko Gambit Accepted: Central Storming Variation (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. f4)
• Related line: Benko Gambit Accepted: Fianchetto Variation (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. g3 d6 8. Bg2 Bg7 9. Nf3)
• Related line: Benko Gambit Accepted: Fully Accepted Variation (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6)

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