Professional Documents
Culture Documents
First Edition
10 9 87 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN: 1-890085-08-1
SHes Press
3 624 Shannon Road
Los Angeles, CA 9002 7
To my wife Gizella and my children Palma and David.
Foreword by Susan Polgar X11l
Acknowledgements XV1tt
Introduction XIX
PART ONE
MY LIFE AND GAMES
1 IN THE BEGINNING 3
( 1 ) T Feldman - Benko (Budapest, 1 945) 6
(2) Szigeti - Benko (Budapest, 1 945) 9
(3) G Barcza - Benko (Hungarian Championship, 1 946) 13
(4) Benko - Szilagyi (Hungarian Championship, 1 946) 15
2 AFTER THE WAR 19
(5) Tagmann - Benko (Correspondence, 1 947) 20
(6) Benko - Lounek (Vienna, 1 947) 25
(7) Foltys - Benko (Budapest, 1 948) 28
(8) Polzer - Benko (Bad Gastein, 1 948) 32
(9) Benko - Fiister (Hungarian Championship, 1 948) 35
( 1 0) Benko - Ragozin (Budapest vs. Moscow Match, Moscow, 1 949) 37
( 1 1 ) Prins - Benko (Hungary vs. Netherlands Match, 1 949) 39
( 1 2) Benko - Opocensky (Bucharest, 1 949) 43
(1 3) Benko - Turi (Budapest, 1 949) 45
3 PROVING MYSELF AT THE MAROCZY MEMORIAL 47
( 1 4) Benko - Dr. Ogaba (Hungarian Championship, 1 950) 47
(1 5) Benko - I Molnar (Hungarian Championship, 1 950) 51
( 1 6) Korody - Benko (Budapest, 1 9 5 1 ) 53
( 1 7) Szabo - Benko (Hungarian Championship, 1 9 5 1 ) 55
( 1 8) Benko - Petrosian (Budapest, 1 952) 59
( 1 9) Botvinnik - Benko (Budapest, 1 952) 62
(2 0) Benko - Stahlberg (Budapest, 1 952) 64
4 FALL FROM GRACE (THE DARK YEARS) 67
(2 1 ) G Barcza - Benko (Hungarian Championship, 1 954) 71
(2 2) Benko - Kluger (Budapest, 1 95 5) 75
(2 3) Portisch - Benko (Hungarian Championship, 1 95 5) 78
VI I
PAL B E N KO: MY LI FE, GAMES A N D COMPO S ITI O N S
5 ESCAPE TO FREEDOM! 81
(24) Benko - Giustolisi (Dublin, 1 9 5 7) 82
6 THE NEW WORLD 85
VIII (2 5) Benko - Fischer (Portoroz Interzonal, 1 9 5 8) 89
(26) Benko - Averbach (Portoroz Interzonal, 1 95 8) 92
(2 7) R Weinstein - Benko (U.S. Championship, 1 959) 96
(2 8) Benko - F Olafsson (Zagreb Candidates Tournament, 1 959) 98
(2 9) Benko - Smyslov (Zagreb Candidates Tournament, 1 959) 100
(3 0) F Olafsson - Benko (Zagreb Candidates Tournament, 1 959) 102
(3 1 ) Benko - Fischer (Buenos Aires, 1 960) 106
(32) Benko - Eliskases (Buenos Aires, 1 960) 110
(3 3) Benko - Taimanov (Buenos Aires, 1 960) 113
(34) Uhlmann - Benko (Buenos Aires, 1 960) 115
(3 5) Benko - Reshevsky, 1 st Match game (New York, 1 960) 118
(3 6) R Byrne - Benko (U.S. Championship, 1 960) 120
(3 7) Benko - Mednis (U.S. Championship, 1 96 1 ) 123
7 THE HUNT FOR THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 125
(3 8) Benko - German (Stockholm Interzonal, 1 962) 128
(39) Benko - Uhlmann (Stockholm Interzonal, 1 962) 131
(40) Benko - Gligoric (Interzonal Playoff, 1 962) 135
(41 ) Benko - Fischer (Candidates Tournament Cura�ao, 1 962) 138
(42) Benko - Keres (Candidates Tournament Cura�ao, 1 962) 142
(43) Benko - Korchnoi (Candidates Tournament Cura�ao, 1 962) 145
(44) Benko - Tal (Candidates Tournament Cura�ao, 1 962) 151 '
(45) Filip - Benko (Candidates Tournament Cura�ao, 1 962) 156
(46) Benko - Darga (Varna Olympiad, 1 962) 158
(47) Benko - Pachman (Varna Olympiad, 1 962) 160
8 A PROFESSIONAL AT LAST 163
(48) Benko - Najdorf (Piatigorsky Cup, 1 963) 165
(49) Benko - Panno (Piatigorsky Cup, 1 963) 168
9 BACK TO HUNGARY 173
(50) Benko - R Byrne (New York, 1 964) 174
(5 1 ) Benko - Bisguier (New York playoff, 1 st Game, 1 964) 176
(52) Benko - Bisguier (New York playoff, 3 rd Game, 1 964) 179
(5 3 ) Bisguier - Benko (New York playoff, 4th Game, 1 964) 181
(54) Benko - Bisguier (New York playoff, 5th Game, 1 964) 183
(55) Benko - Suttles (Boston, 1 964) 185
(56) Benko - Matanovic (Belgrade, 1 964) 190
(57) Benko - Parma (Belgrade, 1 964) 190
CO NTE NTS
PART TWO
PART THREE
PART FOUR
XI I I
PAL B E N KO: MY LI FE, GAM ES AN D COMPO SITI O N S
xv
PA L B E N KO: MY LI FE, GAMES AN D COMPO S I TI O N S
advance. For reasons that were never made clear, the United States Chess Fed
eration had forgotten to arrange lodgings for Pal, seemed unable or unwilling to
wire us the necessary funds and, despite many frenzied calls for help, ultimately
XVI left us to fend for ourselves.
After haggling with the hotel management, they agreed to let Benko's non
payment slide for the length of the tournament, but I eventually realized that a
serious problem was developing (Having just escaped Communist rule, our Slo
vak hotel wasn't willing to accept our credit cards, and we didn't have enough
cash to cover the bill.). Finally, with just one day left and payment past due, I
was forced to enact a scene right out of an old spy movie: Four in the morning, a
cab pulls up to the curb and patiently waits two blocks from the hotel. I quietly
lead a lone figure through the hotel's halls and out the back door. Having suc
cessfully made our exit, I drag the horrified grandmaster to the waiting cab, which
streaks him away to the Vienna airport and a successful escape. When the orga
nizers eventually realized that something was amiss, I just played dumb and
shrugged my shoulders. Such intrigue wasn't part of the job description, but a
coach has to be ready for any eventuality!
Leaping forward several years, I again had the opportunity to work with Benko:
first in the charming Hungarian city of Szeged, and then at Palma de Menorca
(an island off the coast of Spain). It was during our stay at Palma that Pal and I
were finally able to spend some private time together. After many conversations,
a twenty game blitz match (I still remember his post-match comment: "Jeremy,
you are the most boring player I have ever encountered ! "), watching him break
dance to Madonna tunes (remarkable for a man approaching seventy!), marvel
ing as he crushed Tal Shaked (a strong young man who was a fraction of his age)
at arm wrestling, and being unable to solve any of the dozens of chess problems
he placed in front of me, I was able to come face to face with the "real" Benko
his enormous love of chess, his humor, his creativity, and his Old World charm.
Having drawn heavy fire for my book review comments concerning chess
biographies-what is supposed to be a book about a player's life and games in
stead is nothing more than a chronology of one tournament after another, with
out any real "life" or personality being visible-I realized that Benko offered
me the perfect opportunity to demonstrate my own vision of how such a book
should be presented. Here was a man that I liked and admired, who was a part of
chess history, who played many beautiful games, and who lived a colorful life
that transcended mere chess concerns -life-and-death struggles, sexuality, fi
nancial stability, etc.
From the book's "birth" in Palma de Menorca (where we first discussed the
idea), to my visiting Benko in Budapest to interview him and begin the actual
book-writing process, I couldn't have imagined how difficult such a project would
turn out to be! In fact, it took an astounding five years to go from contract sign
ing to publication! In the end, I learned an important lesson-I'll never criticize
another writer for taking the easy road when putting together a life and games
collection !
PREFAC E BY JE REMY S I LMAN
Hard work aside, though, I must admit that I'm very happy with the final
result: a personal look at one man's struggle from humble (and often tenuous!)
beginnings to the status of chess icon; a study of his life's work, ideas, composi-
tions, and games. The oft-repeated question: "Is chess an art, a science, or a XVII
sport? " is easily answered when asked of Benko. Pal Benko is an artist, and I
consider it an honor to have helped make his achievements something that can
be shared, understood, and enjoyed by chess players of every strength and age.
XVI I I
~ was mated with very specific goals in mind. Most importandy,
I wanted the prose concerning Benko's life to be chronologically merged with
the games of the same period. In this way the reader can see the progression of
Benko's style, and also ascertain whether the ups and downs of life away from
the chessboard (I insisted that quite a bit of his "non-chess" adventures be pre
sented!) affected his tournament performances.
A large number of his games ( 1 3 8 !), all deeply analyzed, have been given.
Pal, who is fond of every one of them, understood that I might cut some. How
ever, after a lot of soul-searching, I finally decided that I couldn't deprive Pal or
the reader of the delights they offer.
One of the more idyllic times in Pal's life was his stay in Los Angeles with
Larry Evans and Ron Gross. I conducted interviews with both these gentlemen
so that the reader could enjoy deeper insights into this period of time-person
ally, I found the behind-the-scenes interactions of Benko, Larsen, Evans, and Gross
to be extremely interesting. Ronald Gross in particular has the gift of gab, and
his stories about Evans, Larsen, and Reshevsky are sure to grab your attention.
"While mulling over this project, I made a thorough study of Benko's games
and discovered that Pal (though he insisted it wasn't the case) was always at the
forefront of opening theory. Rather shocked by this revelation, I approached
International Master John Watson (one of the world's finest chess writers) and
asked him to look into this matter. He kindly agreed, and then went beyond
anything I imagined by writing a very detailed opening survey that proves, be
yond a shadow of a doubt, that Benko was indeed a theoretical dynamo ! The
material in Watson's section will prove useful to people who employ the same
openings that Benko did, and for those who simply want a feel for the kind of
preparation that was necessary in topflight grandmaster chess at that time.
The final part of this book presents 3 00 of Benko's compositions. Simple "play
and mate" situations, magnificent endgames, puzzles, helpmates, letter problems,
XIX
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E. GAMES AN D COMPOSITI O N S
twins, Christmas tree motifs, duplexes, sets - suffice it to say that I had never
heard of many of these terms! Nevertheless, I discovered firsthand that a player
could immerse himself in these 3 00 artistic creations for months and months!
XX The list of games is included in the table of contents at the beginning of the
book, while an index of names and an index of openings is given at the book's
end. I decided to create a partial record of Pal's tournament results: Benko's par
ticipation in endless U.S. Swiss System events made a complete record too com
plex and, in my estimation, too meaningless to warrant inclusion.
Though many books have specific photo sections, I felt that strategically pre
senting pictures all through the book would create a more organic and energetic
effect. Occasionally the placement of a particular photo won't be chronologi
cally correct, and a number of interesting pictures (the negatives having long
been lost) were taken from old magazines and thus were not as clear as I would
have liked. But, if a player's image turns a mere name into a human being, then I
offer no apologies.
This project took over five years to complete. I designed it to be unlike any
other chess biography- to be fun, instructive, insightful, and at times offering
genuine surprises. If you, the reader, finds that it brought the game/sport/art of
chess and the grandmasters that play it to life, then I'll consider those five years
to be time well spent.
here does the creative urge come from? Why are some people happy
to work in a factory, in the military, or in a thousand different labor-intensive ca
reers, while others need music, art, literature, and yes -even chess -to make sense
out of life? In my case the creative gene was unquestionably passed down by my
father who, though an engineer by profession, desperately wanted to succeed as an
artist. Pursuing this dream, he had my family move all over Europe. This explains
why I was born in Amiens, France in 1 928, but grew up in Hungary when my
mother made it clear that she was far from happy to be living out of a suitcase. Even
after we settled down in my parent's native Hungary, my father's wanderlust
couldn't be contained. He continued to travel by himself, had many adventures,
and was even arrested in Germany (trying to cross over the French border without
proper papers!) at one point. Yes, I turned out to be very much like my father!
Unlike many players who were prodigies, I didn't learn to play chess until I
was ten. Even then I wasn't consumed by the game, considering it nothing more
than a hobby. Nevertheless, I played in the park from time to time and picked
up a few ideas in this way.
Overall, I had a great childhood. I was athletic, inquisitive, and even took a
job as a messenger when I was twelve. Everything was fine before 1 940, but then
my whole world turned to hell. The war hit Hungary hard. Food shortages left
everyone starving, and ration cards became a necessity. I still remember the bread
lines: thousands of people would begin lining up at midnight (families usually
did this "tag team" style, having a family member take over so the original line
man could rest) for a loaf of bread that was only passed out at 7 A.M!
The lack of food wasn't the only problem. There was no coal to heat the schools,
so everyone stayed home throughout the colder times of year. A citywide infes
tation of lice also made things unpleasant, since in those days we didn't have
3
PAL B E N KO: MY LIFE, GAMES AN D COMPO SITI O N S
anti-louse medications (very, very hot saunas and washing one's clothes in scald
ing water was the only way to eradicate the little monsters). Then, as if famine
and parasites and freezing to death were not enough, the Americans started to
4 bomb Budapest relentlessly.
Even though fire rained down from the sky and misery was a normal state of
mind, I was still able to play a bit of chess: A school tournament was thrown
together, various games in the park were contested, and I avidly studied a book
of Capablanca's 3 5 0 best games (this was my first chess book and the Cuban
quickly became my chess hero). In 1 943 , a strong club tournament was held,
This event showed me that I was already very strong, and I was leading by quite
a bit when the tournament was cancelled due to most of the players being
drafted!
The Germans invaded Hungary in March of 1 944 and, as might be ex
pected, the war effort became even more frenetic. Thus, it wasn't too surpris
ing that, when I turned sixteen, I was also drafted and assigned to a regiment.
I never fought, but I did have to dig endless ditches and put up with even
more hardships. After about four months of this, my regiment started head
ing for Austria. Finally I decided that enough was enough and I escaped, hid
ing in the homes of peasants as I tried to make my way back to Budapest and
my family. This was pretty terrifying since I would have been executed if I'd
been caught!
After three days on the run, the Russian army appeared and policemen were
everywhere. Suddenly I was hiding from the Hungarian army (who would shoot
me on sight), the police (who would turn me over to the Hungarian army), and
the Russian army (who were fond of shipping wayward males back to Russia as
slave labor). As it turned out, the Russians did, indeed, catch me. They immedi
ately turned me into a laborer, making me work all day on a bridge. They said I
could go home afterwards, though I knew they were lying. Fortunately, a bomb
scare forced them to turn all the lights off and, in the evening, I escaped again in
the pitch darkness.
When I returned to Budapest in early 1 945, I found that the Russians had
arrived two months before. At first the Hungarian people didn't think much of
it; in fact, we were happy. The Germans, whom most Hungarians hated throughout
the war, were gone, and we really thought things were about to improve.
The papers said some horrible things about the Russians, but most Hungarian
civilians didn't believe it, thinking it was nothing but propaganda. In fact, why
would we allow ourselves to believe more negative news? We wanted to embrace
a better future, and this need for a happier life temporarily put blinders on our
eyes. After a short time, though, we quickly saw that things were worse than the
papers had said! So, before we knew it, all the people were hiding from the new
threat: the Russians!
This was an incredibly trying and painful time. Once I made my way back to
our apartment (which was bombed out and open to the elements) in Budapest, I
found that my father and brother had been shipped to Russia as slave labor. This
I N T H E BEG I N N I N G
was actually ironic, since my father had been arrested by the Hungarian govern
ment at the end of 1 943 for refusing to join the army. When the Nazis took over
Hungary, they released him, thinking (erroneously) that he was against the former
government and was thus pro-Nazi. The Germans didn't realize that he belonged 5
to the leftist party and helped Jews by giving them work permits in a small ma-
chine parts factory he owned. When the Russians (our "saviors") arrived, they
quickly took over the factory, tossed my father and brother on a train, and a
major part of my family simply vanished.
When the war ended, the situation became even worse than before. After Ger
many invaded Hungary we weren't shocked to see the SS, in competition with
the Hungarian political police, race to confiscate anything of value (art in par
ticular) from Jewish families. However, we didn't expect the Red Army to con
tinue the looting! In fact, chaos ruled the day: women everywhere were being
raped (Men made sure their wives and daughters stayed indoors!), and if a Rus
sian soldier asked for your coat or shoes, you wouldn't hesitate to give it to him
since the alternative was a horrible beating or even death! Once again I found
myself in hiding, this time because my mother feared that I'd be taken away to
Russia if! set foot outside. Naturally, life was much safer if you joined the Com
munist Party, as Szabo did. But I had principles, and just didn't believe in their
rhetoric. Besides, how could I even entertain joining a group that had enslaved
my father and brother?
So far, my sixteenth birthday had brought an almost surreal amount of horror
with it. Fortunately, I was allowed a break from the hellish events that plagued
me: I got a temporary job in construction and, with things apparently calming
down, I accepted an invitation to my first real chess tournament (see games 1
and 2). It was an eighteen-player event that featured ten masters, seven candi
dates, and me. Clearly, I was expected to come in last (All the more so since,
going into this event, I had never played a tournament game against a master!),
but I surprised everyone by winning first prize, and because of this I was awarded
the master title. I still have the diploma on my wall today.
Sadly, I still had to live through one last, crushing shock before turning seven
teen: my mother, at the age of forty-one, died. The lack of shelter, the cold win
ter, the scarcity of food, and the loss of her husband and oldest son (my brother
is one and a half years my senior) proved too much for her.
How can I describe my state of mind at that time? Depression is far too mild
a word, while an emotion like anger demanded a lot more energy than I pos
sessed. The only term that paints the proper picture is devastation-pure,
overwhelming, devastation. Still a child, I wanted to crawl under a rock and
give up- somehow make it all go away. "Resignation" wasn't possible, though;
my little sister depended on me and I wasn't going to let her down by accept
ing failure. Realizing that the situation in Budapest didn't offer me any oppor
tunities to improve our lot, I left my sister in the safe hands of a relative,
packed up a few possessions, and made my way to the lovely little Hungarian
town of Szeged.
PA L B E N KO : MY L I F E , GA M ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
When I arrived in Szeged, I was starving and penniless. However, a small Mas
ters' tournament led to the acquisition of some desperately needed food (I won
flour and bacon!). My result impressed the chess aficionados there, and I was
6 invited to teach them and was given a place on the local chess team. In turn, this
new, relatively safe environment allowed me to finish secondary school.
White i s a pawn up (if you can really consider that pathetic creature o n d2
a pawn), but Black's lead in development, active pieces, and pressure down
the d-file combine to give him all the chances.
14.Kd l gS ! ?
Balogh recommended 1 4 . . . BcS in his notes to this game. This i s certainly
a good, sane, move, but I was young and impetuous and felt that opening
up lines with 14 . . . gS ! ? simply had to be worthwhile.
l S .fxgS
Balogh pointed out that I S .d3 is met by I S . . . Nc6 ! , when Black has the
superior game.
l S . . . Bb4! 1 6.Nh3
This might not be White's best defense, but other moves would have also
left me with a threatening initiative: 1 6.Nfl (simply bad is 1 6.a3 Bxd2
1 7 .Bxd2 Nb3 , while 1 6.b3 ! ? Rhd8 1 7 .h4 RxeS 1 8.Nfl RedS 1 9.Rh2 Bd6
20.Rh3 Bf4 2 1 .Nxd4 Rxd4 22.Kc2 Bxd2 also promises Black all the chances)
1 6 . . .Nxf3 1 7 .gxf3 Bxd2 1 8 .Kc2 Bxc 1 1 9.Raxc 1 RxeS , with an obvious
advantage.
1 6 ... Rhd8?
An inaccurate move that gives White more options than he deserved. Cor
rect was 1 6 ... RxeS ! 1 7 .Rfl Rd8 ! (Also possible is 1 7 . . . Rhe8 1 8 .b3 , when
Black has several promising ways to play the position. For example, 1 8 ... R8e7
[Or 1 8 . . . BaS ! ? , stopping White's idea of a3 and b2 -b4. Then 1 9.Rb l is
strongly met by 19 ... cS 20.Bb2 Re2 2 1 .Bc3 Bxc3 2 2 .dxc3 NbS 2 3 .Rc 1 Rxa2 ]
1 9.a3 [19.Bb2 Re2 ] 1 9 ... Bd6! 2 0.Bb2 RdS 2 1 .Bxd4 Rxd4 2 2 .g3 RdS , with
excellent play.) 1 8 .Rxf7 (bad is 1 8 .d3 Rde8 1 9.Bxd2 Bxd2 2 0.Kxd2 Re2 +
2 1 .Kc3 cS, but 1 8.Rf4 also leads to a Black advantage: 1 8 ... cS 1 9.Rxf7 Rde8
2 0.Rfl Re2 2 1 .Nf4 Rf8 22 .a3 BaS 2 3 .g3 Rxh2 24.b4 Bd8 2 S .bxcS BxgS
2 6.Rb l hS 2 7 .Re l Bxf4 2 8 .gxf4 Rxf4) 1 8 ... Rde8 1 9.Rfl Re2 2 0.Nf4 Rf8,
and White is gagged, bound, and suffering.
1 7.Nf4
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAMES AN D COMPO SITI O N S
Worse is 1 7 .Rfl RxeS 1 8.Rxf7 Rde8 1 9.Rfl Re2 2 0.Nf4 Rf8 2 1 .h4 Rxg2 , a
position we've already seen in the note to Black's 1 6th move. On 1 7 .Re 1 ,
Black continues to call the shots after 1 7 . . . Nc6. One sample of the kind of
8 play that could occur is: 1 8.Re2 RxeS 1 9.RxeS NxeS 20.Nf4 Rd4 2 1 .Ne2
Rg4 2 2 .g3 Nfl 2 3 .h4 Bd6 24.a4 Nd4 (since White is helpless, Black might
also consider 24 . . . aS ! ?) 2 S .Nxd4 Rxd4, and White's kingside pawns will
fall like ripe fruit.
1 7 . . . RxeS 1 8.h4?
Missing the only chance for survival: 1 8.Nd3 ! RbS 1 9.Nxb4 (The tempt
ing 1 9.a4 Rb6 2 0.aS RbS 2 1 .Nxb4 Rxb4 is worse since the weakness of the
b3-square will come back to haunt White after 2 2 .Ra3 [More accurate is
2 2 . Rfl , but Black would still be happy after 2 2 . . . RdS 2 3 . Rxf7 RxgS
24.g3 Nb3 .] 22 . . . RdS 2 3 .h4 Nb3 24.Rfl RcS 2 S .Rxb3 Rb3 26.Rxf7 Rb4!
2 7 .d3 Rxh4.) 1 9 . . . Rxb4 2 0.Rfl RbS 2 1 .Rxf7 (on 2 1 .d 3 , Black must avoid
2 1 . ..Ne6? 2 2 .Rxf7 NxgS 2 3 .Rg7, and instead play the calm 2 1 . . .Rd7 when
2 2 .Rf6 Ne6 2 3 .Rh6 Rxd3 + 24.Ke2 RddS ! gives Black all the chances)
2 1 . . . RxgS 2 2 . g 3 (Better than 2 2 . Rf2 Re S 2 3 . b 3 Rde8 2 4 . Rfl Re2
2 S .Bb2 Nc6, when 26.Rf8 is met by 26 ... Re l + 2 7.Kc2 Nb4+ 2 8.Kc3 Nxa2 +.)
2 2 ... RhS 2 3 .Rf2 (and not 2 3 .h4 RfS !), and now 23 ... ReS leads to the kind
of position Black wants to avoid after 24.d3 Nc6 2 S .Bd2 Rxd3 2 6.Kc2 Rfl
2 7 .Rafl . Instead, 2 3 ... Nc6 Ieads to more lively play where Black has plenty
of compensation for the sacrificed pawn : 2 4 . a4 N eS 2 S . Re2 N d 3
2 6.Ra3 RfS 2 7 .Kc2 Nb4+ 2 8 .Kb l Rfl 29.Rc3 Rd4 3 0.b3 Kd7.
1 8 . . .NfS !
White's game now collapses like a house of cards.
1 9.Kc2
Black's pieces would exert tremendous pressure on the enemy position
after 1 9.d3 Ng3 20.Rgl Rd4 2 1 .a3 Bd6.
1 9 . . . RcS + 20.Kd l ?
White had to try 2 0.Kb3 Bxd2 2 1 .Bxd2 Rxd2 , though Black's superiority
is obvious.
I N TH E B E G I N N I N G
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chess master title. During that time he won
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Open Championship. He became twice Worldl-
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team member and s even times team captain.� .. d
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He achieved the international grand master htle
(1958) and beside that he attained the problem
composing international master title (1995).
Benko - Fischer (1962. Curacao)
World Champion Candidates Tournament
1 g3Nf6 IS Qd2 b5 29 Qf3 QbII
2 Bg2 g6 16 axbll axb6 30 Ne4 N.e4+
3e4 d6 1 7 b4 Ne6 31Oxe4Rd7
4 d4 Bg7 18 b5Nxd4 32Qc6Qd8
5Ne2 ()"O 19 B.d4 Bxd4· 33 KI3 Kg7
6()"0 e5 20 Oxd4 c5 34 g4 e5
7 Nbc3c6 21 Qd2 Bb7 35fxe5 Rn.
8 a4 Nbd7 22 Radl Re6 36 Kg2 Qh4
9 a5 exd4 2385 B.g2 37 Rfl Rxfl
10 N.d4 Nc5 24 Kxg2 01>7+ 38 Kxf1 Oxh3+
11 h3Re8 25Kf2 Rd8 39 0g2 0e3
38- 50
12 ReI N fd7 26exd6Nf6 400e2 Qh3+
13 Be3 Oc7 27 Rxe6fxe6 black gives up
14f4RbII 28 0e3 Kn 1-0.
in July. However, neither Botvinnik or I can claim to be the first to use this
system. Reti played it in 1 92 0 (!), while Szigeti (yes, the same one) had the
White side in 1 93 1 . E. Griinfeld had Black against Van Scheltinga in
Amsterdam 1 936, and it was used in the game Szabo-Euwe in Hastings 1938.
To the best of my knowledge, Botvinnik first used it (twice) in 1 944. Today,
the line is extremely popular among tactical players who enjoy cutting-edge
theoretical discussions. At the time of this game, though, the variation rep
resented an unusual, unexplored vista.
9.Nxg5 hxg5
The earliest games featuring 9.NxgS saw Black play 9 . . . Nd S , when
1 O.Nxf7 (the most dangerous reply) was seen in Szigeti-Michlo, Budapest
1 93 1 ( 1 -0 in 3 7), while the more placid 1 0 .ND was Leif-Reti, Kristiania
1 92 0 : 1 0 . . . QaS I 1 . Qd2 Bb4 1 2 . Rc 1 Nd7 1 3 .Be2 N7b6 1 4.Bd l Nxc3
I S . bxc3 B a 3 1 6 . B f6 Bxc 1 1 7 . Qxc 1 Rg8 I S . Nd2 NdS 1 9 . Ne4 b4
2 0.BhS bxc3 2 1 .0-0 Qxa2 2 2 .Bxf7+ Kxf7 2 3 .Qxh6 Qa3 24.Nd6+ Qxd6
2 S . Qh7+ KeS 26.exd6 Rg4 2 7 .QhS+ KfS 2 S.Be7+ Nxe7 29.dxe7+ Kxe7
3 0.Qxg4 RbS 3 1 .Qg7+ KdS 3 2 .h4 c2 B. QhS+, 1-0.
l O.Bxg5 Nbd7 1 1 .exf6 Bb7 1 2 .Be2
Years of theoretical research and lots of practice eventually proved that
1 2 .g3 was White's best move, but we were still busy "inventing the wheel."
1 2 . . . Nxf6
Also playable are 1 2 . . . Qc7 and 1 2 . . . Qb6, preparing to castle queenside as
quickly as possible.
1 3 .BfJ
I N TH E B EG I N N I N G
Pachman assessed this position as equal in one of his books. One might
think that White should be better since he's a pawn up and Black isn't able
to castle. This opinion, though, is completely mistaken. Black's King is
actually very safe on e7. He will easily win his pawn back when, despite
the opposite-colored Bishops, Black will have all the chances thanks to his
queenside majority and the fact that the dark-squared Bishop will prove
stronger than its white counterpart.
1 8.Qd2 Qd6 1 9.BO Rh4!
Black isn't in a hurry to win the pawn back. First, he wants to make sure
every piece is as active as possible.
20.g3 Rxd4 2 1 .Qa5 c3 ! ?
An optimistic attempt to knock my opponent out. The straightforward
2 1 . . .Rd3 , in connection with . . . Bxb2 , was simpler.
22.Qxa7+
And not 2 2 .bxc3 ? ? Ra4, when Black wins the house.
22 . . . KfB? !
This natural move turns out to be inaccurate. Correct was 2 2 . . . KeS ! , when
2 3 .Bh5 fails to 2 3 . . . Qe5+ 24.Kfl Rd7.
PA L B E N KO: MY LI FE, GAMES AN D COMPOSITI O N S
2 3 .0-0? !
White returns the favor. He had to try 2 3 .Bh5 Be7 (A fun alternative is
2 3 . . . Qe5+ 24.Kfl Qxh5 2 5 ,QxbS+ RdS 26.Qf4, when both 2 6 ... Qh3 + and
12
26 . . . cxb2 are interesting, though I'm not sure if either offers more than a
draw,) 24.bxc3 Qe5+ 2 5 .Kfl Ra4 26.f4 Qxf4+ 2 7 .gxf4 Rxa7, when Black is
still better, though not nearly as much as in the game (i.e., 2 S .h4 h4!).
2 3 . . . cxb2 24.Rab l Rd3 2 S .Be4
Black is still much better after 2 5 .Bh5 Be7, since 2 6.Rxb2 ? ? Ra3 wins right
away.
2 S ... Ra3 26.Rbdl Rxa7 27.Rxd6 Rxa2
White succeeded in rescuing his Queen, but the resultant endgame doesn't
promise him anything but misery-the b-pawn is simply too strong and,
in a very interesting way, it is helped by its doubled brother on b5.
2 S.Rb l
Blockading with the Bishop fails to 2 S .Bb l Ra l 29.Rdd l ReS, when Black
wins easily by 30 . . . Be7, 3 1 .. .Ba3 , and 32 . . . Rc 1 .
2 S ... Ra l 29.Rdd l ReS 3 0.Kfl Re l 3 1 .Ke2 Bc3 3 2 . g4? BeS
Black has defended himself against ... f7-f5 , however the advance of the
g-pawn accelerated his inevitable demise since the f4-square is now avail
able to Black's Bishop. Nevertheless, the game was lost in any case since,
if White had employed a passive defense, Black would have broken the
blockade by marching his King to a2 .
3 3 .h4 Bf4 34.Bd3 b4 3 S .Be4 Kg7 3 6.gS b3 3 7 .Bd3 Re2 + 3 S .m Be l ,
0- 1 .
The editor of Magyar Sakkvilag wrote: "A beautiful game ! The conges
tion of pieces in this endgame is spectacular. "
While I was going through my own drama, my brother, father and scores of
other Hungarian men were being worked to death in prison camps. Many died of
hunger, though they were told that the Hungarian "workers" were eating as well
as the peasants (In other words, the average Russian was also starving at that time! ).
I N TH E BEG I N N I N G
Under such conditions, i t was no surprise that my father became ill and, since he
was unable to work, the Russians released him and my brother. You can imagine
my relief when they returned to Budapest. Soon my family was together again,
and this bit of stability allowed me to begin university (During my first year it 13
was called the University of Economy. In year two the communists took over and
renamed it the Karl Marx University.), where I majored in economics.
One thing that still stands out in my mind is the inflation, which was rampant
throughout Hungary. Money became so worthless that workers preferred being
paid in food! In fact, I played in the Hungarian Championship where the prizes
were food rather than money-I was absolutely delighted to get the chance to
win something so valuable !
was not new even when I played it in 1 946, since it is possible to find these
ideas over the board, as I did. Why Petrosian played 3 .Bb2 and didn't em
ploy the superior 3 .e3 is a mystery. However, now it's too late, for 4.e3 e5
14 5 .d4 cxd4 6.exd4 e4! again blocks the b2-Bishop and mobilizes a danger
ous kingside pawn majority. Incidentally, I had some difficulty naming this
opening since, at the time this game was played, no one had ever heard of
the Larsen Opening- in fact, no one had even heard of Larsen! Perhaps
"Larsen Opening" is an anachronism.
4.d4 cxd4 S .Qxd4 eS 6.Qd2 Ne6 7.e3 Bb4!
An original plan that activates this Bishop and stops White's c2 -c4. S.c3
BaS 9.b4 Bb6 1 0.a4
The "aggressive" 1 0.c4 fails to 1 0 . . . dxc4 I I .Bxc4 Nxb4! .
1 0 . . . Be6
Still making sure that White can't play c3 -c4.
1 1 .aS Be7 1 2 .a6 bxa6 1 3 .Bxa6 Nge7 14.Na3 0-0 l S .O-O?
This natural move costs a pawn, but Black's position was already superior
when you take his strong center into consideration. White's only break,
c4, was bad because of 1 5 ... Nxb4! .
l S . . . e4! 1 6.Ne l Nxb4! 1 7.NbS
Since 1 7 .cxb4 Qd6 threatens both ... Qxh2 mate and ... Qxa6, White tries
to console himself with possession of d4.
1 7 . . . Nxa6 l S . Rxa6 Bb6 1 9 .Nd4 BeS 2 0 . Ra2 NfS 2 1 .Nee2 Nxd4
2 2 .Nxd4 Qd7
This defends the e6 and f5 squares and allows me eventually to activate
my light-squared Bishop by . . . a7-a5 followed by . . . Ba6.
2 3 .0
White has to gain a bit of activity in this fashion before Black plays
. . . a7-a5 , . . . Bc8-a6-c4, and then . . .f6-f5-f4 with a complete crush.
23 . . . exO 24.Rxf3 ReS 2 S .Qd3 as 26.Ba3 Ba6 27.QfS
Interestingly, Barcza trades Queens even though he's a pawn down.
Objectively, of course, it is better to keep the pieces and trade pawns (when
you're in trouble in an endgame, try and trade off as many pawns as pos
sible !), but Barcza has faith in his endgame technique.
2 7 ... QxfS 2 S.NxfS Be4 29.Rd2 RadS 3 0.m g6 3 1 .Nd6
Again, longer resistance was possible after 3 1 .Nd4, avoiding the trade of
pieces.
3 1 . . .Re6 3 2 .Nxe4 dxe4 3 3 .RxdS+ BxdS 3 4.Rf4 Re6 3 5 .Kf3 fS
I N T H E BEG I N N I N G
15
Stopping the white King from reaching an active position and threaten
ing 3 6 . . . Bg5 3 7 .Rd4 Bf6. Black has the right Bishop (I was very careful
not to allow the creation of opposite-colored Bishops!), his pawns are on
the right squares, and with his extra passed pawn the win is assured-with
the right technique.
3 6.Ke2 BgS 3 7.Rfl a4 3 8.Kd2 Re6 3 9.BeS ReS !
Forcing the white Bishop to give up its blockade of the passed pawn.
40.Bd4 RaS 4 1 .Ke2 a3 42 .Kh l Kf7 !
The King can't wait to reach e4!
43 .Ka2 Be7
By defending a 3 , my Rook is free for more aggressive action.
44.Rh l
Otherwise, 44 . . . Rb5 and a black King march will decide.
44 ... Ra6 4S .Rh7 Re6 46.Bh6 Ke6 47.BaS hS
Now my King is free to roam since everything is guarded: the Bishop
defends a3 and the Rook defends c4 and g6. Notice how Black is taking
his time. Patience is a very important quality in the endgame.
48.Rh l
If 48 .Bb4 Bxb4 49.Rxb4 Kd5-e4 wins easily.
48 . . . KdS 49.Bh4
Since ...Ke4 would end the game, White makes one last desperate attempt.
49 . . . Bxh4 SO.exh4 c3 S 1 .Kxa3 e2 S2 .Rc 1 Ke4 S 3 .hS Re8 S4.h6 Kd3
S S .Kh3 Rh8, 0- 1 .
velops White's Bishop . Instead, Black usually plays 6 . . . Be7 o r 6 . . . Bb4, only
taking on c4 after the fl -Bishop moves, thereby making it move twice .
1 3 .Nxd5!
Now the players will have matching d-pawns , as 1 3 . . .Nxd 5 1 4. Bxd5 ! ,
hitting a 8 , wins material.
1 5 .Ne5 Re8?
I N TH E B EG I N N I N G
Black only notices one threat, but l S . . . h 6 1 6 .Nc6 Qd6 1 7 .Nxe7 + Qxe 7
1 8 .BxdS hxgS 1 9.Bxa8 Rxa8 20.dS is also insufficient. He could try 1 5 . . .Qd6,
although 1 6 .Bf4 is a strong reply.
17
1 6.Nxf7 ! Bxf7 1 7.Qxe7 Re8 1 8.Qxd8
I could have captured his a7-pawn as well, but why complicate when the
exchange of Queens leads to a dead won, completely safe, endgame?
1 8 . . . Rcxd8
White 's pawn plus and Bishop pair should make it possible to win in more
than one way. I decided to play for exchanges- first the Rooks, then my
dark-squared Bishop for the Knight-and to set up an advantageous pawn
formation, forcing Black's pawns onto light squares so they would be vul
nerable to attack by my light-squared Bishop . Black will be left with an
inferior minor piece (on top of being down a pawn) , and these positional
and material advantages should prove to be more than enough. Watch how
it's done !
1 9.0
A useful move that keeps the Black Knight off e4 and g4, and also lets my
King enter the game on f2 .
2 3 . B xc l Ke 7 2 4 . Bf4 a6 2 S . g4 h6 2 6 . B e S Ke 6 2 7 . B e2 g6
28.Bd3 bS
There is nothing better. White can win the queenside pawns at his leisure
after 2 8 . . . aS 2 9 .Bc7 Nd 7 3 0 .Bb S .
3 4 . . . b4 3 S .a3
Fixing the target on a4 and clearing away the c3 -square so that White 's
King can eventually penetrate on the queenside.
18
35 . . . bxa3 3 6.bxa3 Nf6 3 7.Bxf6 Kxf6 3 8 .g5 +
Making sure that all the black pawns are permanently stuck on light squares.
This concept of "fixing" enemy pawns on undesirable squares is an im
portant one .
19
PAL B E N KO : MY LI FE, GAMES AN D COMPO S ITI O N S
l .e4
20
Years later (in 1 9 7 3 ) a Mr. Heinen offered to play two postal games against
me for a fee . He wanted Black in both games. Since I'd been away from
postal for so long, I decided to accept his offer. Here is one of the games :
l . e4 c5 2 .NB Nc6 3 . d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5 .Nc3 d6 6 . Bg5 e6 7 . Qd2 Be7
s .o-o-o 0-0 9 . f4 Nxd4 1 0. Qxd4 h6 I I . Bh4 Qa5 1 2 .Bc4 RdS (Black's most
popular and best move is 12 . . . Bd7) 1 3 .Rhfl ! (This is considered the strongest
continuation. White aims for f4-f5 which, after . . . e 5 , gives him control of
the d5 -square . If Black avoids . . . e6-e5 and allows White to play fxe6, Black's
King- Rook will be missed from the kingside and the f6-square will be
come the target of a sacrificial frenzy.) 1 3 . . . a6? (Too slow. 1 3 . . . Bd7 seems
to be the most natural move) 1 4.f5 b5 1 5 .Bb3 Bd7 1 6 .fxe6 fxe6 1 7 . Bxf6
Bxf6 I S .Rxf6 ! gxf6 1 9 . Qxf6 Kh7 2 0 . Qf7+ Kh S 2 1 . Qg6, 1 -0 . Black can't
defend against Qxh6+ followed by Rd3 .
1 . . .Nf6
The Alekhine Defense never became a permanent part of my repertoire .
However, I thought it would be fun to give it a try on this occasion.
9 . . . Qd7
The modern choice is 9 . . . Be7, when Black gets comfortable equality, though
many of the lines are very complicated and require thorough study.
l O.dS
This aggressive move is also of Swiss origin, but it seems to be dubious.
The more restrained 1 0 .Be2 is White 's only real hope for an opening
advantage .
l 2 .Nd4
AFfE R T H E WAR
21
A position full of excitement and tension has been reached. 12 . . . Bg6 was
recommended at the time, but it seemed to be too passive and I rejected
it. In fact, as I discovered later, this whole variation had been thoroughly
mined by the Swiss analysts , while my only compass was my chess intu
ition. Henneberger "proved" that 12 . . . Bg6 was indeed too slow: 1 3 .Bb5 !
c6 1 4. dxc6 bxc6 1 5 .Nxc6 ! Nxc6 1 6 .Qf3 ReS 1 7 . Rc 1 , and "White will re
gain the piece on c6 . " Years went by before I looked at this position again,
and then I realized that 1 7 . . . Nc4! I S .Bf4 Bd3 ! ! turns this whole line up
side down . So much for established theory!
Instead of 1 2 . . . B g 6 , the game Tomasits - D r. Bata continued with
12 . . . 0-0-0, and there followed 1 3 .Bb5 ! c6 1 4.dxc6 bxc6 1 5 .0-0. Now 1 5 . . . Be6
was recommended as the best solution, but this was refuted by Henneberger
(against Emden in 1 946) by 1 6 . a 3 ! cxb 5 1 7 . axb4 Bc4 I S . Qc2 KbS ! 1 9 . Rfd l
Nd5 ( 1 9 . . . Bxb4 2 0 .e6!) 2 0 .Ndxb 5 Bxb4 2 1 .Bxa 7 + . Since 1 2 . . . Bg4 10ses a
piece immediately to 1 3 .e6 ! , Black is left with 1 2 . . . N6xd 5 , though this looks
very dangerous . However, after prolonged thought I finally decided to do
just that, daring White to punish me.
1 4.Nxf5 Qxe5
22
I thought that Black had a superior position. He has two pawns for the
Bishop and will probably be able to win back his piece. No sudden attacks
are possible : 1 5 . Qf3 Nc2 + 1 6 . Kf2 Nxa l 1 7 . B b 5 + Qxb S I S . Qe4+ Kd 7
1 9.Rd l + KcS ! 2 0 . Rxa l Bc5 , and Black keeps his material advantage .
1 5 .Rc l ! !
An excellent and unexpected move ! I didn't know it at the time, of course,
but this too was Henneberger's analysis. It paradoxically takes the
initiative, although it not only doesn't give check, it promises to return
the piece and even to sacrifice further material. Now 1 5 . . . RdS would be
answered by 1 6 . Qf3 , so Black has no choice but to take the piece
"biting the bullet, " as some would say- and hope that things work out.
I B.O-O! !
The alternative is I S .Kf2 Be 7 1 9 . Rxb 7 , but Black comes out on top after
1 9 . . . 0-0 2 0 . Q d 7 (not 2 0 . Bxc6 Qxc6 2 1 . Rxe7 Qf6+) 20 . . . Qf6+ 2 1 .Ke2
(2 1 .Kg l runs into 2 1 . . . RadS 2 2 . Qg4 Qe6 ! ) 2 1 . . .Na 5 .
I B . . . Qxe 3 +
Forced. I f I S . . . B e 7 1 9 . Re l , I couldn't castle: 1 9 . . . 0 - 0 ? 2 0 . Bxc6 bxc6
2 1 . B f2 , a n d Wh i t e wi n s . Al s o u n p l e a s a n t fo r B l a c k is I S . . . B d 6
1 9 . Rxb 7 0-0 ( 1 9 . . . Qxe 3 + 2 0 .Kh l 0 - 0 2 1 . Qxd6 i s worse) 2 0 .Qb3 Qxb 3
2 1 . axb 3 , when White wins the a-pawn and retains excellent winning
chances.
'-;7-�M!'-���lii
22 . . . Rxc6 2 3 .Rb8+ Ke7 (or 2 3 . . . Kd7 24.Qa5 , with a winning attack) 24.Qh4+
g5 2 5 . Qd4, and Black has to hang it up .
2 1 .Rxc6 ! !
This is a better winning try than the very interesting 2 1 .Rxb7 gxh5 2 2 .Bxc6+
Rd7 n . Rd7 Qe6 ! 2 4.Rd6+ Ke7 2 5 . Rxe6+ Kxe6 ! 2 6 .Be8 f6 2 7 . Bxh5 Bd6
2 8 .Bg4+ Ke7 2 9 .Bf5 Be5, with excellent drawing chances.
23 ... Rd6?
Sacrificing the Queen in order to put an end to the attack. At the time I
thought this was the only defense, but it turns out that another, much
safer, choice existed: 2 3 .. .f5 ! 24.Qc7+ (2 4.Re l wins the Queen but ends
the attack. However, "\Vhite still retains some initiative after 2 4 . . . Qxe l
2 5 . Qxe l + Kf7 2 6 .Ba4! Bd6 2 7 .Bb3 +) 2 4 . . . Kf6 2 5 . Qxd8+ Kg7 2 6 . Rd l Be7
2 7 .Qa5 Rc8 2 8 . Re l Qc5 =. I should mention that the "tricky" 23 ... Qf4? ?
would be refuted by 24.Qe l + .
24.Qc7+!
He doesn't even think o f 24.Re l , which wins the Queen but ends the at
tack and merely restores material equality (once again, "\Vhite would have
a slight initiative after 24 . . . Qxe 1 + 2 5 . Qxe 1 Re6 2 6 . Qb4+, but I would have
welcomed this after the hair-raising horrors I'd been through ! ) . After
24.Qc7+, I think that Black is losing.
24
A position worth looking a t ! Black has a n extra Rook, but his King i s per
ilously placed in the center. The King is safe at the moment, but White's
attack isn't over.
26.Bd7
It doesn't help White to check aimlessly and chase the King to a safer
port. This move covers the e6-square and creates a strong threat of 2 7 . QeS+.
26 . . . Kd4
The complications arising from 2 6 . . . Qd2 ! ? 2 7 .Ba4! are also interesting, but
Black still seems to be in serious trouble. I'll only give one line: 2 7 . . . Qxb2
2 S .Qf4+ Kd5 2 9.Bb3+ Kc6 3 0 . Qa4+ Kb6 3 1 . Qb4+, and it's over.
27.h4? !
Finally White goes wrong. The best move was 2 7 .Bg4 ! , when I would
have been hard pressed to resist the attack: 2 7 . . . Bh6 (Black also goes down
in flames after both 2 7 . . . Kc5 2 S . Qxa7+ Rb6 2 9 . Qc7+ Kb 5 3 0. a4+ Ka6
3 1 . B c S , and 2 7 . . . a6 2 S . Q a 7 + Kd 3 2 9 . Qc7 Kd4 3 0 . Q a 5 ! Bg7 3 1 . Rd l +)
2 S . Qxa7+ Ke5 2 9 . Qe7+, 1 -0.
29.Rd l
Not s o good i s the tempting 2 9 . Qxa7+ Kc3 3 0.Qa3 + Kc4 3 1 .Qb3 + Kb5 , and
the King slips away: 3 2 .a4+ (a better try than 3 2 .Rd l ReS !) 32 . . . Kb6 3 3 .Qc4
RfS 3 4 . a 5 + Kb 7 ! 3 5 .a6+ Rxa6 3 6 .BcS+ (or 3 6 . RxfS BxfS 3 7 . BcS+ KbS
3 S .Bxa6 Qe l +, with a draw) 3 6 . . . KbS 3 7 .Bxa6 Rxfl + 3 S . Qxfl Qxb4 =.
3 1 .Qxa7+
Best. Black holds after 3 1 . Qe7 BfS 3 2 . Qxa7 + Kd3 , when the threat of
3 3 . . . Re I keeps him alive and well.
3 1 . . . Kc3 3 2 .Bg4? !
AFTE R T H E WAR
32 . . . Kb2 ! , 1 /2_112 .
Now that Black's King has found shelter, his colleague begins to feel the
danger. I offered a draw here and sent my opponent the following line:
3 3 . Bxc8 (3 3 .h3 leads to mate, and 3 3 . g3 is not sufficient due to 3 3 . . . Rc2 )
3 3 . . . Rd 1 + 3 4 . Q g 1 Rxg 1 + 3 5 .Kxg 1 Be3 + 3 6 . Kf1 Kxa2 , and the opposite
colored Bishops ensure a peaceful result.
1 3 . . . Bb7
In the Polugaevsky-Tal game, Black chased the Bishop off its active di
agonal by 1 3 . . . NaS . However, after 1 4.Bd3 Bb7 I S . Rfe 1 ! Rc8 1 6 .d S ! ! exdS
1 7 .eS Nc4 1 8 . Qf4 Nb2 1 9. Bxh7 + ! , White got a murderous attack and won
in brilliant style. Lately, this kind of reversal has prompted Black to try
1 1 . . .Nd 7 , so as to leave the c-file open and to transfer the Knight to f6
where it can defend the King. Nevertheless, the same Rook setup com
bined with an eventual dS break still looks good for White.
1 4.Qf4
AFT E R T H E WAR
2 3 .QxcS+ Rf8 24.Qd7 h 6 2 S .Ne6 Rfi 26.QeS+ Nf8 2 7.NdS Rd7 2S.eS !
Will this pawn decide the game? It seemed so at the time. The point is
that 2 7 . . . QdS fails to 2 S .e6 RxdS 2 9 .Qf7+ Kh7 3 0 .e7 ! Qxf7 3 1 . exdS=Q. 1t
28
is interesting to note that in this as well as other variations, the white Rook
is only an onlooker.
2 S . . . Qa3 ? ?
Black fails t o find the only defense. He had to try 2 S . . . Rc7 ! 2 9.e6 Qe2 ! ,
when it's remarkably hard to demonstrate the expected white advantage :
3 0 . Rb 1 b S ! ! (and not 3 0 . . . Qd2 ? 3 1 .Nc6 ! ) 3 1 . Qxb 5 Rc 1 + 3 2 .Kh2 Qxf2
3 3 .Rxc 1 Qf4+ .
29.Nc6
Now it's all over. The threat of eS -e6 (or Ne7+, if Black moves his Queen
off the a 3 -fS diagonal) is overwhelming.
l .e4 cS 2 .NB Nc6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 S .Nc3 d6 6.Be2 e6 7.0-0 Be7
S.Kh l 0-0 9.f4 Qc7 1 0.BB RdS ! ?
I had my own ideas about how the Scheveningen should b e handled! The
text lets me answer a quick wing attack by g2 -g4 with a central counterstrike
by . . . d6-dS or . . . e6-e S .
29
This is the point of Black's setup . Now 1 5 .Nxa5 bxa5 gives Black a strong
initiative thanks to the open b- and c-files, and it's doubtful if the doubled
a-pawns will ever become a liability (In a way, Black gets B enko Gambit
type queenside play without sacrificing a pawn ! ) . At the time, . . . Na5 was a
new idea ( . . . Nb4 was usual) . However, today (in many different forms and
positions) it's accepted as a normal maneuver.
1 8 ... b4 1 9.Nce2 e S !
After having driven White back o n the queenside, Black now takes over
the initiative both in the center and on the kingside.
20.Nb3
Of course, 2 0 .Nf5 loses to 20 . . . Bxf5 2 1 . exf5 e4.
game i s about equal after this, but Black could have played better: 3 2 . . . g5 ! ,
instead o f 3 2 . . . B fS , is far more effective and leaves White under serious
pressure .
30
29 ... BgS !
Also possible is 2 9 . . . Qe4 ! ? , since 3 0 .Re3 Qxf4 3 1 .Nxb7 Qc7 leaves the
Knight trapped. So 2 9 . . . Qe4 100ks pretty good, but White had other op
tions that might not have been so clear. Thus, I decided to cash in my
positional advantage by trading down to an endgame with an extra pawn.
3 0.Re3
Black wins after 3 0 .Nxc6 Rxe2 3 1 .Kg I Bxc6 3 2 .Bxg5 Rxg2 + B .KfI h6.
Even worse is 3 0 .Qf2 Qxg2 + 3 1 . Qxg2 Re I mate.
30 ... Rxe3 3 1 .Bxe3 Qxg2 + 3 2 .Qxg2 Bxg2 + n .Kxg2 Bxe3 3 4.m Bd4
3 S .Nc6
White has no time for 3 5 .b 3 (going after the h4-pawn) , since the black
kingside pawns would be too fast. Instead, he tries to exchange as many
pawns as possible.
3 S ... Bxb2 3 6.Nxb4 BeS 3 7.h3 fS 3 S.Nc6 Bd6 3 9.c4 Kf7 40.Nd4 Kf6
4 1 .Nb3 gS 42 .cS BeS 43 .c6 Ke6 44.NcS+ KdS 4S .Nd7 Bd6 46.c7 !
This advance of the c-pawn is his best chance. Completely hopeless is
46.Nf6+ Kxc6 47 .Nxh7 B e 7 .
SO.Ke3
White's plan has almost succeeded, but in the process his Knight has ven
tured into unsafe territory. I expected him to play the most challenging
line: 5 0.Ng6 Bf6 5 1 .h4 ! ? g4+ ! (After 5 1 . . .gxh4 5 2 .Nf4, White is closing in
on the draw. If he can sacrifice his Knight for the f-pawn, Black won't be
able to win since a classic Bishop and wrong-colored rook pawn position
would be achieved.) 5 2 .Kf4 Ke6 5 3 .h 5 (5 3 .NfS+ Kf7 54.Nd7 Bd4 5 5 .NbS
B e 5 + 5 6 . Kxe 5 g3 wins for Black) 5 3 , . . Bd4! 5 4.Nf8 + Kf7 5 5 .Kxf5 (5 5 .Nh7
Bf6 ! ) 5 5 . . . g3 5 6 .Ne6 Be3 5 7 .h6 g2 5 S .h7 g I =Q 5 9 .hS=Q Qg6+ 60.Ke5
Qxe6 mate . These lines are very much like a composed study.
A FTE R T H E WAR
50 ... Bf6
I toyed with the idea of cornering the Knight on the other side of the
board: 50 . . . Ke7 5 1 .Ng6+ Kf6 5 2 .NfS Be7 5 3 .Nd7+ Ke6 54.Nb8 Kd6 5 5 .Kd4
31
f4 5 6 . Ke4 Kc7 5 7 .Na6+ Kb7 , and the Knight is lost. However, I finally
decided to stick to my original plan.
5 1 .1ffi
This was his last chance to try 5 1 .h4 ! ? g4! 5 2 .Ng6 (52 .Kf4 B e 5 +) 5 2 . . . Bg7,
though Black still wins with some care . After 5 1 .Kf3 , I force the exchange
of minor pieces when the King and pawn endgame offers no difficulties.
5 1 . . .Ke7 52 .Nh7 Kf7 5 3 .Nxf6 Kxf6 54.Kf2 Kg6 5 5 .Kg2 Kh5 56.Kg3
f4+ , 0- 1 .
Unfortunately, the most interesting part of this endgame could only be
published in my notes. In any case, Maroczy considered it the best endgame
of the tournament.
The Budapest tournament had hardly ended when I was invited to participate
in another event, this time in the beautiful Austrian spa town of Bad Gastein.
Originally, various Soviet masters were invited, but they chose not to play. Per
haps they couldn't because Bad Gastein was situated in the American zone. What
ever the reason was, their refusal diminished the prestige of the tournament,
and this led to the prize fund being cut by quite a bit. In response, the Swiss
master Grob withdrew in protest.
Even though the start was chaotic,
the site turned out to be very comfort
able, thanks in part to the Marshall
Plan (U. S . Secretary of State General
George Marshall's plan to offer free
loans to war-torn countries that needed
to rebuild their economies. Austria
made use of it, but Czechoslovakia,
Poland, and Hungary declined.). After
so many years of hardship, the luxury
of a spa (combined with the very use
ful experience I picked up at the pre
vious grandmaster tournament) did
wonders for my play-I started with
a perfect 4-0 and, in the fifth round,
found myself paired with Polzer, who
was in l a s t . Full of c o n fi d e n c e , I
couldn't have guessed that I was in for
a very unpleasant surprise !
(Photo courtesy USeE)
PAL B E N KO : M Y LI FE, GAMES AN D C O M POSITI O N S
l .NO Nf6 2.c4 d6 3 .d4 Nbd7 4.Nc3 g6 5 .e4 e5 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Bg5
32 Bg7 S.Nxe 5 ? !
I have t o confess that, upon seeing this move, I almost fell out o f my chair!
Naturally, I suspected that I had walked into some sort of well-known trap,
and I began to scold myself for not knowing theory.
l O . . . Be6 ? !
Giving the piece back s o I could reestablish material equality. However,
since this gives White the advantage, and since l O o o .Ned7 ? 1 1 .0-0-0 leaves
Black busted, I decided the trap was correct and, at the first opportunity,
that I should use it myself as White against some other poor, unsuspect
ing, fool.
I must admit that I tried to spring it on Grandmaster Lilienthal but,
luckily for me, he avoided this line by answering BgS with an immediate
o o .h7-h6. I didn't come close to catching someone in this line again until I
gave a 1 949 simultaneous exhibition in Moscow against a group of college
students . In one of the games, my young opponent allowed me to reach
the position after l O.NdS (yes, I did experience a certain glee when I played
S .NxeS). Sure that this was going to be easy, I made my moves in the other
games and finally got back to my "trapped victim, " who calmly tossed out
1 0 o o .Neg4! and wiped me off the board !
It turns out that 1 0 . o oNg4 refutes S .Nxe S , since 1 1 .0-0-0 ( l 1 . Rd l Bd7
1 2 . e S loses to 1 2 o o .ReS) 1 1 . . .Bd7 ! (The tempting 1 1 . . .Nxf2 isn't as strong:
1 2 .Be2 Nxd l 1 3 .Rxd l Be6 1 4.eS ! BxdS I S . exf6 BfS 1 6 .RxdS +) 1 2 .eS (He
should try 1 2 .Be2 c6 1 3 .Nxf6 Bxf6 1 4.Rxd7+ Kxd7 I S . Bxg4+ Ke7 , though
this is, of course, also miserable for White.) 1 2 o o .Bh6 ! 1 3 .Bxh6 NxdS forces
White to resign. Remarkably, where I and other masters failed to find the
I do battle with G randmaster Kotov, Budapest vs. Moscow Match 1 949.
1 1 .0-0-0 Ke8 1 2 .Bxf6 Bxf6 1 3 .Nxf6 Nxe4 1 4.Bxe4 Bxe4 1 5 .b3 Be6
Though Black has regained his pawn, the Knight on f6 is very strong. In
addition, the a8-Rook is cut off from the game. My next few moves address
this problem.
1 6.f4 a5 1 7.g4 Ra6 1 8.e5 a4 1 9.Kb2 axb3 20.axb3 Rb6 2 1 .Rd3 Rd8
22 .Rxd8+?
Of course, 2 2 .Rhd l ? ? would have been a mistake due t o 2 2 . . . Rxb 3 + . How
ever, White could have given me a hard time with 2 2 .Ra l ! Ra6 2 3 .Rxd8+
Kxd8 2 4 . Rxa6 bxa6 2 5 . g5 , followed by Nxh7 when he has a winning
PAL B E N KO : MY LIFE, GAM ES AND C O M POSITI O N S
Another memory I have of Bad Gastein was meeting a very beautiful young
woman during the tournament. She was wonderful, and we spent a lot of time
together and became pretty close. As was so typical of those times, we somehow
lost track of each other.
Twenty years went by and, by then, I was living in the United States. One day
a letter arrived. Amazingly, it turned out to be from her ! She told me that she
owned a hotel in Switzerland and she invited me to visit. I was polite and sent
her a postcard, but a second letter followed where she admitted that she now
had four children and was twice her previous size ! Again I replied and politely
refused her invitation. Sometimes it's best to leave the past alone.
In 1 945, I was making a bit of extra money working in a textile factory. Since
many of the workers there lifted weights, I joined them and also had some fun
playing for their chess team. This newfound physical strength turned out to be
useful. Around this time, I competed in an international event in Bucharest, Ro
mania. It turned out that the Romanian gymnastic team (which mostly consisted
of Hungarians ! ) was staying in the same hotel. When some free time appeared, I
went with them to work out and made a bet with one of the professional gym
nasts that I could beat him to the top of the rope. I won, and was rewarded with
two kilos of Halva.
With work, school, tournaments, and simultaneous exhibitions wearing me
down, I decided to take some time off and enj oy a trip to the beach with a girl
friend. We were hanging out by a swimming pool and ran into another boy
friend of hers. He and his friends began to make rude remarks and then one of
them pushed me into the water, trying to humiliate me in front of the girl. Natu
rally, I couldn't let him get away with this kind of behavior so I hit him. He took
a swing or two and I just grabbed him and forced his head underwater, and I was
so strong that he wasn't able to do anything about it. He pulled my hair and
struggled, but soon he went limp and it took several police to pull me off of him.
The guy was half dead, but since he started it, they let me go (though I was
forced to pay a fine) .
When I went back to Budapest a couple of days later, a friend asked me about
my fight with the boxer. I was stunned; how could he have known about this?
And why did he think this guy was a boxer? Then he showed me the newspaper,
AFT E R TH E WAR
and the headline read: " Chess master beats up professional boxer on the beach . "
I n the story, it said that chess players might be tougher than people thought!
The rest of 1 948 and all of 1 949 was spent tending to my university studies,
with just a little chess on the side (games 9- 1 3 ) . One highlight was my winning 35
6 . . .Nf6 7.NSc3 !
The natural 7 .N l c3 allowed 7 . . . a6 8 .Nd4 Nxe4! 9.Nxe4 Qe5 .
13 . . .NxdS
36
And not 1 3" .Nxe4? ? 1 4.Nxe7 + Kf8 I S .Nxc6.
The position has cleared up, with White emerging with an extra pawn.
However, he must play cautiously due to his open kingside.
24.Qb3 + Kf8
Black shows no interest in going into a pawn-down Rook endgame after
2 4 . . . QdS .
2 S .f6 Rd2
On 2 S . . . gxf6 , White should avoid 2 6 . Qe6? due to 2 6 . . . Rd6. However,
2 6 . Qxb7 is simple and strong.
32 ... RxfS 3 3 .gxfS KxfS 3 4.Kf2 Ke4 3 S .Ke2 Kd4 3 6.Kd2 hS 3 7.h4 Ke4
This is his only chance. Obviously, moving his King to the queenside would
have been a hopeless cause.
3 8 .Kc3 Kf4 3 9.b4 Kg3 40.bS Kxh4 4 1 .a4 Kg3 42 .aS h4 43 .b6 axb6
44.a6 ! , 1 -0 .
AFT E R T H E WAR
The following game was played in a team competition between Budapest and 37
Moscow. The Russian team consisted of a very powerful eight-player lineup that
included (aside from Ragozin) Smyslov, Bronstein, Kotov, and Lilienthal. I had
to play all of them twice, once in Budapest and once in Moscow. When the event
concluded, I was honored to have scored the best result on the Hungarian team.
l O . . . d6
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAMES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
We've reached one o f the key positions i n the Budapest Gambit. White's
Bishop pair gives him a slight advantage. Black's game, though solid, is
also a bit passive, and this kind of situation is not to the taste of most
38 Budapest gambiteers. I was sure that Ragozin, a very tactical player, couldn't
have been too comfortable here.
I 1 .Be2
Also common is 1 1 .Qc3 and 1 1 .Rc l .
1 1 .. .Bd7
A bit out of the ordinary, but not necessarily bad. More common is
1 1 . . .0-0 1 2 .0-0, when both 12 . . . aS ! ? and 12 . . . b6 are quite playable.
1 2 .0-0 Bc6
Worse is 12 . . . 0-0 ? ! 1 3 . cS ! , when 1 3 . . . dxcS ? ? 1 4. Bxe S QxeS I S . Qxd7 wins
a pIece.
1 4 ... fS ? !
H e couldn't resist making this premature kingside demonstration. White
immediately counterattacks on the queenside and in the center.
I S .b4!
The threat is 1 6 .bS Bd7 1 7 . Q d S + , winning the b7 -pawn, while c4-cS is
also hanging over Black's head.
1 7 . . . Rd8
He accepts a weakness on d6. However, 1 7 . . . dxcS 1 8 .QdS was far worse.
White has placed his pieces on excellent squares and isolated Black's d
pawn. This sounds very impressive, but how does White make progress?
A FT E R T H E WAR
2 1 .h4!
The immediate 2 l . Bh4 was met by 2 1 . . . g5 . Now, however, White threat
ens to play 22 . h 5 , when both Bh4 and h6 will cause Black some uneasy
39
moments .
2 7.Bh4 Qh6
If 27 . . . Ng5 , White would win material by 2 S .KfI (and not 2 S .f4? Nh3 +)
followed by f4.
3 1 .BdS
The rest is just a matter of technique.
3 4 .Rc7 RfS 3 5 . gxB Qf6 3 6 . QfS QxfS 3 7 . exfS Kg7 3 S . Rxd6 KgS
3 9.Rdd7 h6 40.f6 g4 4 1 .f4 g3 42 .fxg3 , 1 -0.
A very smooth win against a strong Soviet player.
1 .e4 cS 2 .NB Nc6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 S .Nc3 d6 6.BgS e6 7.g3
An unusual continuation. 7 . Qd2 is seen in the vast maj ority of games.
1 2 ... bxc6
A tough choice. More cautious is 1 2 . . . Bxc6, when the b6-square can be
guarded by . . . Nd7 . The text, though, is also quite playable, and leads to a
more complex battle than 1 2 . . . Bxc6 .
1 3 .aS ! ? RbS
PAL B E N KO : M Y L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
I f it hadn't been a team match (which means that you have a responsibility
to your teammates) I would most likely have tried 1 3 . . . c5 1 4. e 5 dxe 5 , sac
rificing the Exchange for a promising position (i.e., a pawn and play against
40 White's weakened kingside light-squares) . After 1 3 . . . Rb8 , I get a cramped
but solid position where it's possible to try calmly (and safely!) to outplay
my opponent.
A tense position has been reached where Black has to stay on top of the
pressure against d6, c6, b6, and a6. Though many moves are possible here,
I decided to end threats against a6 in the most dynamic manner possible.
1 9 . . . cS
Now 2 0 . Bfl can be met by 20 . . . c4.
20.eS?
This central break (which might have been more effective later in the game)
brings Black's pieces to life. White had many calm alternatives like 2 0 . Bfl
or 2 0 . Rad l or 2 0 . Kh l . Also very interesting is the ugly 2 0 . f5 ! ? , giving the
e 5 -square to Black's Knight: 2 0 . . . Ne5 2 1 .Qg3 Bc6 (It might be better to
play 2 1 . . .Bd7 2 2 .Nxc5 Bb5 2 3 .Nb3 Qxc2 24.Nd4 Qxb2 2 5 .Rab l Qd2 , with
a complex struggle ahead.) 2 2 .Nc3 (better than 2 2 .b3 Bb5 2 3 .Nc3 Bc6
2 4.Bxc5 dxc5 2 5 . Qxe5 B f6 2 6 . Qxc5 Bb7 2 7 . Qxc8 B d4+), when the dis
gusting 22 .. .f6 might be called for. Normally (after 22 .. .f6) White would
stand considerably better in such a position, but the fact that the Bishop
on b6 is locked out of the game makes things tolerable (the piece is inac
tive and vulnerable to a well timed . . . Nd7).
20 . . . dxeS 2 1 .fS ?
I expected 2 1 .fxe5 c4, when Black stands better. White's choice, 2 1 .f5 ? ,
just loses a pawn. Apparently h e thought h e was winning a piece, but my
reply brings him back to reality.
AFTE R T H E WAR
2 S . . . RbS 26.c3
And not 2 6 .Rxc5 ? ? Rxc5 2 7 .Nxc5 Bd4+, winning a piece.
26 . . . Be7
The threat of . . . Rxa5 forces White to play aggressively.
32 .Kf1
White would like to play 3 2 . Ra7 (or even 3 2 . Rb6, stopping Black's Rook
from getting behind his passed pawn) , but both moves lose to 32 . . . Bxc 5 + .
3 2 . . . Rb8 !
Just i n time. I f the b- and c-pawns were off the board, White would play
3 3 . RaS and force the drawn position discussed earlier. Unfortunately for
White, the existence of these pawns now makes the pure Bishop endgame
an easy win for Black.
3 8 . . . Rc l 3 9.Ra8+
White could have put up more resistance with 3 9.Rc7, though Black should
would still win after 3 9 . . . g5 40.h3 Kg7 .
42
3 9 . . . Ke7 40.Ra7+ Ke6 4 1 .Ra6+ Ke5 !
Intending to take the game into a winning King and pawn ending.
42 .Ra5+ Kf6 43 .Ra6+ Kg5 44.Ra7 Rxc4 45.Rxfi Rf4+ 46.Rxf4 Kxf4
Less experienced players usually think that such positions are always easy
to win, but g- and h-pawn versus h-pawn is often drawn, depending on
the position of the pawns and on the activity of the respective Kings . The
stronger side must be very careful before entering such endgames because
the slightest detail can turn an apparent win into a depressing draw. In the
present case Black wins because his King is dominant, and also because
his g-pawn stands on g7. This gives him critical tempo moves that wouldn't
exist if the pawn stood on g6 . Yes, it's amazing but true: if Black's pawn
stood on g6 the game would not be winnable!
50.Kh l h4 5 1 .Kgl g6 !
Black can push his g-pawn one or two squares, and this allows us to see why
the pawn had to be on g7 when we first entered the King and pawn endgame.
If 5 L .g5 , White draws after 5 2 .Kh l g4 (Black would also be unable to win
after 52 . . . Kg4 5 3 .Kg2 Kf4 54.Kf2) 5 3 .Kg l g3 5 4.hxg3 hxg3 5 5 .Kh l , taking
the opposition and saving the game. By moving the pawn to g6 first, White
won't be able to take the opposition at the critical moment.
A final j oke . 5 5 .hxg3 hxg3 5 6 . Kg l g2 5 7 .Kf2 Kh2 was also the end.
55 . . . g2 , 0- 1 .
Not falling for 5 5 . . . gxh2 + ? ? 5 6 . Kh l with a draw.
43
5 .Bf4!
Usual is 5 . g3 , but this move (not possible from normal/accurate Dutch
move orders) followed by e2-e3 is very nice for White .
5 ...Nf6 6.e3
This position first occurred in Staunton-Saint Amant, London 1 843 !
6 ... Be7
I would have answered 6 ... Bd6 with 7.Bd3 , since 7 ... Bxf4 8 .exf4 gives White
a lock on the important e 5 -square.
9.h3 Kh8
And not 9 . . . Qh5 1 0 .Ne5 . White would be happy to exchange Queens and
stop Black's attack before it even begins.
44
24.Ra l
I considered sacrificing the a-pawn and going all out o n the kingside via
2 4.Kh2 followed by g2 -g4, but decided that it was too slow.
24 ... aS 2 S .e4! ?
Black has outplayed me positionally, but I still have trumps to use: This
move gets rid of the black f-pawn and allows me to pursue a kingside
attack via f4-f5 - f6 . Once my attack gets underway, my Bishop (which has
had no influence on the queenside) will become a hero.
36 . . .c4?
Black still thought he was safe, and decided to shove his pawns to victory.
Naturally, 3 7 .Rxb4? ? lost to 3 7 . . . Qe l +. As it turns out, he had to play
45
3 6 . . . Raf7, even though it would cost a pawn after 3 7 .RxcS Rxf6 3 S.Qxb4.
3 7.f7 !
A real lightning bolt! Both players were in severe time pressure, and this
made it almost impossible for Black to hold the position.
3 7 ... Raxf7?
Losing immediately. Also hopeless was 3 7 . . . Rfxf7 3 S.Qd4+ KgS 3 9.RgS+,
leading to mate or loss of the black Queen. However, Black could have
still put up resistance with 3 7 . . . Rd7 .
3 S.Qd4+ Rf6
As horrible as it is, Black was forced to walk into this pin.
3 9.Rbfl Kg7 40.RgS + KhS 4 1 .g4! ! , 1 -0.
This is the point of White's play! Now the loss of Black's Rook is inevi
table since the threat of 42 .RgfS Kg7 43 .gS is impossible to deal with. If
4 1 . . .h6 42 .Rg6 ends things, while 4 1 . . .c3 42 .RgfS c2 43 .Rxf6 Rxf6 44.Rxf6
c 1 =Q+ 4S.Rf1 + also forces resignation.
7.0-0 Bd6?
This looks nice and active, but it's actually a serious mistake. Much better is
7 ... Nc6 S.Nb3 Nf6 (and not S ... eS? 9.NxeS Qxd 1 1 0.Rxd l NxeS 1 1 .Re 1 f6
46
1 2 .f4, as seen in Tarrasch-Thorold, l S90), with a playable position.
8.Ne4 BeS 9.b4! Be7
Also awful is 9 ... Bxb4 1 0.Qxd4 (Though the threat of 1 1 . Qxg7 is obvious,
there is no satisfactory way to guard the g-pawn.) l O ... BfS ( 1 O . . . Qg6 would
lose a piece after 1 1 .BbS+, while 1 O .. .f6 1 1 .Bxe6 Nc6 1 2 .Qc4 Bxe6 1 3 .Qxe6+
is also very much in White's favor.) 1 1 .NeS, when Black is hopelessly be
hind in development: l 1 . . .f6 1 2 .BbS+ Nc6 1 3 .Nxc6 QxbS 1 4.QdS+ Kf7
l S.Qc7+ Kg6 1 6.NdS, when the dual threat of 1 7 .Qg3 + and 1 7 .Qf7+ gives
White a winning attack.
1 0.Qxd4 Nf6 1 1 .Nd6+ Bxd6 1 2 .Qxd6
• • •
Benko vs. Dr. Ogaba brings back happy memories for me. It features cutting
edge opening play (for the time ! ) and deep strategic planning, culminating in a
nice tactical display. In fact, games 1 4- 1 7 all show that my style during this pe
riod was quite sharp .
47
PAL B E N KO : M Y LIFE, GAMES A N D COMPOSITI O N S
(i.e., 6.b3 , 6.Nb3 , 6.Be2 , and 6.Bb5) in an effort to create new and origi
nal problems for my opponent.
6 ...Nb4
48
Also reasonable is 6 . . .f6.
7.Be2 cS S.c3 Nc6 9.0-0 Qb6
Trying to show that White's Knight on d2 is misplaced. However, this
doesn't turn out very well for Black, and later experience proved that his
best plan was 9 . . . cxd4 1 0.cxd4 f6 with approximate equality.
1 0.Nb3 !
After I completed this game, I learned that the position after 9 . . . Qb6 had
already been reached in an encounter between Dr. Balogh and Dr. Ogaba.
There, 1 0.Qb3 was played. This Knight move is a clear improvement, and
was later used by Geller to win several nice games.
1 0 . . . cxd4
Black tried t o . . . a5 in the game Geller-Vaganian, USSR ch. 1 97 5 . White
got a clear advantage after 1 1 . dxc 5 Qc7 1 2 .Bf4 Nxc5 1 3 .Nbd4.
1 l .cxd4 as 1 2 .a4
Forced. Now Black controls the b4-square, which seemingly assures him
of an equal game. However, this view is shallow. White's many plusses far
outweigh the single hole on b4: more central space, chances on the kingside,
control over b5, and he can also play to occupy c5, the possession of which
later proves decisive.
1 2 ... Be7
Reserving the b4-square for his Knight.
1 3 .BgS !
Black is faced with a difficult choice. Either he allows the trade of dark
squared Bishops, which would leave the c5-square fatally weak (in this sce
nario, Black's c8-Bishop and d7-Knight would both occupy bad positions),
or he pushes his pawn to f6, when his King will have trouble finding a safe
place to live.
1 become top dog in H u ngary, 1 950.
1 3 ... f6
Black doesn't want to be pushed around, so he decides on the more dy
namic answer.
14.exf6 gxf6
1 4 . . ,Nxf6 would leave Black having to care for an additional weakness
on e5 .
1 5 .Bh6 NfS 1 6.Nh4 Ng6 1 7.Bh5 Rg8 1 8.Qd3
As they say, strike while the iron is hot! My last few moves (Nh4, Bh5, and
Qd3) were all designed to provoke .. .f6-f5 . In that case, I would have quickly
brought my pieces back towards the center and initiated play against the
permanent weaknesses on e5 and e6.
1 8 ... Kd8
Rejecting the ugly 1 8 .. .f5 , and falling out of the frying pan and into the
fire. This King move ends the annoying pin against the g6-Knight, but
throws away his "life insurance policy," since queenside castling is now
impossible. Naturally, I would have been happy to see 1 8 . . . Nb4 1 9.Qg3
Bd6 2 0.Bf4 Bxf4 2 1 . Qxf4, since the threats of Qxf6 and Qh6, plus the fact
that c5 has completely fallen into White's hands, makes Black's prospects
very bleak.
19.Nf3
The pin has done its job, and now it's time to bring my pieces back to the
center and prepare to put pressure against the target on e6. Note that
1 9.Nxg6? hxg6 20.Bxg6 ? ? would be suicide, since 2 0 ... Rxg6 2 1 . Qxg6 Qxb3
picks up material.
1 9 ... Bd7 20.Rfe l
Once again, my attention turns to that juicy c5 -square.
PAL BEN KO: MY LI FE, GAMES AN D COMPOS I TI O N S
Black shows that he isn't afraid of White's pawn storm. More cautious is
1 0 . . .f5 .
1 l .f4 Ne4
52
White answers 1 1 . . .Ne6 with the strong 1 2 .f5 Bh4 1 3 .Qe3 Bg5 1 4.Qf2 .
1 2 .Bxe4 dxe4 1 3 .fS
due to time pressure, he fails to find the best defense and, as a result, his
position quickly goes downhill.
1 7 . . . Qc4?
53
A decisive blunder. Correct was 1 7 . . . Bxf5 , after which 1 8.Rxf5 ? Qxb2 wins
due to the weakness of White's back-rank. After 1 8.Bc3 ! Qb6! 1 9.e6 f6
20.Nd2 Bg6 (2 0 . . . Bxe6? 2 1 .Nxe4 Kh8 2 2 .Nxf6 ! gxf6 2 3 .Rxf6) 2 1 .Rae 1 ,
the battle rages on.
1 8.Na3 ! Bxa3 1 9.Bh6
9.0-0
White's sharpest move is 9.e4, when the position after 9 ... b4 1 0.Na4 c5 I l .e5
Nd5 has been very deeply analyzed.
54
9 . . . b4 1 0.Ne4
The main line, but 1O.Na4!? also deserves consideration.
1 0 . . . c5 ! ?
Initiating a very sharp, risky battle. More usual is 1 0 . . . Be7 or 1 0 . . .Nxe4
1 1 . Bxe4 Be7.
1 1 .Nxf6+
Less threatening is I l .Nxc5 Bxc5 1 2 .dxc5 Nxc5 1 3 .Bb5+ Ke7, when Black
has a solid position. For example, 1 4.Nd4 Qd5 1 5 .8 Rhd8 would be more
than comfortable for the second player.
1 1 . . . gxf6
And not 1 1 ...Nxf6? 1 2 .Bb5+. The move I chose, 1 1 . ..gxf6, ruins my kingside
pawn structure but opens up the g-file and, as a result, gives me some at
tacking chances. White's correct plan would now be a quick e4 (closing off
the diagonal of Black's light-squared Bishop) followed, possibly, by d4-d5 .
The position after 1 2 .e4 cxd4 (stopping White's dreams o f a d4-d5 advance)
1 3 .Nxd4 is a very complicated one, but practice has favored White and
Black rarely enters this line anymore.
1 2 .Qe2 Qb6 1 3 .a3
Black's King is insecure, so White is wisely trying to open up attacking
lines so his pieces can penetrate into my position.
1 3 . . . Bd6
I think 1 3 . . .b3 , keeping White's pieces contained, was a better idea. How
ever, I was very young at that time and, as is common for youth, couldn't
resist the siren call of a sharp tactical battle.
1 4.axb4 cxd4
Of course, 1 4 ... cxb4? would leave White with a clear advantage due to the
open a-file and the possibility of e3 -e4.
1 5 .exd4 Rg8
P ROV I N G M Y S E LF AT T H E MARO CZY M EM O RIAL
Now 1 6.Bxh7? is well met by 16 . . . Bxh2 + 1 7 .Kxh2 RhS, winning back the
piece with a good game due to Black's play on the open h-file.
1 6.bS ? ?
55
Much better was 1 6.Be4, closing off the dangerous diagonal. White wanted
to save the b-pawn and stop any possibility of . . . Qc6, but he overlooked
Black's main threat. After 1 6.Be4, White would have obtained the advan
tage, but now the tide suddenly turns.
1 6 . . . Qxd4!
A bolt from the blue. The Queen leaps into the attack, and it can't be
taken since 1 7 .Nxd4 Rxg2 + I S .Kh I Rxh2 + 1 9.Kgl Rh l is mate.
1 7.h3
Trying to stop the ... Qg4 threat or a mix of ... Rxg2+ followed by ... Qg4+.
But in any case, White no longer had a good defense against Black's attack.
1 7 NeS !
•..
56
At the time, this plan (an invention of mine) against the Sozin was new.
Theory marches on and, as mentioned in the last note, 1 2 .Qe2 became
the standard move. About four years after my Szabo game, Geller started
to play my . . . b7-bS idea against 1 2 .Qe2 . Naturally, the Russians called it
the Geller Variation!
1 3 .Nxb5
Equality results from 1 3 .eS dxe5 1 4.fxeS Nd7 I S .Ne4 Bxe4 1 6.Qxe4 NcS .
1 3 . . . Bxe4
Now we can see the difference between 1 2 . Qd3 and 1 2 . Qe2 . If the Queen
stood on e2 , 1 3 , . . Bxe4 wouldn't be with tempo! Another important
possibility is 1 3 , . .BxbS (the best move if White's Queen were on e2)
1 4.QxbS Nxe4 I S .fS . This position has been debated for many years, but
it seems that Black is perfectly all right after 1 5 . . . e S 1 6 . B e 3 BgS !
1 7 .Qd3 Bxe3+ 1 8.Qxe3 Nf6.
1 4.Qe2 Qd7
It might have been better to play 14 ... a6, since I S .Nc3 doesn't allow White
to make active use of his c-pawn.
1 5 .c4! d5
This seemed good at the time, but it only took a couple moves for me to
realize that I'd done something wrong. Better was I S . . . Bc6.
1 6.Rad l Qb7 1 7.cxd5
White could also have tried 1 7 .Nc3 ! ? dxc4 1 8.Bxc4, but I think Black's
okay after 1 8 . . . BfS ( 1 8 ... Bc6 1 9.fS gives White chances).
17 ... Bxd5 1 8.Bxd5 Nxd5 1 9.f5
White now has a dangerous initiative.
19 . . . a6 20.Nc3 Nxc3 2 1 .bxc3 exf5 2 2 .Rxf5 Rad8
I could have neutralized the powerful d4-Bishop by 2 2 . . . f6 . After
2 3 .Qe6+ Kh8 24.RdS Rad8 2 S .c4 White would stand better, so I decided
to take my chances in the tactics that follow.
2 3 .Re l Bd6 24.Qg4 g6 2 5 .Qg5
PROV I N G MYSELF AT TH E MARO CZY M E M O RIAL
57
White has a serious attack and Black has to show great resourcefulness if
he wants to survive. Instead of 2 5 .Qg5 , White could have considered the
interesting 2 5 .Rh5 ! ? However, Black is able to defend by 2 5 . . . RfeS 2 6.Rfl
(2 6.RxeS+? RxeS 2 7 .Rxh7 fails to 2 7 . . . Qb 1 +) 2 6 . . . BfS ! .
2 5 ... Bb8 ! ?
This move allows Black to get rid o f White's
powerful attacking Bishop by . . . Rxd4 or g zlo Szabo: Though Laszlo was
a good player, not many people liked
... Ba7. Now 2 6.Qf6 Rxd4 2 7 .cxd4 gxf5 only
him. He was a tough communist at
leaves White with perpetual check.
that time, a real party guy, and he took
26.Bf6 Rd6 full advantage of it. He once told me,
Not fearing 2 7 . Qh6 (2 7.Be7 ReS) 2 7 . . . Qb6+ when I was twenty-four, that if! didn't
2 S .Bd4 Rxd4 29.cxd4 Qxd4+ 3 0.Rf2 Ba7. behave and do what he told me to do,
he would make sure I was drafted into
27.Khl
the army a second time! Can you be
A very sane move . If White had played
lieve that guy? I had already done my
27 .Refl , Black would have answered with army nightmare stint when I was six
27 ... ReS !, when back-rank counterthreats lead teen, so I certainly had no desire to be
to salvation: 2 S.Qh6 Qb6+ 29.Bd4 (2 9.Kh I introduced to that kind of thing again !
Rxf6 3 0.Rxf6 Qxf6 3 1 .Rxf6 Re l + and mates)
29 ... Rxd4 3 0.cxd4 Qxd4+ 3 1 .Kh I (or 3 1 .R5f2
Ba7, threatening 3 2 ... Qxf2 + ! 3 3 .Rxf2 Re I mate) 3 1 .. .gxf5 .
2 7 . . . Re6 2 8.Refl
It looks like Black doesn't have a defense against Qh6. For example, 2 S ... Re2
29.R5f3 wins.
28 ... Qc7 !
Suddenly Black has a powerful counterattack! Now the advantage moves
to my side.
29.g3
This avoids 29.R5f4 Qxf4 3 0.Rxf4 Re l + and mates. Best, though, was
29.Qh6 Qxh2+ 3 0.Qxh2 Bxh2 , when White can play the endgame a pawn
down.
29 ... Qc6+ 30.R5f3 ?
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , G A M E S A N D CO M POSITI O N S
An exasperated Szabo falls apart. The only move was 30.R l f3 , though
3 0 . . . Be5 3 1 .Bxe5 Rxe5 stops the attack and leaves White on the edge of a
precipice.
58
3 0 ... Re l !
This double threat of 3 1 ...QxB + or . . . Rxf1 + is a killer.
3 1 .Rxe l
We get the same finish as in the game after 3 1 .Kg 1 QxB .
3 1 ...Qxf3+ 3 2 .Kgl Ba7+ H .Bd4 Qxc3 ! , 0- 1 .
• • •
Early in 1 952 I was invited to play in the exceptionally strong Maroczy Memo
rial (games 1 8-2 0), held in Budapest. Here I faced such chess giants as Botvinnik,
Geller, Keres (who eventually won the event), Petrosian, and Smyslov.
I was able to observe many interesting players at this tournament. Stahlberg, for
example, liked to drink. (Actually, most players, past and present, have had this
habit. Personally, I've never had any interest in alcohol.) The organizers wanted
the big Soviet names to win, and they were worried that Stahlberg might do well
and spoil their plans. To ensure this didn't happen, they allowed him to drink any
thing he wanted for free, thinking it would affect his play. He happily took them
up on this offer and almost won the tournament!
Seeing that the liquor wasn't having any effect on him at all, the organizers
desperately offered me extra money if I could beat Stahlberg in the last round.
Since I intended to try to win anyway, I accepted -
money wasn't something you refused in those days !
I won this game and picked up a nice, extra "prize. "
Herman Pilnik and O'Kelly were both entertain
ing. Pilnik was a real ladies' man, an incredible char
acter. He was constantly chasing after women, al
ways trying to attract their attention.
O'Kelly had a very different pick-up strategy: he
brought nylon stockings and panties with him, and
these were worth a lot in Hungary because they were
only available in the West-women would do any
thing to get their hands on these things ! He called
it "Hungarian currency."
I remember the East German player Platz, who lost
H e rman Pil n i k, the "lad i es' man."
(Photo courtesy USCF.)
the first nine games. I beat him in the tenth, with a
King's Indian using . . . Nas. I think this was a new idea
at the time. He also lost the eleventh game. In the twelfth game he played the
World Champion, Botvinnik, and Botvinnik got a horrible position and was very
lucky to draw. This guy loses eleven in a row and then beats up the champ! The
lesson I learned against Polzer (in game 8) comes to mind!
PROVI N G MYSELF AT T H E MARO CZY M E M O RIAL
Po l ugayevsky (left to 59
right) , O ' Kel ly,
Trifu n ovich, and
Geller in 1 9 64. Back
in 1 952, O ' Ke l ly had
his own form of
" H u ngarian
cu rrency."
(Photo courtesy
USeF.)
1 3 . . .Nxd5 1 4.Ndc4 Qc7 1 5 .Qd2 Ndb4 1 6.f4 Rad8 1 7.c3 Nc6 1 8.Qe3
cxd4 1 9.cxd4
The isolated pawn finally arrives. As compensation, White's pieces have
60
become very active.
1 9 ... Nab4 20.Rac 1 Bd5
Neutralizing my powerful g2 -Bishop. Here I spent a lot of time looking
deeply into the position. Black's control over d5 and pressure against d4
could prove annoying unless I did something about it. But what can be
done? Eventually I came up with an interesting plan based on some key
minor piece exchanges.
2 1 .Rfd l Rfe8 2 2 .Ba3 !
The start of my plan. Black's Knights are the key to his control over d5, so
trading off my poor dark-squared Bishop for one of these steeds makes
excellent sense.
22 . . . Bxg2 2 3 .Kxg2 e6 24.Qe4 Bf8 2 5 .Bxb4!
Now Black only has one Knight left. Note that his remaining Bishop has
little impact in the fight over d4 and d 5 .
2 5 . . . Nxb4
Worse was 2 5 ... Bxb4 2 6.Nxc6 Qxc6 2 7 . Qxc6 bxc6 2 8 .Ne5 c5 29.dxc5 Rxd l
3 0.Rxd l Bxc5 3 1 .Rd7, when White stands better.
26.Ne3 Qe7 2 7.Rc5
I could have gotten rid of my isolated pawn and gained approximate equality
by 2 7 .d5, but I decided to try for more. With 3 7 ,Rc5 , I'm bringing an
other piece to bear on the embattled d5-square and also intend to double
Rooks on the c-file. Both sides were already in time trouble due to the
difficult positional decisions that had to be made,
2 7 . . .b6
This move forces my Rook off of c5, but it also weakens the c6-square.
The flashy 2 7 ... Rxd4 Ieads to equality, and therefore might be best: 2 8.Rxd4
Qxc5 2 9 . Qxb7 (Also interesting is 2 9.N3 g4! ? ) 2 9 . . . Be7 3 0.Rd7 Qxe3
3 1 .Rxe7, with a draw.
28.Rcc 1 Bg7 29.Rc4 Qd6 3 0.Rdc 1 f6
� an Petrosian: We were friendly
when I lived in Hungary. However,
White's control of the c-file is worth Petrosian began to treat me poorly af
more than Black's pressure against d4. ter I escaped, trying to win points with
The text move chases away my power his government.
fully placed Knight, but it also creates He had a very strange, solid, style that
The battle is finally decided, but Petrosian plays it out for a few more
moves.
S 6 . . . exdS S 7 . KxdS Nf6+ S S . Ke6 Ne4 S 9 . Kb S Ke6 60.NxaS Nc3 +
6 1 .Ke4 Nxa4 62.bxa4, 1 -0.
Black gave up since he has no possibility for counterplay (his King is still
stuck guarding g6 !). White will move his King to b5 and push his a-pawn
to victory.
My plan is clear: I will bring this Knight to f5 where it will attack d4.
Then I'll take the e5- and g5 -squares away from "White's B -Knight with
. . . f7 -f6 and, if allowed, will cement my control over f5 with . . . h 7 -h5 (stop-
PAL B E N KO : M Y L I F E , GAM ES A N D CO M POSITI O N S
ping g2 -g4). If all this can be accomplished, Black will have an excellent
game!
1 7.g3 f6 1 8 .Kg2
64
Too much preparation! White had to play 1 8.h5 if he wanted to stop my
dream setup.
18 ... NfS 1 9.Bb l hS ! 20.Qd2
Completely losing the thread. His last chance to keep the initiative was
20.Bxf5 gxf5 2 1 .Ne l Qe8 2 2 .Nb 5 .
20 ...Nce7 2 1 .Re l Qb6 2 2 .b3 Qb4, liz_liz .
I accepted Botvinnik's offer of a draw. Too bad! White has run out of tar
gets to attack and now Black is in the driver's seat. I should have squeezed
him by doubling Rooks on the c-file and keeping him tied down to his
weak d4-pawn. All this could have been done without risk, but I was young
and my opponent was the World Champion!
l .NO dS 2 .g3 Nf6 3 .Bg2 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 S.d4 0-0 6.c4 c6 7.Nbd2
In the '80s and '90s, White has tried to milk the rather dull position arising
after 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.Ne5 .With 7.Nbd2 , I'm not trying to claim
an opening advantage. Instead, I'm simply trying to create an interesting
strategic battle that will give me room to outplay my opponent.
7 ...BfS 8.b3 Ne4 9.Bb2 as 10.h3
I've had Black in this position on a couple of occasions (see game 2 7 ,
Weinstein-Benko, U.S. ch. 1 959). Usual i s 1 0.Nh4 Nxd2 1 1 .Qxd2 , but I
don't think White has much after 1 1 . . . Be6. Of course, 1 0.h3 is just some
thing I came up with over the board, and certainly doesn't improve on
1 O.Nh4.
10 ... Na6 I 1 .Nh4 Be6?
It's usually not a wise decision to give up a center pawn for an h-pawn.
This rule is especially true here, since White can use the open h-file for
an attack. Better was 1 1 . . .Nxd2 1 2 .Qxd2 Be6, when I would have played
1 3 .cxd5 cxd5 1 4.Rfc l . White then has a very slight edge due to the mis
placed black Knight on a6 (it would much prefer to be on c6).
1 2 .Nxe4 dxe4 1 3 .Bxe4 Bxh3 14.Bg2 Bxg2 1 5 .Kxg2
I was quite pleased with my position here. White has a central space
advantage and kingside chances based on Rh l .
1 5 ... a4 16.NO
The Knight wasn't doing anything on h4 and had to be brought back into
play. Never leave your pieces on squares that don't offer them a bright
future.
P ROV I N G MYSELF AT TH E MARO CZY M E M O RIAL
By trading off Black's only kingside defender (the g7-Bishop), White starts
a powerful attack.
1 9 . . . Bxb2
Black couldn't avoid the exchange with 1 9 . . .f6, since 2 0.Nd4 followed by
Ne6 would be too strong.
20.Qxb2 hS
Simply bad is 20 . . . a3 (or 20 . . . cxd 5 ? 2 1 .Rxh7!) 2 1 .Qc3 cxd5 2 2 .Rxh7! d4
2 3 .Nxd4 Kxh7 (also hopeless is 2 3 ,..Qe5 24.Rh4 g5 2 5 .Rg4) 24.Rh l + Kg8
2 5 .Ne6 Qc6+ 2 6.f3 f6 2 7 .Qc2 ! Qe8 2 8.Nxd8 .
2 1 .g4
Of course, 2 1 .e4 wasn't bad, but why not dismember your opponent when
the chance arises?
2 1 . ..cxdS 22 .gxhS Ra6 !
Black finds the only way to slow down White's attack. On 2 2 ... dxc4, White's
attack becomes overwhelming after 2 3 .hxg6 c3 24.Qc2 ! .
2 3 .hxg6
Also very strong was 2 3 .h6.
2 3 ... Rxg6+ 24.KfI d4! ?
This tricky move closes the diagonal, but the d-pawn is vulnerable here.
The alternative, 24 . . . Rg7 , can be met in two different ways. First, White
can claim a safe advantage by 2 5 .cxd5 Rxd5 2 6.bxa4 Nc6 2 7 .Rb l . More
interesting, though, is 2 5 .Qd4 dxc4 26.Qh4 Kf8 (Black's best defense is
26 .. .f6, when White has to settle for 2 7 .bxc4 Nc6 2 8 .Rb l , with a plus)
PA L B E N KO : M Y L I F E , GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
27.Ng5 ! RgS 2S.Qh7 Qf4 (or 2 S ... Rxg5 29.Qh6+ Rg7 3 0.Rgl) 29.Rgl Qxg5
3 0.Rxg5 .
2 S .Qc2 !
66
Though 2 5 .Nxd4 seems tempting, Black gets too much counterplay after
25 ... Qe5 2 6.Rd l Nc6 27.e3, and now 27 ... Qe4? is a mistake: 2 S,RhS+ ! KxhS
2 9.Nxc6+ Kh7 3 0.RxdS Rf6! 3 1 .Qd4 Qb l + 3 2 .Qd l Qxd 1 + B .Rxd l Rxc6
34.Ke2 axb3 3 5 .axb3 Rb6 3 6.Rd 3 , when White can torture Black in the
pawn-up endgame. However, 2 7 . . . Rdd6 ! (swinging the Rook over to the
kingside in many variations) leaves White in a real bind. For example:
2 S . Qd2 (or 2 S.Re l axb3 29.axb3 Qe4 3 0.f3 Rdf6) 2S . . . Nxd4 2 9.exd4 Qe4,
and White's position starts to fall apart. My 2 5 .Qc2 ! intends to surround
the d-pawn in a much more controlled, dynamic, way.
2 S ... Qf4 26.Rh4 Qf6 27.Rd l axb3 2 8.axb3 Nc6 29.Qe4
All of White's pieces are taking aim at d4.
29 ... eS 30.b4!
67
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
excellent chance to get safely to the West. If our plan in W. Berlin didn't work
out, though, I'd be doomed. After all, West Berlin was surrounded by East Ger
many-almost like an island- so I wasn't sure how we'd get out. Ultimately I
68 decided that it was best to just give up on our immediate plans to escape since,
clearly, we hadn't thought this through too well!
So we returned to the East Berlin train station and, as we were walking, I sud
denly changed my mind again! The Korean War was going on at that time and I
couldn't be 1 00% sure if another opportunity to escape would really arise- those
tournaments might be cancelled or I might not be allowed to attend for some
unknown reason (I wasn't a good boy politically, so anything could happen).
As if we were living out a scene from some silver-screen comedy, we once again
headed for the subway when a East German sport official appeared who knew
us. He wanted to know where we were going, we told him that we intended to
buy some cigarettes and whatnot, and he told us that we should return to our
team to avoid missing the train. We were trapped!
This created a real-life case of time pressure and, as anyone who has followed
my career knows, I've never been able to make decent decisions when the clock
is loudly ticking. We began to go back to the train with him, but I whispered to
Fiister, "Look, when we reach that comer, you run right and I'll run left and if
we're both lucky, I'll meet you at the consulate in West Berlin. " (A typical time
pressure plan!)
Things became a bit surreal here. We hit the comer, I started to run, and
Fiister just stood there! Suddenly there were cries of, "Halt! Halt!" Policemen
appeared, they eventually ran me down, and I was arrested and taken to prison.
In the meantime, while they were hunting for me, nobody was paying attention
to Fiister. He quietly waited until everyone had dashed off, and then calmly walked
to the subway and escaped! He could have told me that he wasn't going to run,
but no . . . We never did discuss this fiasco, but I have to admit that, at the time,
I felt like I had been set up.
I was kept for three days in an East German prison where I was questioned.
Of course, I couldn't deny anything-I was running in the opposite direction so
they caught me red-handed. After this, I was taken to Prague for three more
days, though this was a good deal since other Hungarian prisoners had been
detained for up to six months! Then a group of Hungarian secret police ap
peared in a car and took me to Budapest, which was actually a mercy because the
food in the Prague prisons was the worst I've ever experienced!
Back in Hungary, I was accused of being an American spy. An almost non
stop, three-week interrogation began that was designed to break me down men
tally so I would confess to all my crimes. During this time I was kept alone in a
prison cell - there was no contact with anyone other than the people question
ing me. Sleep wasn't allowed and bright lights were constantly in my face.
At first they asked me about the CIA, but I didn't know what that was. A poorly
pronounced "CIA" actually sounds like the Hungarian word for cats, so I thought
they were talking about an infestation of cats - it made no sense to me at all.
FALL FROM G RAC E
Finally I said, "I don't own any cats ! " This enraged them and they threatened to
start physical beatings, but I managed to calm them down by saying 1'd sign
anything they put in front of me!
During these interrogations, I was forced to write down what I had been do- 69
My family didn't know I was locked away, they thought I had escaped! There
is a chessplayer named F. Benko in Argentina, and they thought this was me.
After a couple of months I was allowed to send them a postcard. I asked for one
70 kilo of lard, one kilo of jam (this was common among poor people- putting
lard and jam with a bit of pepper on bread gives you some energy), and that was
all I was allowed. It was only then that my family realized I was in prison. They
couldn't do anything for me, but it was still nice to know that I hadn't been
completely forgotten.
The one person who did know that I was locked away was Grandmaster Szabo.
He was the political editor of the top Hungarian chess magazine. The first page
had nothing about chess on it at all, just political ravings about the wonders of
communism. This mean-spirited person had no interest in helping me out; in
fact, he was happy about my being arrested!
Some of the prisoners had already been there for six years. No time frame had
been mentioned about my stay, and this implied that I was serving a life sen
tence. I became increasingly certain that I was going to rot there until I died
one moment a national chess hero, the next a broken creature relegated to an
existence of perpetual night.
Obviously, conversation became the main mode of entertainment. In time,
you would hear the life story of everyone in your room . . . then, you would
hear it again.
Many of the people I met hadn't done anything wrong at all. I knew one man
whose son had escaped from the army and had run to Austria. He was out of
official reach, so the powers that be arrested his mother, his father, and his brother
and placed them all in prison camp as a warning to anyone else that was even
thinking about breaking the law! These people had nothing to do with their
son's escape, but they were sacrificed and made an example of.
Another man, an editor of a sport magazine, was seen happily singing a song
in a restaurant. For some reason (perhaps it was a western tune), they said this
made him a traitor, and he was also locked away. Just for singing! Other people
were heard telling jokes that were determined to be "inappropriate," and this
was enough to give them life in prison camp.
Every day we would line up, and the guards would count everyone. Nobody
ever escaped. If a person collapsed, he would be dragged out and we wouldn't
see him again. I remember doing some physical work for a particular guard, and
he rewarded me by giving me six cigarettes. However, I don't smoke so I gave
them away to prisoners that do. Someone reported me - it was a crime to give
away a gift from a guard! They made me run up and down the staircase twenty
times and I learned my lesson. You have to realize that people would literally kill
each other for a cigarette. When I gave the cigs away, I thought, "We are all
prisoners . . . all equal . . . all brothers. " The man who reported me made it clear
that some were more "equal" than others.
I had been living like a diseased troll for a year and a half when a miracle
occurred: Stalin died. Shortly after this, President Nagy, who wanted to test the
FALL F RO M G RACE
Soviet's tight control, gave amnesty to most prisoners. Nagy was a communist
but was also a nationalist, so he tried to modify the Soviet mandate. The Soviet's
didn't like this and came into Hungary with tanks. They executed Nagy in 1 956.
After our release (in October, 1 95 3), we were given a lecture about not saying 71
White also can't expect anything from 8.Bb2 . In the game P. Nikolic
Krasenkov, Elista 1 998, Black equalized effortlessly after 8 ... cxd4 (of course,
8 . . . dxc4 is also good) 9.cxd5 Nxd5 1 0.Bxd4 Nf6 1 1 .Bb2 Qa5 1 2 .Na3 Nc6
1 3 .Qc1 Bf5 1 4.Nc4 Qa6.
8 ... Nxd5 9.Bb2 Nc6 l O.Qd2
Bad is 1 O.e3 ? Bg4 1 1 .h3 Bxf3 1 2 .Qxf3 Ndb4, when Black already stood
better in Gausel-Djurhuus, Munkebo 1 998.
l O ... Nc7
I avoided the tempting 1 0 ... cxd4 1 1 .Nxd4 Nxd4 1 2 .Bxd4! Nf4, since 1 3 .Bxg7
Qxd2 1 4.Nxd2 Nxe2 + 1 5 .Kh 1 Kxg7 1 6.Rfe 1 1eaves White with a very nice
endgame.
1 1 .Rd l Bg4
A hard choice. I wasn't interested in 1 1 . . . cxd4, though this was played four
years later in the game Raizman-Dunkelblum, Munich 1 9 5 8 . There fol
lowed 1 2 .Nxd4 Nxd4 1 3 .Bxd4 Bxd4 1 4.Qxd4 Qxd4 1 5 .Rxd4 Nb5 1 6.Rb4? ?
(Better is 1 6.Rd2 Rb8 1 7 .a4 Nd6 1 8.Nc3 Be6, with approximate equality.)
1 6 ... Rd8 ! 1 7 .Nd2 Nd4, and White is dead lost. However, I did take 1 1 .. .Be6
seriously. After 1 2 .d5 (Better is 1 2 .Na3 cxd4 1 3 .Nxd4 Nxd4 1 4.Bxd4 Bxd4
1 5 .Qxd4 Qxd4 1 6.Rxd4 Rad8 1 7 .Rxd8 Rxd8 1 8.Bxb7 Rd2 , when the ac
tive Rook on the seventh rank will ensure a draw.) 1 2 . . . Qxd5 1 3 .Nd4 Qd6
(during the game, I completely missed the stronger 1 3 . . . Qe5!) 1 4.Nxc6
Bxb2 1 5 .Nxe7+ Qxe7 1 6.Qxb2 Rad8 1 7 .Nc3 b6, White has nothing. Since
FALL FROM G RAC E
I wanted to play for a win, I finally decided that 1 1 . . .Bg4 gave me more
chances to reel in the full point.
1 2 .d5
73
Of course, 1 2 .dxcS ? ? loses instantly to 12 . . . Bxb2 .
1 2 ... Bxb2 1 3 .Qxb2 e6 1 4.d6
Perhaps this is a bit over-optimistic. The safer alternative was 1 4.Nc3 exdS
I S .Ne4 BxB (A year later, I S . . . d4? ! was played in the game Stahlberg
Beni, Hamburg 1 9 S 5 . White got a clear advantage after 1 6.NxcS Ne6?
1 7 .Nxb7, and went on to win.) 1 6.exB ( 1 6.BxB Nd4 1 7 .NxcS NxB + is
nothing for White, while the extremely tempting 1 6.Nf6+ leads nowhere
after 1 6 . . . Kh8 1 7 .NxdS+ Nd4 1 8 .Nxc7 Qxc7 1 9.BxB QeS) 1 6 . . . d4, and
Black's extra "half" pawn compensates for White's more active pieces.
1 4 ...Nd5
We've reached the key moment in the game. The result will revolve around
one question: "Is the d6-pawn strong or weak? " Black threatens to take on
d6 at once, so White is forced to find some way to make use of the
dynamic factors in his position.
1 5 .h3
I expected something more dynamic, but I have to admit that White can
still equalize after this move. Since the straightforward I S .e4 fails to I S ... Qf6
1 6.Qxf6 Nxf6, when Black will occupy d4 (or win d6!) and gain a clear
advantage, White only has two other moves to choose from: I S .Nc3 or
I S .Nbd2 : I S .Nc3 Qxd6! ( I S ... Qf6 1 6.Na4 Qxb2 1 7.Nxb2 Nc3 1 8.Rd2 Ne4
1 9.Rdd l Nc3 leads to a draw by repetition of moves) 1 6.Ne4 ( 1 6.e4 BxB
1 7 .BxB Nd4) 1 6 . . . Qe7 1 7 .Rac 1 ( 1 7 .RxdS is well met by 1 7 .. .fS !) 1 7 . . . BxB
1 8.Bxf3 b6 1 9.RxdS exdS 2 0.Nf6+ Kh8 2 1 .Nd7+ Nd4! 2 2 .NxfS QeS ! , gives
Black serious winning chances; I S .Nbd2 is a reasonable try, though White
fails to get any advantage after I S . . . BxB (worse is I S .. .fS 1 6 .NeS Bxe2
1 7 .Nxc6 bxc6 1 8.Re l Ba6 1 9.Rxe6 Bc8 2 0.BxdS cxdS 2 1 .Re7 d4 2 2 .Nc4)
1 6.Bxf3 Qxd6 1 7 .Nc4 Qe7 1 8 .BxdS exdS 1 9.RxdS Rad8, and Black has no
problems at all.
PA L B E N KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
Hopelessly opening up his King, but the game would also end quickly
after 29.QxbS Qf3+ 3 0.Kgl c2 ! 3 1 .QeS+ Kg7 3 2 .QeS+ Kh6.
29 . . . Qe6! 3 0 . e S Rd2 +
75
The rest of the game is a bloodbath.
3 1 .Kf3 Qxh3 32.Qxc3 Qg2 + H .Kg4 Qe2 + 3 4.QO
I would have preferred 3 4.KgS QhS+ 3 S .Kf6 QfS + 3 6.Ke7 Qe6 mate.
34 . . . hS+ , 0- i .
This obvious move turns out to be an error. Better was 1 6 . . . Bxd5 1 7 .Bg5
Be6 ( 1 7 .. .f6 1 S.Bf4) I S.Rad l Qc5 1 9 .Bh6 Qf5 ( 1 9 ... RdS 20.Qxh7) 20.Qg3
Qg6 (Even 20 ... RhS is possible since 2 1 .Qc3 f6! holds.) 2 1 .Qf3 RcS 2 2 .BxfS
KxfS, when Black is alive and kicking.
1 7.Bf4! !
On the immediate 1 7 .Bh6, Black might castle long when I S .Rxe 7 loses to
I S . . . RgS.
1 7 . . . Rd8
Now castling long is a mistake: 1 7 . . . 0-0-0 I S .Rxe7 RgS 1 9.Rc7+ KbS
20.Rxf7+, and Black will be mated.
1 8.Bh6 !
This might look like a loss of tempo but, in reality, Black's inability to
castle long now makes Bh6 very strong. White threatens 1 9 .QxfS+, and
the only way Black can deal with this is to give up his Queen.
1 8 ... Kd7 1 9 .Rad l
The rest of the game is not too difficult.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 S.O 0-0 6.Be3 eS 7.dS cS
Black's best choices are 7 . . . Nh5 followed by . . . f7 -f5 , or 7 . . . c6. Wanting to
label my move as a mistake, White stops me from carrying out that ma
neuver.
S.g4! hS !
In turn, I try to point out some of the disadvantages of 8.g4. More com
mon plans are 8 . . . Ne8 followed by 9 . . . f5 , or 8 . . . Na6 followed by . . . Nc7,
. . . a7-a6, . . . Rb8, and . . . b7-b 5 .
9.h3
I would have met 9.g5 with 9 . . . Nh7 followed by . . . f7-f6.
9 ...Nh7
A year later, the game Tal-Georgadze, USSR 1 956, continued 9 ...Na6 (pre
maturely moving this Knight away from the e5-square [via d7] , thus al
lowing White to play for a quick, effective, f3 -f4 advance.) 1 O.Qd2 Nh7
1 1 .0-0-0 h4 1 2 .f4! exf4 1 3 .Bxf4 Nc7 1 4.Nf3 , and White had a large ad
vantage.
10.Qd2
This gives Black a comfortable game. Better was 1 0.h4 ! ? or 1 O.gxh5 gxh5
(and not 10 ... Qh4+ l 1 .Bf2 Qxh5 1 2 .Nb5 ! when Black loses material) 1 1 .Rh2 ,
though Black's game is still playable: 1 1 . ..f5 1 2 .Rg2 ( 1 2 .exf5 ! ?) 1 2 .. .f4 1 3 .Bf2
Kh8 1 4.Rg6 Rg8 1 5 .Qd2 Bf6, with a reasonable position.
10 . . . h4 l 1 .gS f6 1 2 .gxf6 Qxf6
Also good is 1 2 . . . Bxf6, since 1 3 .f4 leads to a clear Black edge after 1 3 . . . exf4
1 4.Bxf4 Bg5 1 5 .Nge2 Nd7 followed by . . . Ne5 .
1 3 .Rh2 Na6 1 4.Rg2 Nc7 I S .Bd3 KhS 1 6.0-0-0 gS
FAL L FROM G RAC E
79
Necessary, else White would play Rfl followed by f3 -f4. Now White must
make a major decision since passive play allows Black to choose between
two good plans: he can start a queenside attack by . . . a 7 -a6 followed by
. . . b7-bS , or he can play positionally and strive to bring a Knight to f4 by
. . . Bh6 followed by . . . Nc7-e8-g7-hS .
1 7.Rxg5 ! ?
White couldn't prevent the plans just listed, s o this i s his only chance to
grab the initiative.
1 7 . . .Nxg5 1 8.Bxg5 Qg6 1 9.f4 Bh6 20.Nf3
White decides to turn the game into a wild berserker slugfest. A less dras
tic approach to the position was 2 0.Bxh6 Qxh6 2 l.fxeS (2 l .fS ! ?) 2 1 . . . Qxd2+
2 2 .Rxd2 dxeS 2 3 .Be2 , when the realization of the extra Exchange would
not be an easy task for Black.
20 . . . Bxg5
Also good was 2 0 . . . Rxf4, which
leads to a similar position after
2 1 .Bxh6 Qxh6.
2 1 .Nxg5 Rxf4 22 .Rgl Bd7 2 3 .Ne2
Rf2 ! 24.Qe3 Qf6
Cle arly the best move . On
24 ... Raf8, White can mix things up
with 2 S .Ne6 Rf1 +? (Black is still
in charge after 2 S . . . R8f3 ! , but I
thought it best to avoid the follow
ing complications: 26.Rxg6 Rxe3
2 7 . Kd 2 Rff3 2 8 . Rh 6 + Kg8
29.Rg6+ Kf7 3 0.Rg7 + Kf6 3 1 .Rxd7
Rxd3+ 3 2 .Kc2 Rde3 3 3 .Nd Nxe6
3 4 . Rxd6 Rf2 + 3 S . Kb 3 Rxh 3
3 6.Rxe6+) 2 6.Kc2 ! Rxgl 2 7 .Nxf8, Lajos Portisch, 1 9 66.
(Photo courtesy USC F.)
and Black has been tricked!
PA L B E N KO : M Y LIFE, GAMES AN D C O M POSITI O N S
2 S .Nf7+
Since Black didn't fall for White's � os Portisch: Lajos moved up
the ranks slowly. But eventually, by
trap, Portisch is now forced to add
80 working very hard on chess every day,
fuel to the fire and hope I slip up
he became one of the best players in
in the coming tactical complica
the world. He was famous for taking
tions.
a briefcase of chess notes and opening
2S . . . Qxf7 26.Qh6+ Qh7 2 7 . Qxd6 ideas everywhere he went.
Ne8 28.QxeS + Nf6 Tactically he wasn't very good. In
fact, he once told me that an average
2 8 . . . Ng7 allows 29.Qd6, with the
Hungarian master was better than him
threats of 3 0.Qxd7 and 30.Rg6 fol
tactically. Of course, this is an exag
lowed by 3 1 .Rh6.
geration, but his enormous positional
29.Qc3 Rg8 30.eS skills are what made him special .
tacks like a man who is looking death ond for an event in Bad Kissingen. I
wasn't used to Germany at that time,
in the face !
so when I walked in the sauna and saw
3 0 . . . Rxg l + 3 1 .Nxgl BfS !
a nude woman there, I thought that I
This counterattack puts an end to the must have gone in on ladies day! Em
battle, though White isn't quite ready barrassed, I began to retreat when I saw
to accept his fate. Portisch showering, and he explained
that it was, indeed, men's day. Shrug
3 2 .Qe l Qh6+ H .Kd l Bxd3 34.Qxf2
ging my shoulders, I once again headed
Ne4 3 S .Qg2
back into the sauna, this time running
No better was 3 5 .Qel Qf4, into two gorgeous eighteen-year-old
81
From l eft: Fo l d i , Novarovaki, Portisch, and Benko i n Reykj avik 1 957
was a useful political tool. I gave a press conference and explained why I didn't
want to go back. It almost seemed too simple, but I was free. All that remained
was to wait until I was given clearance to travel to the United States.
• • •
For a while, I tried to reach reversed King's Indians, Pircs, and Griinfelds with a
tempo more. The following game is one of my early experiments with this idea.
l .c4 Nf6 2 .Nc3 g6 3 .g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 S.d3 cS 6.NO dS 7.0-0
White has reached a reversed Yugoslav Variation of the King's Indian with
an extra tempo ( l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .NB Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5 .Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 c5
7 .Nc3 Nc6 is how it is achieved when Black plays the KID).
7 ... d4? !
Black enters a sharp main line with a tempo less. More reasonable would
have been 7 . . . dxc4 8.dxc4 Nc6, when we've suddenly reversed colors again
(I would have the white side of a Yugoslav Exchange Variation) !
8.Na4 Nfd7 9.e3 Nc6 1 0.exd4 cxd4
If 1 O . . . Nxd4 1 1 .Nxd4 Bxd4 1 2 .Be3 , Black would want to avoid 1 2 . . . e5 due
to 1 3 .Bh6 (White would also gain an edge by 1 3 .Bxd4 followed by playing
for a b2 -b4 advance.) 1 3 , ..Re8 1 4.Nc3 .
ESCAPE TO F RE E D O M
1 1 .a3 a5 1 2 .c5 !
83
84
The simple 2 2 .Nxd4! Bxd4 2 3 .Qxc6 Rc7 24.Qe4 is also good enough.
2 2 ... hxgS
Easy for White is 2 2 . . . Nd8 2 3 .Nxf7 Nb6 24.Nd6+ Nxd5 2 5 .Bxd5+, but
2 2 . . . Nde5 would have put up a lot more resistance.
2 3 .Qxc6 Rc7
Better than 2 3 . . . Qxc6 24.Bxc6 Rc7 2 5 .b5 Bf6 2 6 .Ba5 Ra7 2 7 .b6 Nxb6
2 8 .Bxb6 which, of course, is resignable for Black.
24.QbS Bf6 2 S .RaS
The rest is just technique, and doesn't require comments.
2 S . . . NbS 26.BxgS BxgS 27.QxgS Rc2 2 S.h4 Qc3 29.Rxe7 Rc 1 + 3 0.Kh2
Rf8 3 1 .BdS, 1 -0.
I was in Iceland for three months, and was treated very well there. I had two
girlfriends during that time, and they made my stay less alienating. The first
didn't last long, and we broke up. The second, though, was a very different mat
ter. We became very close. This, combined with well-wishers telling me that my
chess skills would be far more appreciated in Iceland because the game wasn't
popular in the United States, made me seriously consider settling down there.
This young lady and I became inseparable, and I remember being invited to her
parent's home for dinner. I immediately saw wedding bells in their eyes (at that
time, there were only 1 50,000 people in Iceland, and everyone wanted children)!
Ultimately, I decided that my destiny lay in the United States, and when my visa
arrived I broke the news to her that I had to leave. She came to the airport to say
goodbye, tears flowed, but we never saw each other again. This is all part of the
tournament traveling experience - at times it can be very hard, almost bittersweet.
I eventually heard she got married and had two children. Life goes on.
~ landed in New yo,k on Octobe< [7, [957. I was bmke, but not as
one might suspect , isolated. Thanks to chess, I had made many good friends all
over the world, and this "habit" continued in the United States. Meeting people
was natural and easy, but money was quite another matter! With only $350 to
my name (courtesy of a victory at an Icelandic event) and no place to live, I kept
my expenses down by renting a room at a YMCA and eating only two small
meals a day.
Now it was time to plan my future, but it quickly became clear that the chess
landscape painted an ugly picture. There were few tournaments, the prizes were
small in the events that did exist, and the United States Chess Federation (with
only 6,000 members) had limited funds-they offered me lots of moral support,
but I couldn't pry a penny from their fingers. This chess desert extended far
beyond my own life. The U.S. team couldn't go to the Olympics in Moscow due
to lack of funds, and the concept of a chess professional was non-existent:
Reshevsky had a job, Lombardy became a priest, Rossolimo was driving cab,
and Evans was into all sorts of things. With a heavy heart, I realized that I might
have to give up chess completely.
I left New York after only three weeks, traveling to Akron, Ohio to be with
my father. I was there a month when my father lost his job as an engineer (work
was very hard to come by at that time), and we both moved to Cleveland. Though
I was now based in Cleveland, I wanted to see the rest of the country. A traveling
opportunity arose when I got word that an international tournament in Dallas
was about to start, but the invitations had been sent out long ago and I wasn't
able to play. However, the organizers asked me to come anyway as an alternate.
If everyone showed up (which they did), they would make sure I played a few
games by arranging a match against the champion of Texas, Ken Smith.
85
PAL B E N KO: MY LI FE, GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
This match started easily for me, as I won the first three games. At that point
the organizers approached me and said, "You can't win every game ! It won't look
good. Next time, give him a draw." Not wanting to be rude to my hosts, I agreed
86 to their demand. We played twenty moves to make things look normal, and then
I proposed peace. He said, "No ! I stand better. " This really bothered me since I
hadn't been trying to win - if I had gained a large advantage it would be hard to
convince the spectators that the draw was legitimate.
The game, of course, continued, though now I was paying attention to the moves
I made! Soon I was on top and he offered a draw, but this time I refused. Looking
at me as if! had done something despicable, he screeched, "You promised! "
What could I do? I gave him the draw and walked away muttering to myself.
Later in that match I actually lost a game by hanging a Rook (a "habit" that I
eventually became famous for). In the end, the organizers were happy- even
though I had won by a wide margin, their champion had gotten his pound of
flesh and was able to retain a sense of dignity.
After my match with Smith, I continued west (Bent Larsen, who had played in
the Dallas tournament, went with me), stayed at Larry Evans' motel in Los An
geles for a month, and continued on to San Diego. Then I returned to Cleve
land for a few months, and finally (permanently) moved to New York where I got
an apartment for $9 a week. Still strapped for cash, I ate at the automats for a
dollar or so to keep costs down. It looked like life was going to be a continuous
struggle, all the more so when I was invited to the Portoroz Interzonal, only to
find that the USCF couldn't pay anything towards the trip.
At this point - like a western where the cavalry comes riding to the rescue
the Hungarian Sport Organization took me under wing, insisted I play in Portoro�,
and paid for all my expenses. Led by Mr. Friedrich Gorog- the very kind presi
dent of the Hungarian Jews Federation, to whom lowe a great debt- the goal
of this organization was to help disenfranchised Hungarian athletes in the United
States get on their feet. When I returned from the tournament, they got me a
job in a brokerage firm, and also arranged paid vacations whenever I needed to
play internationally. I was suddenly blessed with an incredible situation.
I did reasonably well in Portoroz and in the Zagreb Candidates Tournament,
though I didn't prepare at all. In fact, I was already working in the U.S . before
Zagreb and was no longer able to pay much attention to chess. Who could? My
job was very demanding - I had to rise at 6 A.M. every morning, fully concen
trate on my duties, and also find the time to study English.
My immediate financial worries were over, but the same could not be said for
the many desperate players in Eastern Europe. A good illustration of this is the
1959 Candidates Tournament in Zagreb, Yugoslavia. I arrived there a week be
fore the tournament started so I could get acclimatized. I didn't have an early
reservation at the international hotel where the event was going to be held, so I
found a smaller place to stay while waiting for everything to begin. This hotel
officially cost $1.25 a day, but on the black market you could arrange a price of
one dollar. Anyway, I was very happy about this price, of course, and then began
Enjoying the laid -back Cal ifornia lifestyle.
to search for reasonably cheap restaurants to eat at. Finally someone asked, "Why
are you eating out when you've already paid for your food? " I was shocked to
discover that the dollar a day price included both lodging and food-three full
meals every day!
When the tournament began, I ran into a Yugoslav friend who was acting as
second to one of the players, and he was looking for a place to stay. I recom
mended this amazing little hotel but he refused, telling me that a dollar a day
was much too much-it was far beyond his means ! In the end, he shared a room
with four other desperate Yugoslavs and they paid a quarter each.
I became acquainted with Fischer at the picturesque town of Portoroz, situ
ated along the Yugoslavian coast. He was just a teenager at that time, a nice kid.
Sometimes he would cry if he lost a game, and I quickly became quite fond of
him, almost protective. Once I asked him what he wanted to be, and he said, "I
want to be an international playboy, just like Benko ! " Unfortunately, he was al
ways very shy and never learned how to communicate with women.
This tournament was a very important one: Taking any of the top six places
ensured participation in the Candidates Tournament, so you can imagine how
tense the proceedings often were. Twenty-one of the world's strongest players
gathered together for this event-I had qualified for it in the Hungarian cham
pionship and the zonal tournament in Dublin.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , G A M E S A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
88
How grandmasters relax (in Belgrade).Tal (far left) , Petrosian, Averbach (holding on for
dear life in the middle) , and Keres (right) whose bow-tie became the subject of a
running series of jokes in the Yugoslav press.
(Photo courtesy USCF.)
Though I had seen Fischer's gentler side, I was also aware that he was an op
ponent to be reckoned with: He was only fifteen and was already U.S. Cham
pion and world famous. In fact, he was considered to be virtually unbeatable on
his home soil, so I was really looking forward to seeing his stuff. We were paired
in the fourth round with me having White. His performance in the event thus
far hadn't been spectacular, since he had played three of the weaker participants
and had only scored one win and two draws. He clearly didn't possess the kind,
of experience that only years of international competition produces, and this made
him vulnerable.
In his win (as Black) against the Hungarian-Canadian Fiister (yes, the same
Fiister that played such an important role in my arrest!), I spotted an improve
ment for White. Hoping that his self
confidence would lull him into a false
sense of security, thereby preventing
him from analyzing this game, I de
cided to use this same opening, posi
tive that he would play his favorite
King's Indian Defense. I intended to
test my new idea and drag him into un-
known territory, forcing him to solve difficult problems on his own. The follow
ing game was my first of three career victories over Fischer.
89
(25) Benko - Fischer (Portoroz I nterzonal, 1 958)
The impatience of youth! Here Bobby couldn't stand the pin on his f6-
Knight any longer, and breaks it at a huge cost: his f5-square is now seri
ously weakened. An experienced tournament player would think twice be
90 fore making such a move. Though f5 can't be exploited right away, it is
bound to lead to further concessions in the long run . I will say that finding
good plans in cramped positions is never easy, and a player of that age rarely
has the defensive technique necessary for such a daunting task.
1 2 .Bf2 Ne5 1 3 .Ne3 c6
Defending d5 but weakening d6.
1 4.0-0 Qa5
A surprise. This offers a pawn sacrifice: 1 5 .Qxd6 RfdS I 6.Qa3 Qxa3 I 7 .bxa3 ,
when my queenside is a shambles. However, the natural I 5 .Qc2 RfdS lets
him force the freeing . . . d6-d5 with good play. So this position proved to be
full of tricks, and I began to appreciate the skills of my young opponent.
1 5.Qd2
Crossing Black's plans and taking aim at g5 .
1 5 ... Rfd8 1 6.Rfdl
Still clamping down on the d5 -square. The other Rook stays on the
queenside in order to curtail Black's play in that sector.
1 6 ... a6 1 7 .a4 Qc7
The more active I 7 . . . Qb4 isn't wise, since after I S.a5, Black couldn't cap
ture on c4 due to I 9.Ra4.
1 8.a5
This nails down Black's queenside pawns and threatens a timely Bb6.
1 8 ... c5
Defending the b6-square, but at the cost of weakening d 5 . The progres
sive weakening of Black's position now compelled me to start my attack,
while Bobby's central probe and queenside play has failed.
A very
young,
-{l\(JM innocent
'\SoISH Y ?-,:, /., __
.. - ....,
Fischer:
T H E N EW WORLD
This isn't subtle, but the threat of swinging the Rook over to the kingside
(g3 and/or h3) is devastating.
2 7 ...Nh7
Even worse is 2 7 . . . Kh7, since White can employ an obvious but decisive
Queen sacrifice: 2 8 .Qxf6 ! Bxf6 2 9 .Bxf6, when the threat of Rh3 ends the
game.
2S.Qg4 f6
Sad, but forced. Clearly, Bobby has lost the strategic fight. Now all White
has to do is occupy some of the holes, when Black's game will implode
positionally and/or tactically.
29.NdS Qf7 3 0.Re l ReS 3 1 .Rde3 ReS 3 2.Bg3 Rxe3 3 3 .Rxe3 ReS 34.Re6
Black's d6-pawn is lost with or without the exchange of Rooks.
34 ...NgS 3 S.Rxd6 Re4 36.RdS+ Kh7 3 7 .Bf4
Black's position is, of course, quite lost.
3 7 ... Bh6 3 S .Rd7
PA L B E N KO: M Y L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
93
White can't allow Black to take the initiative on the queenside, so he lashes
out in an effort to wrest control of that sector from his opponent. The fact
that Black hasn't castled also helps White's cause, since any opening up of
the position could easily place the enemy monarch in extreme danger.
1 1 ...cxb4
The main alternative was 1 1 .. . e4, when I intended to sacrifice a piece by
1 2 .Nxe4! fS (much too risky is 1 2 . . . Bxa l 1 3 .Nxa l fS 1 4.Bb2 , when Black
is horribly weak on the dark-squares) 1 3 .Nxd6+ Qxd6 1 4.Bf4 BeS I S.bxcS
Qd7 1 6.BxeS NxeS 1 7 .cxbS RxbS 1 8 .d4, leaving White with three strong
pawns and the initiative for the Knight.
1 2 .Nxb4 Nxb4 13.axb4 0-0
Black doesn't dare accept the pawn sacrifice by 1 3 . . . bxc4 14.dxc4 Rxb4,
because White gets a dangerous attack after I S .Ne4 Rb6 1 6.Ba3 .
1 4.cxb5 axb5 1 5.Ra5
White's control of the a-file, pressure
against bS, and play against the weakened
dS-square combine to give me a clear ad
�ri Averbach: I played Yuri three
t imes, winning once and making draws
vantage.
in the other two games. We always got
1 5 ... Bd7 1 6.Bg5 ! h6 along very well and I l iked h im qu ite a
Allowing me to trade off Black's dark b it . We h a d the s a m e int e r e s t i n
squared Bishop for the Knight can't be endgames, he wasn't crazy about the
good, since dS falls into my hands. If I communists, he enjoyed the company
were B lack, I would have preferred of beautiful women, and he had a pleas
ant personal ity.
16 . . .f6, though White stands better af
ter 1 7 .Qb3 + Kh8 1 8.Bd2.
1 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 lS.Qb3 RfeS 19.Bd5
White has an iron grip on the position: all his pieces are more active than
their Black counterparts, and Black is stuck defending weaknesses on b S ,
d 6 , and d S .
1 9 . . . BeS 20.Ne4
Intending to attack d6 via Ra6.
PA L B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
20 ... Kh8
Black is finally ready to give himself a bit of freedom by . . . f7 -f5 , but he's
never quite able to do it.
94
2 1 .Ra6 Rd8 22 .Bc6!
Now 2 2 . . . f5 fails to 2 3 .Bxe8 ! .
22 . . .Bxc6 2 3 .Rxc6 dS
Black has managed to chase White's pieces off of d5 and e4, but now other
squares becomes vulnerable.
24.NcS e4 2 S.e3 exd3 26.Qxd3
White is still very much in charge: his Knight is stronger than Black's Bishop,
and the enemy pawns on b5 and d5 are both targets.
26 ... QeS
If Black had tried to dissolve the isolated d-pawn by 2 6 ...d4, White would
have played 2 7.e4, when the kingside majority is more dynamic than the
blocked black pawn. You should also notice the fact that (after 2 6 ... d4 2 7.e4)
Black's Bishop is blocked and no longer controls the a I -square. This al
lows the other white Rook to grab that file with Ra l .
2 7.Na6
Low on time, I throw in a few harmless repetitions to kill off a few moves.
2 7 ... Ra8 2 8.NcS Rab8 29.Rdl Kg8 30.Na6 Rb7 3 1 .Nc5 Rbb8 3 2 .Na6
Rb7
My repetitions have gotten us closer to the 40th move and a new time
control. Feeling less hurried, I decide that it's now time to cash in and win
a pawn.
3 3 .RcS Qd6
No better are 3 3 . . . Qf6 3 4.Nc7, or 3 3 . . . Ra7 3 4.Qxb 5 .
34.Rxd5 QxdS 3 S.QxdS RxdS 3 6.RxdS
Though a pawn down, Black has apparently decided that this endgame
gives him some hope for a successful defense. Both of us were considered
to be endgame experts, so I was quite pleased to accept the challenge and
prove that Black is, indeed, lost.
T H E N EW WORLD
3 6 ... BfS
Black's dream is to trade the b-pawns and the minor pieces and play a
Rook ending with four vs. three on the kingside. Such an endgame is usu
95
ally drawn. Dreams are one thing, though, and reality is quite another. I
would never allow such a situation to come to pass.
37.NeS Ra7
After 3 7 . . . Bxc5 3 8.Rxc5, White's pawn plus and active Rook should lead
to a win.
3S.Nd3 Ra1 + 3 9.Kg2 Rdl 40.KB Rd2 4 1 .e4 hS 42 .eS h4
Another pawn is about to fall so Black tries one last idea: if he can trade as
many pawns as possible, he might be able to sacrifice a piece for White's
remaining pawns.
43.gxh4 Rdl 44.Ke2 Rhl 4S.RxbS Rxh2 46.RbS Rxh4 47.bS Kg7 4S.b6
Rhl 49.Rb7 Rbi SO.f4
I rejected the win of a piece by 50.e6 KgS 5 1 .e7 (or 5 1 .exf7+ Kg7 , and the
white Rook is tied up) 5 1 .. .Bxe 7 52 .Rxe 7, since Black would have two pawns
against one on the kingside- a difficult technical task that I wanted to
avoid.
SO . . . KgS S 1 . Kd2 B a 3 S 2 . Ke2 Rb S S 3 . Kc 3 B fS S 4 . Ke4 Rbi
S S.RbS gS
Black keeps trying to trade pawns. On 5 5 . . . Kg7 , I intended 5 6.RxfS ! KxfS
5 7 .Nb4, with a winning game.
S6.fxgS Kg7 S7.Rxf8 Rxb6
Also winning for White is 5 7 . . . KxfS 5 8.Nb4 Rc 1 + 59.Kb5 Rc8 60.Nc6.
SS.RdS Rg6 S9.Rd7 Kf8 60.KdS RxgS
The rest of the game is simple technique.
6 1 .Ke4 Rgi 62 .Nf4 Re l + 63.KfS Rf1 64.Ra7 KeS 6S.Rb7 Kf8 66.KgS
KeS 67.NdS RgI + 6S.Kf4 RfI+ 69.Ke4 Kf8 70.Ne3 Rf2 7 1 .NfS KeS
72 .Nd6+ Kf8 73 .Re7 Rf1 74.KdS Rdl + 7S.Ke6 Re1 + 76.Kb7 Rxe7+
Desperate, but 76 ... Rb l + 7 7 .KcS wouldn't change anything after 7 7 ... Rfl
7S.Rxf7+ Rxf7 79.Nxf7 Kxf7 SO.Kd7, and the pawn will promote.
77."Kxe7 Ke7 7S.Nxf7 ! , 1 -0.
At the end of the tournament, I shared third and fourth places with the future
World Champion, Tigran Petrosian. Bobby shared fifth and sixth with Olaffson.
We both qualified for the Candidates Tournament, and we also earned the grand
master title. Bobby was the youngest player ever to achieve this lofty goal, a
record that wasn't broken until Judit Polgar, Etienne Bacrot, Peter Leko, and
Ruslan Ponomariov appeared in the 1 990s.
• • •
PAL B E N KO : M Y LI FE, GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
Quite a reasonable system, though it doesn't offer any real chance for a
meaningful advantage. White also tries 7.Qb3 and 7.b3 from time to time,
but the modern way of playing for a safe (but very small) edge is 7.cxd5
cxd5 8.Nc3.
7...BfS
After this White soon runs into trouble. Safer was 15.Qc2, though White
can't expect much out of the opening.
IS...NeS! 16.Be2 BfS!
White should still try 18.Qc2, though he would stand worse after 18... a3
19.Bc3 Ne4.
I S ...a3 19.Bxa3 Ne4
97
Far stronger than 19... Rxa3 20.Qb4.
20.Qb4 Qxd4 21.c5
�ymond Weinstein: This young International Master was considered very tal
ented, but something went horribly wrong and he committed a murder. Diagnosed as
being mentally ill, in 1964 he was institutionalized in the Kirby Forensic Psychiatric
Center in New York City, where he has been ever since.
I played Raymond in a couple of u.s. Championships. I remember one game in
particular: There was a defective clock and my flag fell four minutes early! A friend of
his who was watching pointed to the clock and told him that I had forfeited on time.
Naturally, it was clear that the clock was badly defective so the game continued and I
won. I forgot about this episode and concentrated on my other games. In the last round
I was playing Reshevsky and someone told me that Weinstein had protested my vic
tory over him, saying that he had been disturbed during the clock incident and, as a
result, wanted to return to that point and replay the game !
Naturally, I was incredulous. Nobody had told me about this, and it seemed insane
to consider it in any serious way during the last round ! Nevertheless, in the middle of
my game with Reshevsky, I was officially informed that Weinstein and I would have to
play the game again from the point of the disturbance, even though we had both signed
the scoresheets.
Now I was upset. I no longer knew how
many points I had and, due to that, if I
should play for a draw or a win against
S a m my. Extremely agitate d , I gave
Reshevsky a draw from a good position,
then played Weinstein again and, once
again, won!
Weinstein was, for the most part, very
nice. He was polite and quiet, but on oc
casion he did things that were a bit odd. I
remember Edmondson telling me in his
hotel room, "Something's wrong with this
Weinstein. "
"What? "
"He was here before you. W hen he
came in he left the door open. I asked him
to close it but he refused and said, 'I can't.
I have to see if anyone is following me.'"
Black wins a piece after 2 1 .Rfl c5, though 2 1 ...Nxf2 is also devastating.
2 1 ...Qxf2+ 2 2 .Kh l QB+ 2 3 .Ng2
Another possibility was 2 3 .Kg l Rxa3 24.Qxa3 Bd4 mate.
98
23 ... Bxal 24.Rxal Rfd8, 0- 1 .
I n such positions it's best t o resign and get away from the board a s fast as
possible!
l .e4 c5 2 .NB d6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7
8.QB Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 1 0.f5
The usual moves here are 1 0.g4 or 1 0.Bd3. I wanted to avoid main-line
book analysis so I tried out a new idea.
10 ... e5 I 1 .Nde2 b5 1 2 .Ng3 b4
More cautious was 12 ...Bb7.
1 3 .Bxf6 Nxf6 1 4.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 0-0 1 6.Ne4
However, chess isn't a one-man game and Olafsson, a strong and experi
enced grandmaster who wasn't going to go down without a fight, found
an interesting way to gain some counterplay.
2 3 ... e4! 99
Opening up the f6-Bishop's diagonal. Its ability to take part in the queenside
attack far outweighs the loss of a pawn.
24.Bxe4
Now 24.QhS no longer works: 24 . . . Bxg5 2 5 .hxg5
Bxf5 2 6.g6 h6.
24 ... Be8
S topping Qh5 and ending White's attack. Of
course, there's a price: Black will be down an Ex
change and a pawn. This means that his survival
will depend on his queenside attack - if it doesn't
succeed, Black will have to give up.
2 S.Ne6 Qe7 26.NxfB QxfB
2 6 . . . Qe5 fails to 2 7 .c3 .
2 7.Rd3 ReS 28.Re3 Bd4 29.Rhe l ! Olafsson was the only
other player at the
Giving back the Exchange is the best solution, since Candidates Tou rnament
it forces Black to part with his powerful dark whose time trouble was
squared Bishop. Far weaker was 29.Rd3 Qf6. as bad as m ine!
(Photo courtesy USCF.)
29 ... Bxe3
Now 2 9 . . . Qf6 10ses to 3 0.Bd3 .
3 0.Qxe3 a3 3 1 .Bd3 Bf7 3 2 . Qe7 !
Black, who only had seconds left, didn't have time t o resign!
The game was adjourned here and after analyzing at leisure, I realized the
win would take quite a long time. If victory is to be achieved, the white
King will have to find a way to penetrate. Unfortunately, Black's King and
Bishop make this difficult. As a result, I decided that it was time for a bit
of cat and mouse: I would patiently maneuver, hoping to make Smyslov
less alert. I knew that such long-term torture from a passive position would
be very hard for Black to deal with, so I sat down and resumed the game
ready for a lengthy siege.
45.f5+
The first order of business is to push back the black King. It isn't optimal
to place my pawn on a vulnerable white square, but I had no choice in the
matter.
PA L B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
45 ... Kd7 46.Ne4 Bb5 47.Kc3 Ba6 48.Kb3 Bb5 49.Nd6 Be2 50.Kc3
Continuing my cat-and-mouse strategy, but more straightforward was
5 0.Ka4 Bd3 5 1 .Ka5 Kc7 5 2 .h4 h6 5 3 .h5 Be2 (one pretty line is 53 . . . Kd7
1 02
54.Kb6 Bc2 5 5 .Kb7 Bd3 5 6.Nf7 Bxf5 5 7 .Nxh6 Be6 5 S .Nf7 ! Bxf7 59.h6
Bg6 60.b5, and White wins) 54.NeS+ KdS 5 5 .Nxf6, winning.
50 ... Ke7 5 1 .Ne4 Kd7 52 .Ne3 Ke7 53 .Ne2 Kd7 54.Nd4 Bft 55.Kd2 Be4
56.Ke3 Bf7 57.Kf4 Be4 58.Kg4 Bf7 59.Kh4 Ke7?
Black finally cracks and commits a losing error. He should have played
59 . . . BeS, but Smyslov assumed that, after 59 . . . Kc7 , I wouldn't be able to
win the h-pawn because my Knight gets trapped.
60.Ne6+ Kd7
60 . . . KcS 6 1 .NfS BgS 62 .Kh5 is easy for White.
6 1 .Nf8 + ! Ke7 62 .Nxh7 Bg8 63 .Ng5 ! fxg5+ 64.Kxg5
Black did, indeed, win my Knight, but now my pawns are unstoppable.
64 ... Kf7 65.h4 Kg7 66.f6+ Kf8 67.h5 Be4 68.Kf4 Kf7 69.Ke5 Bd3 70.h6
Black's game is hopeless. He has to worry about the h-pawn, the f-pawn,
and the c-pawn (after a b4-b5 break).
70 ... Kg6 7 1 .Ke6 Be4+ 72.Ke7 Bd5 73 .f7 Bxf7 74.h7, 1 -0.
l .e4 e5 2 .NB Ne6 3 .Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re 1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0
8.c3 d6 9.h3 Bb7
If Black wants to play the Breyer Variation, the correct order is 9 . . . NbS
1 O .d4 Nbd7.
1 0.d4 Nb8
As stated in my note to Black's 9th move, this isn't the best way to get into
the Breyer Variation! I played this way because I wanted to avoid certain
bothersome systems that White could play after 9 . . . NbS , but Keres, in a
later round, cured me of this desire.
1 l .Nbd2
This is where Keres demonstrated the antidote: I I .dxe5 dxe5 (Also bad is
1 1 . . .Nxe4 1 2 . e6 fxe6 1 3 .Bxe6+ Kh8 1 4.Bd5, as pointed out by Gligoric.)
1 2 .Qxd8 Bxd8 1 3 .Nxe5 Nxe4 1 4.Be3 Bf6 1 5 .Ng4, and Black's position is
quite unpleasant.
1 1 ...Nbd7
Now we're back in regular Breyer lines.
1 2 .Bc2 ReS B .Nfl Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 I S .h4? !
White tries to break up Black's kingside with this over-optimistic pawn
move, but all he ends up doing is weakening his own kingside structure.
Better was 1 5 .a4, when White retains chances of coming out of the open
ing with a slight edge.
I S ... dS !
Following the tried and true rule: The best reaction to an attack on the
wing is a counterattack in the center.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES AN D C O M POSITI O N S
1 6.dxe5
VVh.ite gets less than nothing from 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.exd5 exd4
19.Ne4 Qf5! 20.Nxd4 Qxd5.
1 04
1 6 ... dxe4 1 7.Nxe4 Nxe4 1 8.Bxe4 Bxe4 19.Rxe4 Nxe5 20.Bg5 Qxd 1 +
2 1 .Rxdl Nxf3+ 2 2 .gxf3 Bd6 2 3 .Rde l Rxe4 24.fxe4
VVh.ite has managed to undouble his f-pawns, but his inferior kingside pawn
structure will still cause him problems for a long time to come.
24 ... Re8 25.f3 f5 !
Nibbling at e4 and allowing Black's King to rush into play via t7 and e6.
26.m Kf7 27.Ke3 fxe4 2 8.fxe4 Ke6
• • •
I was now working full time and playing in tournaments whenever the opportu
nity arose. In general, I had excellent results, though it was clear to me that my
best years had been lost during my struggles to escape from Hungary.
My main event in this time period was the international tournament in Buenos
Aires, and it's here that I gained my second victory over Fischer. By that time,
Bobby was a shining star. The fact that, three months earlier in Mar del Plata, he
had tied (with future World Champion Boris Spassky) for first with the incredible
score of 1 3 1/2 points from a possible 1 5 , proved that he was head and shoulders
over other players of his age. I could tell he enjoyed traveling to far away places
and that Argentina excited him. In fact, he wanted to play day and night.
One morning (at 4A.M.to be exact!) I was woken up when someone relentlessly
pounded on my door. There stood Fischer and Larry Evans, still up and run
ning after exploring the city throughout the night. They wanted to talk-it seemed
that, for them, sleep was out of the question. Naturally, I didn't take kindly to
this blindly selfish behavior, and I blasted them for acting in such a manner. I
PAL B E N KO: MY LI FE. GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
was scheduled to play Reshevsky in four hours time. He was a very strict Jew
and, in consideration for the Sabbath, requested an unusually early start. \Vhen
1 explained this to Fischer, he said, "I would never agree to such a change in
1 06 schedule ! " Apologies were never one of his strong points. It's interesting to note
that Fischer eventually became religious himself. As a result, he also refused to
play on the Sabbath, and tournament organizers had to create extra time slots
for him, thus forcing others to change their schedules to conform to his needs.
All in all, the nightly adventures in Buenos Aires took their toll on the young
grandmaster, and he had the worst performance of his international career: ty
ing for thirteenth to fifteenth places with a minus score. This tournament was
particularly grueling. In a field of twenty, fourteen grandmasters and several strong
Argentinean players were present (two of them earned their GM title at the fin
ish). Bobby and 1 were paired in the final round, with me having the white pieces.
By that time, frayed nerves, exhaustion, and anxiety were common among the
participants. Naturally, such extra tension and pressure often causes costly mis
takes. Perhaps, as Botvinnik once suggested, last rounds should be eliminated!
The game against Fischer was my final chance to improve on my rather me
diocre score. 1 had been spending too much time away from the board with a
good-looking local Hungarian girl and, like Fischer, Evans, and many others,
forgot that 1 was there to play in a chess tournament! 1 must say that Bobby also
liked her and asked if it would be okay if he dated her after the tournament was
over. One night, 1 decided to have some fun with Bobby and said (in jest, of
course), "Look kid, I'll arrange it, providing that 1 can have the point! " \Vhen
we finally sat down to play, 1 told Bobby that 1 was going to beat him without
getting him the date. With some luck, I managed to make good on this promise,
but soon rumors got back to me suggesting that, while Bobby had honored our
deal, 1 had failed to come through!
Naturally, such light-hearted teasing is a normal part of tournament life. No
body took it seriously because it's well known that Bobby dislikes draws and never
agrees to prearranged results of any kind. His vehement stance on the illegality
of Soviet deals among their players shows his moral position on this issue. Per
sonally, I see nothing wrong with quick "grandmaster draws. " This kind of non
game allows both contestants to take a day off in the midst of an exhausting
schedule. However, losing on purpose is indeed deplorable.
In the actual game, I once again tried a new opening idea, hoping to steer play
away from memorized schemes and into more intuitive channels. Unfortunately,
in this instance my preparation was badly flawed.
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 S .Nc3 d6 6.NB Nc6
This is a well-known line of the KID (known as the Panno Variation), and
Bobby's choice brought back a lot of memories for me. In the 1952 Maroczy
Memorial tournament in Budapest, I used this same move as Black against
Fischer (left) with Tal and
Petrosian at the Candidates
Tournament, 1 959.
(Photo courtesy USeF.)
the German Master Platz. After 7.d5, I created quite a stir with 7 . . . Na5 , a
virtually unheard of idea at that time since 7 . . . N e5 or 7 . . . NbS were consid
ered to be the only playable choices. Now it's common knowledge that the
Knight's placement on the edge of the board (i.e., after . . . Na5) gives rise to
many interesting possibilities. Here's the Platz-Benko game from Budapest
1 95 2 : 6 . . . Nc6 7.d5 Na5 S.Qd3 c5 9.0-0 a6 1 0.Rb l Qc7 l 1 .b3 Bd7 l 2 .Bd2
RfbS 1 3 .a4 b5 1 4.axb5 axb5 l 5 .cxb5 Nxb3 l 6.Rxb3 c4 l 7.Qb l cxb3 l S.Qxb3
Qc5 1 9 .Rb l Ra3 2 0.Qb4 Qxb4 2 1 .Rxb4 Rxc3 2 2 .Bxc3 Nxd5 , 0- 1 .
7.h3
At that time, 7.d5 and 7 .0-0 were the accepted moves. This ill-fated idea
of mine prevents . . . Bg4 and also allows me to leave my pawn on e2 and
play Be3 without having to fear . . . Ng4. I expected normal "Panno" play
from Black via 7 . . . a6 and S . . . RbS . Instead, Bobby began active operations
in the center, quickly exploiting my loss of time.
7 ... eS
Eight years later, Korchnoi against Ciocaltea in the Lugano tournament
refined my idea by castling on the 7th move. Then, after 7 . . . a6 (commit
ting to the Panno idea of queenside expansion), he made use of my plan
with S .h3 RbS 9.Be3 b5 1 O.Nd2 . Korchnoi continued to utilize this idea
with great success, and soon other grandmasters came to realize its strength.
Now 7 .0-0 a6 S.h3 is known to be one of White's most promising choices
against the Panno Variation.
8.0-0
Hastily abandoning my original idea of S.Be3 , since I didn't like the look
of S . . . ReS 9.0-0 exd4 1 0.Nxd4 Rxe 3 , when Black has good play for the
sacrificed Exchange.
8 ... exd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 1O.Qxd4 Be6
Now White must lose time avoiding a discovered attack on his Queen by
the g7-Bishop. Black already has the advantage.
1 1 .Qh4
Threatening both Bh6 and Bg5 . Worse was l 1 .Qd3 Nd7 , when . . . Nc5 or
. . . Ne5 would prove very annoying for White.
1 l Nd7!
.•.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D CO M POSITI O N S
Simple and strong. Black opens the g7-a l diagonal, places his Knight on a
flexible square, and offers an exchange of Queens. White can't comply, since
such a trade would make it hard for him to defend his queenside pawns.
1 08 1 2.Bg5 f6 1 3 .Be3
White has temporarily shut off the g7 -Bishop's long diagonal, while plac
ing his own dark-squared Bishop on an active square. This sounds pretty
good, but Fischer's reply feeds me a dose of reality. Instead, seeking to
trade Bishops by 1 3 .Bh6 would have been a mistake, because after 1 3 . . . g5
1 4.Qh5 Bxc4 1 5 .Bxb7 Rb8 1 6.Bxg7 Kxg7 1 7 .Be4 f5 1 8.Bg2 Rxb2 , White
would lose a pawn, while the weakening of Black's King position wouldn't
offer enough compensation.
1 3 ... g5 !
This move has been adorned in many publications with a question mark,
though no alternative was ever suggested. The truth of the matter is quite
the reverse: this fine advance is the only way for Black to prevent White
from consolidating his position.
14.Qd4 f5 15.Qd2
Hoping to gain some time by attacking the g-pawn.
15 ...f4!
The remorseless Fischer continues to play with his customary energy. Notice
how he hasn't given me a chance to recover from my opening transgres
SIOns.
16.gxf4 gxf4 1 7.Bxf4
The pawn had to be accepted since 1 7 .Bd4 Ne5 1 8 .Bxe5 Bxe5 followed by
. . . Qh4, leaves White with a lost game.
1 7 ... Nb6
The point of his maneuver. Now 1 8.b3 is strongly met by both 18 . . . Rxf4
and 1 8 . . . Qf6, in both cases with a black advantage.
1 8.Qe3
This places my Queen on a better square and "suggests" that he should
capture on c4 with his Bishop.
T H E N EW WORLD
1 8 ... Qf6
Creating a variety of threats. Worse was 1 8 . . . Qd7 1 9.c5 ! dxc5 2 0.Qg3 ,
when White is better.
1 09
19.BgS Qg6
By keeping the Bishop under a watchful eye, White is still prevented from
playing 20.b3 due to 20 . . . Bxc3 .
20.Qg3 Nxc4?
A bad move that was hastily played (no doubt a result of too many late Buenos
Aires nights). Instead, this capture should have been prepared by 20 . . . c6,
when Black will regain the sacrificed pawn with an excellent position.
2 1 .NdS
Turning the tables. This strong piece threatens both Nxc7 and Ne7+, and
can't be captured because 2 1 . . .Bxd5 22 .Bxd5 + picks up the enemy Knight.
2 1 . .. Qf7
Played immediately, as ifhe expected 20.Nd5 . However, White would have
been better even after 2 1 . . .Rf7 2 2 .Nf4 Qf5 2 3 .Bxb7 ! Rb8 24.e4.
22.Bh6
A powerful move that pins the g7-Bishop and threatens Bxg7 followed by
Nxc7.
22 ... c6
As good as anything else, even though it loses the Exchange. There was
no good way to defend c 7 , as 2 2 . . . Rac 8 ? 2 3 . Bxg7 Qxg7 2 4. Ne 7 +
demonstrates.
2 3 .Bxg7 Qxg7 24.Qxg7+ Kxg7 2 S.Nc7 Kf6 26.Nxa8 Rxa8 2 7.b3 , 1 -0.
Bobby held out his hand in resignation. This was a bit of a surprise to me,
since I had expected him to put up a long, tough, defense with 27 . .. Na3 .
In the end, though, I was positive that I was going to reel in the full point
(and why should Bobby spend his time defending a losing cause when, in
the tradition of this event, he could hit the streets and have some fun?).
Looking back on the play in this game, my poor opening and Fischer's
mistakes from a superior position give me nothing to be proud of. In fact,
PAL B E N KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
it's more an example of Fischer's active style than any positive features
that I might possess.
1 10
(32) Benko - Eliskases (Buenos Aires, 1 960)
l .c4 g6 2 .d4 Bg7 3 .Nc3 d6 4.NB Nf6 5.e4 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6
S.d5 Ne7
In many ways, this particular position represents the very heart and soul
of the King's Indian Defense. White intends to overrun the queenside with
a quick c4-c5 (prefaced by b2 -b4 or NB -e l -d3) while Black will try to
knock out the white King by . . . Ne8 and then . . .£7-f5 -£4. I've often been
asked, "Why would White play a line that gives his opponent a very strong
kingside attack? " This is actually an important question! The answer lies
in the importance of long-term and short-term advantages. In the short
term, White might crash through on the queenside and win, or Black might
decapitate White's King. However, the long-term advantage rests with
White, who usually has a significant advantage in most endgames. In a
way, then, we can say that White is being given endgame odds, and you
can imagine how much this would please me and many other players who
believe that their King will never be dragged down! Unfortunately, this
variation has now been analyzed so deeply that certain lines don't allow
original play until the 3 0th move or even much later! Such theoretical
discussions were never to my taste, but at the time this whole King's In
dian terrain was still undiscovered country.
9.Ne 1
Both this and 9.Nd2 were White's main choices for many years. Nowa
days the straightforward 9.b4 is considered promising for White.
9 ... Nd7 1 0.0 f5 1 1 .g4!?
and patience. It's now known that Black's best and most flexible answer to
my system is 1 1 . . .Kh8 followed by 1 2 . . . Ng8 and . . . Bh6.
I2 .h4!
Now White can close things up in case of 12 ... g5 B .h5 or 12 ... h5 B .g5 .
I 2 ...aS
Black has tried several other 1 2 th moves over the years, but all of them
have verified the impression that the position after 1 2 .h4 is simply better
for White.
1 3 .Ng2 NcS I4.Bd2 Kh8 I S .Bel Bd7 I 6.Bf2
A great square for the Bishop. Here it defends my King and the h4-pawn,
while staring balefully towards the queenside (no doubt dreaming of fu
ture conquests in that area).
I6 ... b6 I 7.Ne l
White's next plan is to kick the c5-Knight off of its strong perch. Of course,
while playing to open queenside lines, I always have to keep an eye on the
kingside. Black can't be allowed to penetrate there, and potential enemy
piece sacrifices must always be taken into account.
I 7 ...Ng8 I 8.Kg2
Preparing to answer 1 8 . . . Bf6 with 1 9.Rh l .
I 8 ... Nf6 I9.Nd3 Qe7 20.Rb l rub8 2 1 .b3
Preparing to chase away the evil c5-Knight by a3 and b3 -b4. Of course,
2 1 .a 3 ? would end my queenside aspirations quickly after 2 1 ... a4.
2 1 . .. Be8 22.Ncl
The immediate 2 2 .a3 would allow Black to mix things up a bit with 2 2 . . . a4
2 3 .b4 Nb3 . My n .Nc 1 prevents this possibility.
22 ... h6 2 3 .a3
Having stopped all enemy counterplay on the kingside and queenside, I
can finally continue with my plan of queenside expansion.
23 ... Nfd7 24.b4 Nb7
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , G A M E S A N D C O M POSITI O N S
The first phase is over. Phase two consists in weakening the light-squares
in Black's camp by exchanging White's bad Bishop (on e2) for Black's good
one (on e8).
1 12 25.Bd3 Nf6 2 6.Be2 Bd7 2 7 .Ba4 Bxa4 2 S .Nxa4 axb4 29.axb4 NdS
30.Nc3 Nfi 3 1 .Nb3 Ra6 32 .Qe2 RbaS
Phase two is complete, and White now trades Rooks so Black can't gener
ate any counterplay on the open a-file.
B .Ra l Rxal 34.Rxa l QdS 3 S .RxaS QxaS 36.NbS NeS 3 7.Qb2 Bf6
3 S.Qal Qxal 39.Nxal
White confidently steps into an endgame, secure in the knowledge that
he will retain good winning chances due to his better Bishop and the ever
threatened c4-c5 pawn break.
3 9 . . . NdS 4 0 . Ne2 Nb7 4 1 .Na7 KgS 42 .Na3 Kf7 4 3 .Ne6 NdS
44.NbS Nxe6 4S.dxe6
The trade didn't help Black because now the white Knight can make use
of the dominating square on d 5 .
4S ... Ke7 46.Nc3 KdS 47.NdS KeS 4S.hS gS
Black has to close the kingside and stop White's King from penetrating
there. Now the only break is by c4-c5, so White's King heads for the
queenside. Of course, a move like Nxf6 wouldn't even be a consideration.
Who in his right mind would exchange a dominating Knight for the "tall
pawn" on f6?
49 . Kfl BdS SO .Ke2 Ng7 S l .Kd3 Ne6 S 2 .Kc3 Kb8 S 3 .Kb 3 Ka7
S4.Ka4 Ka6 SS.Bgl Ng7 S6.Bf2 Ne6
White first makes the time control before breaking through on the
queenside. This is a wise decision. Black can't do anything but helplessly
sit back and wait, so why shouldn't I take a bit of time to put everything in
order? By calmly placing all my pieces on their optimum squares and by
putting any thoughts of time pressure behind me, I leave Black with virtu
ally no chances of survival.
S 7.Ka3 Ng7 SS.Kb3 Ne6 S9.Ka4 Ng7 60.eS
With my time pressure a thing of the past, I was finally ready to make this
long awaited pawn advance!
60 ... bS+
Also losing is 60 ... dxc5 6 1 .bxc5 b 5 + 62 .Kb3 ! Ne6 63 .Kb4 Ng7 (6 3 ... Nd4
64.Bxd4 exd4 65 .e5 is easy for White) 64.Be l Ne6 65 .Bc3 , and Black's
defenses fail. Note that 60 . . . bxc5 6 1 .bxc5 dxc5 62 .Bxc5 forces mate with
Nb4.
6 1 .Kb3 Ne6 62.Kc3
The natural 62 .cxd6 just frees the black Bishop. At the moment that Bishop
is in a cage, and I had no intention of setting it free.
62 ... dxeS 63 .bxcS KaS
T H E N EW WORLD
The trade on d5 has steered the game into a kind of reverse Caro-Kann
position where the Knight on c6 will prove to be misplaced. Yes, this allu
sion to the Caro-Kann might raise some eyebrows, but take a look at l .e4
1 14 c6 2 .d4 d5 3 .exd5 cxd5 4.Nc3 (a mistaken move in this formation because
the Knight has no future here) 4 . . . Nf6 5 . Nf3 g6 6 . B e 2 B g 7
7 .0-0 0-0 with a mirror image o f the actual game position!
8.Bg5 h6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 1 0.Nc3 Ne7 1 1 .Rcl c6 1 2 .h4!
Starting an immediate minority attack. This well-known plan is designed
to create permanent weaknesses in Black's queenside structure.
12 ... a6 1 3 .a4 Nf5 14.h5 Re8? !
I'm sure that Black later regretted his failure to trade by 1 4 . . . axb 5 . That
would have left him with only one weakness (on c6). The disadvantage of
14 . . . axb5 1 5 .axb5 is that it clears away the a4-square for a white Knight.
15.hxc6 hxc6 1 6.e3 h5? !
Taimanov was always an optimist, but this lunge on the kingside is going a
bit too far. More advisable was a defensive strategy based on . . . a6-a5 and
. . . Ba6.
17.Ne2 Qd6 1 8.Nf4 h4 19.94!
This stops Black's kingside attack and forces him to weaken his position
further since any Knight move would allow g5, winning a piece.
19 ...g5 20.Nd3 Ne7 2 1 .h3 Ng6 22.Qc2
The only way Black can get anything going on the kingside is by an even
tual . . . f7 -f5 advance. By attacking c6, I force his pieces into a defensive
stance and never give him time to prepare the advance of the f-pawn.
22 ... Bd7 2 3 .Nc5
Simply threatening Nxd7 followed by Qxc6.
2 3 ... Rec8 24.Rh l Be8 25.a5 !
Fixing the target on a6. Now the game almost plays itself.
25 ... Rc7
Black's game would also be unpalatable after 2 5 . . .Bd8 2 6.Nb7 Qe7 2 7.Nxd8
Rxd8 2 8.Rb6 Bd7 29.Rfb l .
T H E N EW WORLD
l .d4 d5 2 .c4 dxc4 3 .NB Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.Qe2 b5 S.Bb3
Bb7 9.a4 Nbd7
Also possible is 9 . . . b4, though I didn't want to give White access to the
c4-square without a fight. The move I chose, 9 . . . Nbd7, leads to a much
more complex and interesting battle.
10.axb5
Best. Neither the gambit move 1 O.e4 nor the slower 1 0.Rd l are threaten
ing to Black.
10 ... axb5 l 1 .RxaS QxaS 1 2 .Nc3
Of course, White wanted no part of 1 2 .Qxb5 BxB , while 1 2 .Nbd2 c4 is
known to be comfortable for Black.
12...b4 1 3 .Nb5 Qa5
In this well known variation, Black must choose between 1 3 . . .Qb8 and
1 3 . . . Qa5 (The game Yusupov-Anand, Las Palmas 1 993 saw Black try a
third idea: 1 3 . . . BxB 1 4.gxB Qb8. Though the Indian genius equalized in
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , G A M E S AN D C O M POSITI O N S
this game, I don't like the idea of giving up Black's strong light-squared
Bishop so early). Since I wanted to win this game, I chose the more ag
gressive but riskier I 3 . . . Qa5 .
1 16 14.e4
By far the most popular move. However, 1 4.Ne5 ! ? is also interesting.
1 4 ... Be7
Taking the e-pawn leaves Black dangerously behind in development. Not
wanting to leave my King in the center (White's threat of Bf4 is quite
annoying), I decided to get the rest of my pieces out and shuttle my King
to safety as quickly as possible.
15.e5
The alternative, 1 5 .d5, is known to be fine for Black after 1 5 . . . exd5 1 6.Bxd5
Nxd5 1 7 . exd 5 0-0 1 8.Qxe7 Qxb 5 .
15 . . .Ne4!
Better than 1 5 . . . Nd5 , because 1 6.Bg5 would then be strong.
1 6.Bc2
After this game, players with the white pieces started to try 1 6.Rd l with a
sharp, interesting battle ahead. It's interesting to note that VV'hite has yet
to demonstrate an opening advantage against 1 3 . . .Qa5 .
1 6 ... Bc6
The Knight on e4 is hanging in the air but so is VV'hite's counterpart on b5.
1 7.Bxe4 Qxb5 1 8.Qc2 c4! 1 9.Bg5
In later years, some theoreticians have claimed that 1 9.d5 ! ? Bxd5 20.Bxd5
exd5 2 1 .Nd4, gives VV'hite a serious initiative for the pawn. An honest look
at this line, though, will show that 1 9.d5 is completely unsound. The oft
quoted, "Play what the grandmasters do, not what they recommend." should
always be kept in mind when you see lines like 1 9.d5 recommended but
never actually employed.
1 9 ... Bxe4 20.Qxe4 Bxg5 2 1 .Nxg5 h6 22 .Qa8+ Nb8 2 3 .NB
Stronger is 2 3 .Ne4, but 2 3 . . .0-0 24.Nd6 Qd5 2 5 .Qxd5 exd5 still favors
Black, though not as much as in the game.
23 ... 0-0 24.Rc1 Nc6 25.Qa2 b3 26.Qa3 Rd8
T H E N EW WORLD
It's clear that something went wrong for White in the opening. His back
ward d-pawn can't be defended since 2 7 .Rd l Nxe5 2 8 .Nxe5 Qxe5 wins a
pawn. White now resorts to desperation, but all his attempts to compli
cate the game fail.
27.Ral Nxd4 2 8.Nxd4 Rxd4 29.Qa8+
White is completely lost, and it's not surprising to see how quickly his
position falls apart.
29 ... Kh7 30.Qf3 Qxe5 3 1 .Qxf7 Rf4 3 2 .Qb7 Qxb2 3 3 .Rfl Qc2 34.g3 Rf6
3 5.f4 b2 36.Rf2 b l =Q+, 0- 1 .
• • •
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.NO 0-0 7.0-0 Nb6
1 18 S.Nc3 Nc6 9.d5
Also popular is 9 .e3 .
9 ...Nb4
Later, 9 . . . Na5 became all the rage.
lO.e4 c6 l l .Qb3
I just dreamed up this move over the board because I didn't like the more
natural l l .a3 Na6 1 2 .Be3 , since 1 2 . . . Nc4 would then be possible. I try to
avoid this Knight jump to c4 with the text move. Later theory confirmed
that I l .a3 Na6 1 2 .dxc6 bxc6 1 3 .Qc2 gave White a small plus, though it's
certainly nothing to write home about.
l l .. .Nd3 l 2.Be3 c5
Black tries to reinforce his Knight on d3 . Naturally, both sides had to take
1 2 . . . Nxb2 into consideration. Many complicated variations can then oc
cur, though 1 3 .Qxb2 (The initial 1 3 .dxc6 ! ? is critical, since then 1 3 . . . bxc6
1 4. Qxb2 gains in strength. However, Black can try to stir the pot with
1 3 . . .N2c4 when things are far from clear.) 1 3 . . . Na4 1 4.Nxa4 Bxb2 1 5 .Nxb2 ,
with three pieces for the Queen suggests itself.
l 3 .Ne l c4 l 4.Qc2 Nxe l l5.Rfxe l
White, having gotten rid of Black's advanced Knight, can be more than
satisfied with the opening due to his strong central plus. Black has to do
something about the positional threats of a2 -a4-a5 or f2 -f4 followed by
e4-e5 .
l5 ... e6 l 6.dxe6 Bxe6 l 7.Radl Qe7
White traded on e6 because now Black's Queen doesn't have any com
pletely comfortable squares. The move Black chose in the game ( 1 7 . . . Qe7)
turns out poorly, but 17 . . . Qf6 I S.Bc5 RfdS 1 9.e5 Rxd l 2 0.Nxd l , is very
strong. Perhaps Black should have considered the passive but solid 1 7 . . . Nd7
(though White is obviously better) or 1 7 . . . Qc7, when the simple I S .Bf4
T H E N EW WORLD
has considerable punch (though it looks bad, Black is still fighting after
I S .Nb5 Qe5 I 9 .Nd4 Bd7 20.£4 Qa5).
1 8.Nd5
1 19
Forcing Black to capture on d5 and give "White a monster passed pawn.
Suddenly Black's position has reached critical mass.
1 8 ...Nxd5 19.exd5
The creation of this powerful passed pawn leaves Black in a strategically
lost position. Simply put: the defender's chances are grim if such a pawn
can't be blockaded before it safely reaches the sixth rank.
�ue1 Reshevsky: Sammy was a strange guy, very religious, but I was on good terms
with him until the 197 5 U.S. Championship. We were scheduled to play in the last round.
When the time arrived, he approached me and said that the game was very important for him
the result determined whether or not he quali
fied for the Biel Interzonal in Switzerland.
I told him that I'd give him a draw if it helped
him qualify. Somehow, though, it seems he mis
understood me (he might have even felt that I was
willing to lose on purpose which, of course, I'd
never do). When the round started, Byrne and
Rogoff both drew quickly, ending Reshevsky's
hopes for qualification. After that, Sammy offered
me a draw and I refused. This made him very an
gry. I explained I would only have given him a
draw if it affected his qualification. Otherwise, Reshevsky and Fischer with actor
what's the point? So he began to make noise, to Jose Ferrer (right), 1 9 6 1 .
(Photo courtesy USCF.)
bang the pieces down and slam the clock. We ad-
journed in a winning position for me, but he ran
to the tournament director and told him that we agreed to a draw ahead of time ! Imagine that.
He got me so upset that I screwed up and let him escape with a half-point.
After that, we didn't talk to each other for quite a while, but eventually he approached me
and asked to make peace.
Fischer always respected Reshevsky, and vice-versa. Reshevsky always offered him an early
draw and Fischer would always refuse right away with a simple, "No ! " Fischer especially didn't
like the way Reshevsky would make the offer-Sammy would often say, "Are you playing for a
win?"
Najdorf was also known to ask this question from time to time. Once, Naj dorf asked an
opponent if he was playing for a win. The guy said, "No, I'm not. Would you like a draw ? "
When Najdorf refused, his opponent became very irate and wanted t o know why h e asked if he
was playing to win in the first place. Najdorf said, "I was just wondering."
I heard that Reshevsky once got into a fist-fight with Najdorf. Sammy wasn't a big guy in
any sense of the word, but he attacked with such ferocity that the far larger Najdorf turned and
ran for his life !
PAL B E N KO: MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
Even Reshevsky's legendary defensive powers couldn't save him here. Other
than crude and ultimately unsatisfactory threats, Black has no real plan.
White, however, knows exacdy what he has to do: free the g2 -Bishop by
B -f4, take on b7, and then break the d7-blockade with Bc6.
26 ... Re2 27.b3 gS
If 27 ... Rxa2 , 2 8 .f4 is strong. Black vainly tries to stop this, but in the end
the passed d-pawn carries the day.
2S.f4 gxf4 29.Qxb7 fxg3 30.hxg3 Rxa2 3 1 .QaS+ Bf8 32 .Bc6
The blockade has finally been broken. Black tries one last threat, but this
allows White to play to the gallery with some pleasing, albeit obvious,
fireworks.
32 ... Qe6 3 3 .d7 Qe2 34.Qxf8+!
The simple 3 4.Rfl was also sufficient.
34 ... Kx£8 3 S .dS=Q+ Kg7 3 6.Bd4+ Kh6 3 7.Qf6+, 1 -0.
Black had no desire to experience 37 . . . Bg6 3 8.Qf4+ KhS 3 9 . Qh4 mate.
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 S .O 0-0 6.Nge2 Nbd7 7.Be3 cS
S.Ng3? !
The Samisch system against the KID was very popular in the late ' SOs and
early '60s. However, the best lines for both sides hadn't been worked out
yet. Today, players don't think twice about playing the superior 8.Qd2 or
8.dS.
S ... cxd4 9.Bxd4 NeS 1 0.Be2 Be6 l 1 .NdS
White, who is behind in development and hasn't casded, should accept
the exchange of Bishops and Queens by 1 1 .BxeS (worse is I l .b3 Nc6)
T H E N EW WORLD
1 22
3 2.Kd3 ReS
Now it's time to push forward again, maximizing the strength of my Rook
and two Bishops.
1 23
3 3 .Rc3 BbS + 34.Ke2 Be4 3 S.Kb2 RbS+, 0- 1 .
White has no reason to play out such a hopeless position.
l .e4 eS 2 .NO Ne6 3 .d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 S.Nc3 d6 6.BgS e6 7.Qd2 a6
s.o-o-o Bd7 9.f4 Be7 1 0.NO bS
According to theory, White's best is now 1 0.Bxf6, forcing Black to sacrifice
a pawn or allow his pawn structure to be compromised. I rarely like to enter
mainstream theory, so I made a point of trying a different continuation.
1 1 .eS b4
It was already known that 1 1 . . . dxe5 wasn't a good idea: 1 2 .fxe5 Nd5 (lvkov
Ciocaltea, Belgrade 1 95 6 was a complete disaster for Black after 1 2 . . . b4
1 3 .exf6 bxc3 1 4.Qxd7+ Qxd7 1 5 .Rxd7) 1 3 .Nxd5 exd5 1 4.Bxe7 Nxe7 1 5 .Bd3
Nc6 1 6 .Kb l Be6 1 7 . Qf4 h6 1 8 .h4, and White has the better position.
1 2 .exf6
Sacrificing a piece by 1 2 .exd6 bxc3 1 3 .Qxc3 Bf8 is interesting but prob
ably unsound.
12 ... bxe3 1 3 .Qxc3 gxf6 14.Bh4
White has also tried 14.Bh6 and 1 4.f5 ! ? , but neither promises an advantage.
14 ... dS 15.a3
This is a cautious move that aims to control the b4-square. It also avoids
the heavily analyzed lines that arise from 1 5 .Kb l (which, to be honest, is
clearly best) .
15 ... NaS
Black plans . . . Rc8 followed by . . . Nc4. However, the immediate 1 5 . . . Rc8 is
more accurate since 1 6.Bxa6? Nb4 wouldn't make White happy.
1 6.Be 1 Nb7 1 7.Nd4 NeS 1S.Nb3 Ne4 19.QO fS 20.g4
The black Knight has ended up on a good central square, so White tries
to prove that it's not completely secure there. My 2 0th move undermines
the enemy Knight and also keeps the black King in the center.
20 ...fxg4 2 1 .Qxg4 Qb6 22.Bd3 ReS 2 3 .Kb 1 Ba4 24.Bxe4 dxe4 2 S.Bh4
White could avoid the loss of a pawn by 2 5 .Qg3 , but I decided to toss all
thoughts of passive defense out the window. For some reason, I became
consumed with a seek-and-destroy mentality.
2 S ... Bxh4 26.Qxh4 Qe7
Black could, and probably should, accept the pawn, though White would
have enough compensation because Black's King is trapped in the center.
PAL B E N KO: MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
1 24
The two King positions make the difference. If Black protects the a6-pawn,
then Rgl would leave the black King without a safe haven. This, in turn,
would leave the black Rooks unconnected. Due to these considerations,
Mednis gives up the pawn so he can castle, but his King seems doomed to
suffer no matter where it runs to.
30 ... 0-0 3 1 .Qxa6 Ra8 3 2 .Qc4 Qf6
If 3 2 . . . Rfc8, White wins by B .Rhgl + and Qd4.
H .Rd6 Rfe8
White also wins after 3 3 . . . Rxa 3 + 3 4.Kb l followed by Rxe6.
34.Ka2 Rac8 3 S .Rg1 + Kh8 36.Rxe6! , 1 -0.
A satisfying way to end the game.
� inten" ,he" yeac I've ever h,d w"' 1 962 . A.ide from the Varn,
Olympiad, it featured two exceptionally strong tournaments: Stockholm and
Cura<;ao (a beautiful island in the Dutch Indes).
Fischer had bounced back from his disaster in Buenos Aires with a brilliant
victory at Bled, where he was undefeated. Next came the Stockholm Interzonal.
This was a very important event for both of us - the top eight finishers would
be seeded into the Cura<;ao Candidates Tournament, and this would produce
Botvinnik's challenger for the title of World Champion.
Fischer's performance at Stockholm was simply incredible. He finished two
and a half points ahead of his nearest rival in an extremely strong field. During
that event, we spent countless hours together analyzing our adjourned games.
Bobby, in his determination to win every game, exhausted himself by playing
one long, difficult endgame after another. In one instance, after making an error
in a game versus Yanofsky, he fought on for 1 1 2 moves, refusing to let his oppo
nent deprive him of an extra half-point.
My enjoyment of our post-mortem analysis faded on one occasion. Against
Gligoric, Bobby had adj ourned with a pawn minus. However, after hours of
joint analysis we became convinced that the position could be saved. By that
time it was early morning and I needed to start work on my game, which was
also adjourned. Against the late Leonid Stein, I held the advantage of owning a
minor piece for two pawns. "You've got no problems, " Bobby declared. "Let's
get some sleep. "
The next day, after avoiding several devilish traps that we had foreseen in our
analysis, Bobby managed to hold on and secure the draw. In my game, Stein let
loose with a carefully designed shot, and in the ensuing tense complications he
managed to steal a draw. Nevertheless, all turned out well: Bobby and I both
1 25
Awards
ceremony at
Cura<;:ao: (left to
right) Benko,Tal,
two organizers,
and Fischer.
(Photo D� R.
Cantwell.)
qualified (Bobby won, while I shared sixth place with eight wins, eleven draws,
and three losses).
WIth the chess world applauding Fischer's genius, he was labeled the favorite
in Curac;ao, though a host of legendary players were also participating. This tour
nament assumed mammoth proportions, with twenty-eight scheduled rounds (we
had to play four games against every other contestant) ! I played White against
Bobby right at the outset (see game 4 1 ) . Within the short span of time between
the Stockholm and Curac;ao events, deep theoretical preparation was impossible.
To minimize this problem, I made use of an opening setup that avoided main
stream theory and soon became known as the Benko System. Naturally, I used it
at every opportunity-the positions I usually reached with it being comfortable
for me and somewhat unfamiliar for my opponents.
Fischer, positive that he would win the tournament, did terribly in Curac;ao.
Travel problems, a late arrival, and the burden of enormous expectation stressed
him (in fact, his behavior bordered on panic!), and soon he was walking an emo
tional tightrope. First, he began to turn his back on many grandmasters that had
always been friendly to him in the past. Next he mercilessly attacked the orga
nizers about the conditions of the tournament. Finally, he claimed that the Rus
sians had conspired to make key draws in their games between themselves. This
is easy to believe, since many people make pre-arranged draws - it's no big deal.
However, Fischer also thought that some games had been lost on purpose in
Curac;ao, even claiming that Korchnoi might have tossed a game to Petrosian. I
can't claim to know the truth about Fischer's charges, but there were mini-teams
working together. For example, Geller and Petrosian, who were close friends,
did everything in their power to make sure Keres did not come in first.
Curac;ao was a great event. I went swimming before all the games, enjoyed the
company of many nice women, and had a wonderful time. The trick to the tour
nament was to know when to start having fun. The formula for this was simplic-
T H E H U NT FO R T H E WO RLD C H A M P I O N S H I P
ity itself: if you could n o longer qualify after the first half was over, then you
should relax and enjoy yourself. But Fischer refused. Even though his dreams of
conquest had been shattered, he still thought of only chess.
It was at Cura�ao that Fischer and I had our one and only altercation, and I've 1 27
always felt that the USCF was, at the very least, partially to blame. Kasper, the
federation official who was responsible for giving us expenses and arranging train-
ers and/or analysts, explained that funds were low and that they could only af-
ford one second. Thus, Bisguier would serve as a shared second, with the provi-
sion that, if Fischer needed him or if both of us had adjourned games at the
same time, Bisguier would help Bobby and ignore me. I wasn't happy about this
at all, but what choice did I have?
I started well in Cura�ao, so every game had great significance for me. In the
fifth round, I adjourned against Petrosian with excellent winning chances. Natu
rally, I hunted Fischer and Bisguier down and asked them to help me analyze the
position. Why wouldn't I? Bobby was my friend and we always analyzed together
at tournaments, while Bisguier was hired for this very purpose ! However, when
Bobby realized that I intended to make use of "his" second, he said, "I forbid it! "
I was outraged. "How can you forbid this? It's in the agreement. "
It turns out that Kasper talked to both of us separately. Apparently, he didn't tell
Fischer that we had to share Bisguier. In fact, when I discussed this with Bobby
sometime later, he told me that he would never have accepted such a deal.
During our face-off, though, I was sure Bobby knew what was going on. Un
fortunately, in the heat of the moment, with both of us convinced that we were
in the right, things got ugly. Bobby got insulting and upset, I got more and more
angry, Bobby goaded me, and bang, I hit him.
Looking back on this mix-up, I'm ashamed of the whole affair. In fact, I be
came so guilt-ridden for punching someone I genuinely cared about that I could
never play well against him again.
This tournament wasn't only a nightmare for Fischer. The great Paul Keres
also had some experiences that would prove traumatic. In the hunt for first place
throughout, his demise effectively began during our third game, with him play
ing White against my Sicilian. I got the better game, but I spoiled my chances
by incorrectly sacrificing a piece in horrible time pressure. This left me with
nothing better than a perpetual check. With only seconds to spare, I made the
move that forced the perpetual, but it was slightly off-square. He punched my
clock and said, "Adjust the pieces ! " Surprised, my clock ticked for a second or
two before I realized what was going on. Then I desperately reached out to fix
the position of the piece, glanced at the clock, and watched in horror as my flag
fell and I was forfeited.
I didn't complain, but I was very angry and thought, "I'm going to beat this
guy when it's the most painful for him. " Sure enough, our final game was critical
to his whole career, since a draw would allow him to conduct a playoff against
Petrosian to see who played Botvinnik for the World Championship, while a
win would make him the outright challenger.
Petrosian and
Tal, Curac;ao.
(Photo Dr. R.
Cantwell.)
In this all-important game, I was a bit better, and adjourned. A while later,
Petrosian and Geller came to me in secret and offered to help me beat their own
countryman! I was disgusted. Telling them that it would be a draw with best
play, I demanded that they leave. However, when we resumed, Keres made an
error and I won.
This result crushed poor Keres, but his suffering wasn't over yet! In my next
and final game I played Geller. Oddly, they had already printed the last round
results in the bulletins before the final game had been completed: Petrosian first,
Keres second, Geller third. Against Geller, I was up two pawns in a Queen
endgame. I had one move left to play and wanted to be sure he didn't get a per
petual check. Sickeningly, my flag fell as I made my final move and Geller won!
Because of this, Keres had to play a match (which he won) with Geller to deter
mine second place, and he later wrote that I had deliberately lost to Geller to
"screw him."
Naturally, I'd never do anything like that, but Keres believed otherwise and
probably went to his grave with this erroneous impression. One can understand
his feelings -losing that one game against me influenced chess history in a very
big way: Petrosian got the match against Botvinnik, won, and became the new
champion. And poor Keres never did get to play the championship match that
meant so much to him.
potentially weak squares on e4 and along the b6-g 1 diagonal will tell in
Black's favor.
8.g3 ! ?
As far as I know, I introduced this setup in international tournaments in the
Dublin Zonal event in 1 9 5 7 against L. Schmid. Now 8 . . . cxd4 9.cxd4 Bb4+
can be met by 1 O.Kf2 f6 I l .Kg2 , when White is better thanks to his obvi
ous advantage in space. Not wanting to die without a fight, recent games
have seen Black increase the tension with the berserk 1 O . . . g5 ! (instead of
1 O .. .f6), when a highly complicated battle ensues with mutual chances.
8 ... f6 9.Bd3
Mter this game with German, White usually played 9.Bh3 . However, I
don't see anything wrong with my choice.
9 ... cxd4 l O.cxd4 Bh4+? !
Tempting, but i t actually helps the white King reach a safe haven o n g2 .
Better was 1 0 . . . Be7, though I still prefer White. Of course, 1 0 . . . Nxd4? ?
would have lost to I l .Nxd4 Qxd4 1 2 .Bg6+ hxg6 1 3 .Qxd4.
1 1 .Kfl f5
Closing the kingside. White would obtain a dangerous attack after 1 1 . . . fXe5
1 2 .fXe5 0-0 1 3 .Kg2 Be7 1 3 .h4.
1 2 .Ne2
PA L B E N KO : MY L I F E . GAM ES AN D C O M POSITI O N S
With my d4-pawn firmly defended, I'm now free to seek a kingside deci
sion by expanding in that sector via h2 -h3 followed by g3 -g4. It's clear
that any play Black creates on the queenside can't compare to the huge
1 30 gains White will be making on the opposite side of the board.
12 ... Be7
The Bishop no longer had a role to play on b4. By going to e7, the b4-
square is freed for a possible invasion by . . . Nh4.
1 3 .h3 NfS 1 4.g4 g6 15.Nc3
The Knight is much more aggressively posted here than it was on e2 . Now
Black must constantly worry about possible Knight leaps to a4 or b 5 . An
other point of 1 5 .Nc3 is that Black won't be able to answer gxf5 with . . . exf5
since that would leave the d-pawn hanging.
15 ... Bd7 1 6.Be3 a6
Preparing to trade some pieces on b5 by . . . Na7, followed by . . . N (or B) to
b 5 . Black can't capture the b-pawn because 1 6 . . . Qxb2 1 7 .Nb5 Rc8 1 8 .Rh2
Qb4 1 9.Bd2 traps the Queen.
1 7.Rh2
This Rook is heading for g2 where it will perform double duty: preparing
to attack down the g-file while simultaneously defending b2 .
1 7 ...Nh4 I S.Be2 Ne6 19.Rb l Na7 20.Rg2 ReS 2 1 .Nd2
An odd-looking move that has two purposes: the first clears the d l -hS
diagonal so that, after White plays gxf5 , and after Black exchanges some
pieces on b 5 , White's Queen will be free to leap into h 5. The other point
of Nd2 is that, once White's Queen jumps to h5, the Rook on b l will be
in need of a defender. 2 1 .Nd2 takes care of that problem.
2 1 ...Bb5 22 .gxf5 gxf5 2 3 .Bxb5+ Nxb5 24.Qh5+ Kd7 25.Rg7 QdS
The Queen runs back so it can defend against threats like 26.Qh6 and 26.Na4.
I wasn't worried about 2 5 . . .Nxc3 , since 26.bxc3 instantly brings my inactive
Rook into the game (note that the Knight on d2 is guarding the b l -Rook). If
Black had tried 2 5 . . . Kd8, I would have broken through with 26.Qh6 Nxc3
(2 6 . . . Rc7 fails to 2 7 .Nxd5) 2 7 .bxc3 Qc7 2 8.c4 dxc4 29.d5, when the dual
threat of 3 0.Bb6 and 3 0.d6 snuffs out Black's resistance.
T H E H U NT FO R TH E WO RLD C H A M P I O N S H I P
l .e4 e6 2 .d3
I had no desire to challenge Uhlmann to a theoretical battle in his favor
ite French Defense (Uhlmann was long considered to be one of the great
experts on this opening). Of course, I knew that he had a deep under
standing of the black side of the KIA, but now the scales were even be
cause I also had quite a bit of experience with this system-I successfully
employed it four times in Stockholm, though this was by far my hardest
test.
2...dS
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , G A M E S A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
A very interesting position has been reached: White's pawn o n e5 cuts the
board in half and stops black defenders from using the f6-square. By over
protecting this important pawn, White prevents his opponent from chal-
lenging the e5-monster by . . .f6 or .. .f5 since then exf6 would instantly free 1 33
White's Queen and e l -Rook (down the e-file), create a weak black pawn on
e6, and give White's f4-Bishop and B -Knight access to the e5 -square. Since
White's e5 -pawn prevents central counterplay, White will be free to probe
Black's kingside for weaknesses by h4-h5 -h6, when the dark squares sur-
rounding black's King will be compromised. Then moves such as Nfl-h2 -
g4 and Qd2 followed by Bg5 will fight for access to the newly weakened f6-
square. All this sounds wonderful for White, but Black isn't without his own
chances. By playing . . . c5-c4xd 3 , Black will open the c-file and create a po-
tentially weak pawn on d3 (it can be attacked by . . . b5-b4, opening up the
a6-d3 diagonal, followed by . . . Nd7-c5).
13 ... e4 14.h5 cxd3 1 5.exd3 Rae8
Of course, 1 5 . . . h6 begs for a sacrificial explosion on h6 after Nfl-h2 -g4.
Also possible (if Black plays . . . h6) is g3 -g4-g5 when the kingside gets
ripped open.
1 6.h6 g6
Both players have actively pursued their respective goals: White trying
for an attack against the enemy King, and Black striving to open lines on
the queenside. I've always believed that White's chances in this kind of
position are superior. Uhlmann, naturally, had a different opinion.
1 7.Be3 !?
I decided to get my pawn to d4. This will lead to a strengthening of the
e5 -pawn and will also deny the black pieces access to c 5 . The more the
matic 1 7 .Ne3 b4 1 S.Ng4, was also possible.
17 ... Qb7
Black must have been tempted to play 1 7 . . . d4 (far worse is 1 7 . . . Bc5, since
White wants to exchange dark-squared Bishops and weaken Black's grasp
on f6), but he ultimately decided against it since it gives White eventual
access to the e4-square. Nevertheless, I feel that 1 7 . . . d4 was Black's best
move, when, after I S .Bf4 Nb4 1 9.Rec 1 ( 1 9.Red l ! ?) 19 . . . Rxc 1 (the simple
1 9 . . . Bb7 might be preferable) 2 0.Bxc 1 RcS 2 1 .Bg5 ! , the game becomes
very sharp and unclear: 2 1 ...Rc2 (or 2 l . ..Bxg5 22 .Nxg5 Qc7 2 3 .Qd2) 22 .Qdl
Bxg5 2 3 .Nxg5 .
1 8.d4 Nb4 1 9.Recl Rxcl 20.Bxcl Re8 2 1 .Bg5
White would love to exchange these Bishops since that would leave the
squares f6 and g7 very weak.
2 1 ...BfB
Too dangerous is 2 1 . . .Rc2 since 2 2 . Q d l Bxg5 2 3 .Nxg5 Rxb2 24.QB Nb6
2 5 .Qf6 mates. Black needs his dark-squared Bishop for defense. A very
interesting alternative, though, is 2 1 . . .Nc2 when 2 2 .Rd l b4 2 3 .Qd2 BfS
PAL B E N KO : MY LI FE. G A M E S AN D C O M POSITI O N S
The time control has been reached, and I was able to calm down and study
the position. White is better because his King is safer than Black's. My
first order of business is to trade those dark-squared Bishops.
42 .Bg5 Kf8 43.Qa7 Qb7 44.Bxe7+ Kxe7 45.Qa3 + Ke8 46.Ng5 Qb l 1 35
Black is losing a pawn, but his Queen (which is badly needed for defense)
is able to scamper back and avoid immediate disaster.
47.Qa4 Ke7 48.Qa3 + Ke8 49.Qf3 Qf5 50.Nxh7 Nfl 5 1 .Nhf6+ Nxf6
52 .Nxf6+ Ke7 53 .Ng4 Qxf3 + 54.Kxf3 Kf8 55.Kf4
The extra pawn, combined with the far superior King position, adds up to
an easy win for White.
55 ... g5+ 56.Kf3 Kg8 57.Nf6+ Kf8 58.h7 Kg7 59.Nd7
Now 59 . . . Kxh7 is met by 60.Nf8+ Kh6 6 1 .Nxe6 Nd6 62 .Kg4, and wins.
59 . . . Kg6 60.Nf 8 + Kf5 6 1 . g4 + Kf 6 62 . Ke 3 Nh 8 6 3 .Nd 7 + Kg7
64.Ne5 ! Kxh7
White gives back his pawn plus in order to reach a winning pawn endgame
(thanks to his outside passed pawn).
65.f4 gxf4+ 66.Kxf4 Kh6 67.Kf3
Whenever the black Knight emerges from its hole, White will trade it
and win. For example: 67 ... Ng6 68 .Nxg6 Kxg6 69.Kf4 Kf6 70.g5+ Kg6
7 1 .Ke5 Kxg5 72 .Kxe6 Kg6 7 3 .Kxd 5 .
67 ... Kg7 68.Kg3 Kh7 69.Kh4 Kh6 70.g5+ Kh7 7 1 .Kg4 Kg7 72.Kh5, 1 -0.
I wanted no part of 7 .dxc5 Ne4 8.cxd5 Qa5 9.Ne2 Nxc5 , when Black has a
very active position.
7 ... cxd4 8.exd4
We 've now transposed into a Caro-Kann (usually reached by l . e4 c6
2 .d4 d5 3 .exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5 .Nc3 g6 6.Qb3 Bg7 7.cxd5 0-0) where
White's options are limited due to the early Bf4. Nevertheless, I felt that
accurate play would still give me chances for a small plus.
8 ... Nbd7 9.Be2 Nb6 1O.Bfl e6
S a fer is 1 0 . . . B g4, which wins back the pawn after I l .Bxg4 Nxg4
1 2 .ND Nf6 1 3 .d6. White would then only possess a slight advantage.
1 1 .d6!
The transpositions have served their purpose since Gligoric wasn't really
familiar with this line. On the other hand, I knew this position extremely
well -I suffered through the black side of it in 1 954! After I l .dxe6 Bxe6,
Black has ample compensation for the pawn. Now, with 1 1 .d6, it will be
much harder for Black to demonstrate sufficient play for his sacrifice. The
whole game revolves around this question: can Black get something going
before White consolidates? Theory (and my own painful experience !) says
the answer is no. However, a second look suggests that things might not
be as simple as they appear.
1 1 ...Ne8
In the game Kluger-Benko, Budapest 1 954, I didn't like the look of 1 1 ... Ne8,
and instead tried 1 1 . . .Nfd7. Unfortunately, White gained a clear advan
tage after 1 2 .Nge2 eS 1 3 .dxeS NxeS 1 4.BxeS BxeS I S .Rd l . No wonder I
was so happy to repeat this same line with the white pieces!
1 2 .NbS! NdS
T H E H U NT FO R T H E WO RLD C H A M P I O N S H I P
I (and the theory books) had always thought that I 2 . . . a 6 1 3 .Nc7 was sim
ply crushing. However, while writing the notes for this book it suddenly
dawned on me that things were far from clear: 1 3 . . . Nxc7 I 4. dxc7 (worse is
1 4. Qxb6 Nb 5 ! ) 1 4 . . . Qxd4 I 5 .Ne2 Qxb2 1 6 . Qxb2 Bxb2 1 7 . Rb 1 Nc4 1 37
( 1 7 . . . Na4 is worse), Black has an extra pawn but White's pieces are more
active and the c7-pawn is a major force in the game. I'll leave it up to the
theoreticians to figure out what's really going on, but here's a sample line:
I S .Bh6 Bg7 (far better than IS ... ReS 1 9.0-0 Ra7 2 0.Rfd 1 , with advantage
for White) I 9.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Rc 1 Ne5 , and Black has turned things around.
1 3 .Bxd5 exd5 14.Ne2 a6 15.Nbc3 Be6 1 6.Qxb7
White, who doesn't mind defending for a while, is glad to trade his doubled
pawn. Now I 6 . . . RbS fails to I 7 .Qe7.
1 6 ...Nxd6 1 7.Qb4 Nc4 I S.0-0 ReS 1 9.Qb3 Ra7
Of course, the bS-square is off limits due to White's Bishop. Perhaps Black
should have tried 19 . . . g5 20.Bc 1 , though both 20 . . . Bf5 and 20 . . . RbS are
answered by 2 1 .Qd 1 , when I prefer White.
20.Radl Bg4 2 1 .Rfe l
Having a n extra pawn, all I have t o d o i s consolidate my position by de
fending my pieces and getting my Queen to safety. Once that is done, I'll
be ready to start more active operations.
2 1 . .. Re6 22 .Qc2 BfS 23 .Qc1 Rc6 24.h3 Be6 25.Na4!
So far Black hasn't been able to create any real threats. Now White tries
to take over the initiative by occupying the c5 -square and kicking the
c4-Knight with b3 .
25 ... Qa5 26.Nec3 Rb7 2 7.Re2 Rb4 2 S.Nc5 ! QdS
White meets 2 S . . . Bxc5 with 2 9 . dxc5 Rxc5 3 0 . b 3 followed by B d 6 ,
winning the Exchange. Even worse for Black i s 2 S . . . Bxc5 2 9.dxc5 Qxc5
3 0.Nxd5 Bxd5 3 1 .ReS+ Kg7 3 2 .Bh6+.
29.b3 Nb6 30.Nxa6 QcS 3 1 .Nc5
Of course, 3 1 .Nxb4? ? Bxb4 dooms my c3 -Knight due to the pin along the
c-file.
3 1 . .. Bxc5 3 2 .dxc5 Rxc5 3 3 .Be5
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E . GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
The exchanges have left White with two passed pawns and a good Bishop.
As usual, White's low on time, but if he can avoid some tactical tricks he
should be able to reel in the point.
1 38 H ...Nd7 34.Qa3 ! Qb7 3 5.Na4
With my flag hanging, I saw 3 S .Bd6 but got spooked by 3 S . . . Rxb3 36. Qxb3
Qxb3 3 7 .axb3 Rxd . White would be winning after 3 8.b4, but I decided to
play it safe and not do anything risky until I reached the time control.
3 5 ...RcS 3 6.Bal Rf4 3 7.Qd6 Rf5 3 S.Bd4
It's not just my connected passed queenside pawns that bother Black. He's
also worried about the weak dark squares around his King.
3S ...Rc6 39.Qa3 Qa6 40.Red2 Rf4
White made the time control and Black's position is completely hopeless.
Now my play becomes more purposeful and I'm able to put my opponent
away.
4 1 .Qe7 QcS 42 .Qg5 Rf5 43 .Qh6 Ne5 44.Qe3
Not falling for 44.f4? RhS .
44. . .Qc7 45.Nc5 g5 46.Rc2 BcS 47.Rdc1
The rest is an execution and doesn't need any comment.
47 . . . f6 4S .Na6 Bxa6 49.Rxc6 Nxc6 5 0 . Q e S + Kg7 5 1 .Rxc6 Qb7
52 .Qe6, 1 -0.
l .g3
A flexible move that intends the fianchetto of the light-squared Bishop,
and allows many transpositional opportunities that could easily take the
opponent into positions that he's not completely familiar with. As we shall
see, the system demands sophisticated positional technique, and Black can't
afford to develop in a vacuum. Two rounds later, I took a point from the
former World Champion M. Tal with the same opening. This first move
by White can't be considered as an original opening, of course, since Black
has many ways to lead play back into known realms.
T H E H U NT FO R TH E WO RLD C H A M P I O N S H I P
a hungry eye towards the queenside and, potentially, c5 and a7. Also note
that by keeping the Bishop off f4, I'm able to place a pawn there and thus
deprive Black's pieces of access to e 5 .
1 40 1 1 ...Re8 1 2 .Re l Nfd7
This eases the pressure on my e-pawn, which allows me to develop my
Bishop smoothly to e3 . However, a move like 1 2 ...Qc7 would have allowed
me to play 1 3 .Bf4, when the d-pawn is quite uncomfortable. Black could
have tried to rid himself of his weakness by 12 ... d5, but after 1 3 .exd5 Rxe l +
1 4.Qxe l Nxd5 1 5 .Nxd5 Bxd4 (Black would have been left with an isolated
d-pawn after 1 5 ... cxd5.) 1 6.Qb4 Ne6 1 7 .Ne7+ Kg7 1 8.a6! (Also good for a
small but long-lasting edge is 1 8.Nxc8 Qxc8 1 9.c3 Bf6 20.a6, when White
has a pair of Bishops and a favorable pawn formation.) 1 8 ... Bc5 1 9.axb7 Bxb7
20.Qxb7 Bxe7 2 1 .c3 White has an obvious advantage.
B .Be3 Qc7 14.f4 Rb8 1 5 .Qd2 b5
Fighting for some air on the queenside. Of course, 1 5 . . .Nf6 would have
been calmly met by 1 6.Bf2 .
16.axb6 axb6
It was probably better to try 1 6 . . . Nxb6, but Bobby's commanding victory
at Stockholm took away his sense of danger, and he didn't see that his
position was quickly becoming critical.
1 7 .b4
Forcing the c5 -Knight away from its active perch. A strong alternative
was 1 7 .e5.
1 7 ... Ne6 1 8.b5
Destroying the c6-pawn's guard over d5, and thus giving White's Knight
access to that very fine central post.
18 ... Nxd4 19.Bxd4 Bxd4+ 20.Qxd4 c5
Black's lack of development, plus the weaknesses on d5 and d6, are enough
to guarantee his demise.
2 1 .Qd2 Bb7 22 .Rad l Re6 2 3 .e5
This wins material because Black's d-pawn is pinned.
TH E H U NT F O R TH E WO RLD C H A M P I O N S H I P
A simple move that gains kingside space. Seeing that he can't maintain his
passive defensive posture (moves like 3 4 . . . KgS and 34 . . . KfS are both an-
swered by the crushing 3 5 .Ra l Rxd6 3 6.RaS, while 34 . . . Kf7 3 5 .Ra l Rxd6
3 6.Ra7+ KfS 3 7 .Qb7 also wins easily), Bobby sacrifices another pawn in a
desperate bid for counterplay against the white King.
34 ... e5 35.fxe5 Rf7+ 36.Kg2
Much better was 3 6.Kg3 Qg5 3 7 .Qe4, when the game would end quickly.
Unfortunately, I was in my usual time trouble and allowed my opponent
to keep a certain amount of hope smoldering in his chest.
36 Qh4 3 7.Rf l
•..
Bobby in 1 9 62.
Avoiding his final trap: 3 7 .Rd2 ? ? allows 3 7 . . . Qe l , when Black will achieve
a draw by perpetual check.
3 7 ... Rxfl 3 S.Kxfl Qxhh 39.Qg2 Qe3 40.Qe2
Guarding all my pawns and securing the win. Here the game was adjourned.
40 ... Qh3 + , 1 -0.
This was the sealed move, but Bobby resigned when he realized that there
wasn't a perpetual check. For example : 4 1 .Kf2 Qh2 + 42 .Kf3 Qhh 43 .Kf4
Qh6+ 44.Ke4 Qh l + 45 .Qf3 Qe l + 46.Kd5 Qd2 + 47 .Kc6, and White's King
is immune to further harassment and his passed pawns can't be stopped.
Losing a game like this so early in the event had a very negative effect on
Fischer, and in the next round against Geller he lost again as Black. When
the tournament ended and the smoke had cleared, his great performances
in Yugoslavia and Sweden were overshadowed by seven losses, and he ended
up three full points behind the leaders.
9.Nbd2 f6 1 O.Nc4 Nb6 I l .Na5 Qc7 1 2 .Bd2 Rd8 1 3 .Qe2 , with mutual
chances in Art. Minasian-Bareev, Montecatini 2 000.
7 ... dxc4 8.dxc4 Ngf6 9.Be3
1 43
White prevents a possible ... Bc5 .
9 ... Qc7 10.Nc3 Bb4? !
This places the Bishop on a vulnerable square and leads to a loss of time. I
would have preferred 1 0 . . . Be7, though White retains a slight edge with
1 1 .Nh4.
1 1 .Qb3 a5
On 1 1 . . .Ba5, I would have played 1 2 .Qa3 , when Black's position is quite
uncomfortable.
1 2 .Na4!
Stopping Black's planned . . . Bc5 and threatening c4-c5 , trapping the Bishop.
12 ... Be7
The Bishop has to go back, but now the other Knight leaps into play.
1 3 .Nh4!
This sacrifice of a pawn (e2 is hanging) forces the gain of the two Bishops
that, thanks to the hole on b6, will guarantee White an advantage.
1 3 ... 0-0
Black wants no part of 1 3 . . . Bxe2 ? 1 4.Rfe l Bh5 1 5 .Nf5 Bf8 1 6.f4, when
White has a raging attack.
14.g4 Bg6 1 5.Nxg6 hxg6 16.Rfdl Rab8 1 7.c5
Clamping down on b6.
17 ... Nh7
Black is hoping to swing this Knight around to e6 by . . . Nh7-g5-e6. How
ever, I had prepared a very strong retort.
1 8 .Nb6! RfdS
If 1 8 . . . Nxc5, then White wins the Exchange by 1 9.Bxc5 Bxc5 2 0.Nd7.
1 9.Qc3
Defending c5 and eyeing both e5 and a s . Black can't prevent the loss of a
pawn.
PA L B E N KO : MY L I F E , G A M E S A N D C O M POSITI O N S
The game was adjourned here. White still retains the advantage, though
it's not nearly as large as it was earlier in the game.
4 1 . .. Ra4? !
� Keres: Everyone liked Keres.
At first he was a great tactician, but he
turned more positional as the years
passed. Before the war, he was likely the
best player in the world, only Fine
might have been his equal.
[Left Young giants in 1 940: (left to right) Levenfish, Keres, Botvi n n i k, and Kotov.
(Photo courtesy USCF.)
[Right] Keres points out a variation to Petrosian, Cura<;:ao 1 9 62.
(Photo Dr. R. Cantwel l.)
� Korchnoi: Victor has a very strange style that, in some ways, is similar to the great
Emanuel Lasker's. Amazingly, he's still going strong in his 70's - nobody has ever played like
him at such an advanced age.
I never had many personal dealings with him, though he was always against the hard-line
communist stances. I remember, long before he defected, reading in a paper how Jews were
being mistreated in Russia and I asked him if it was true. He verified it, though other players
would have feared the consequences of being so outspoken.
I beat him one of the four games we played in Cura(.:ao. In one of the games, we adjourned
with me holding all the winning chances, though I thought he could draw with best play. I
played a tricky sealed move, but I was sure his helpers would take all my possibilities into
consideration and find the correct defense. On the next day, there was an excursion, and I had
to agree to draw our game without resuming if ! wanted to do the trip. I accepted this because
I didn't have much doubt that it would have been drawn anyway.
During the excursion, I told Korchnoi my sealed move and asked how he would have an
swered it. "Oh, we never even considered that! " Needless to say, this really destroyed my en
joyment of the excursion ! In the next game with him (game 43), we adjourned again, and he
offered me a draw. I was a bit better, but it was still a draw with best play. However, this time I
played it out and actually got the victory in the endgame. I learned a big lesson here: "Never
take it for granted that your opponent, or his helpers, knows what's going on ! " In fact, Fischer
lived by this rule, and won many drawn positions from the world's best players.
I remember adjourning with Korchnoi in another tournament. I was slightly worse, but didn't
think there was much real danger. Of course, I intended to look at the position in detail, but I
heard some Russians talking at the hotel, and they said Korchnoi thought it was a dead draw.
Then my Yugoslav girlfriend said, "Let's go to a movie ! " and, well, what's a guy supposed to
do? Mer all, if Korchnoi himself thought it was drawn, then why disappoint the young lady?
Of course, when we resumed I lost the game . If I had analyzed it, I would have drawn easily.
T H E H U NT FOR TH E WO RLD C H A M P I O N S H I P
7.Nxd5 Qxd5
In a later game, Korchnoi (against Krogius, USSR ch. 1 965) tried 7 . exd5,
. .
and got a good position after 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Nb3 Nc6 1 O.Bg2 Be6 1 1 .0-0
d4 1 2 .Bd2 Rd8. 1 47
8.Qxd4 Qb5
For 8 . . . Qxd4, see my game against Darga at the Varna Olympics, 1 962
(game 5 8). All of these lines give \\!hite a slight endgame edge, and there
fore suit my style very well.
9.e4 Qb4+
Black has to trade Queens because there's no good place to run. For ex
ample, 9 . . . Qh5 1 0 .Ne5 wouldn't give Black any joy.
lO.Qxb4 Bxb4+ 1 1 .Bd2 Bxd2 + 1 2 .Kxd2 Nc6 1 3 .Ke3 Ke7
\\!hite has a bit more space, but Black has no weaknesses. Nevertheless, I
was quite happy to play this kind of position against Korchnoi.
14.Rcl Bd7
This position is considered to be equal by theory, but in my opinion \\!hite
has a very small but long-lasting edge.
1 5 .a3
A simple but flexible move that takes away the b4-square from the black
Knight, prepares b2 -b4, and allows the white Bishop to run to a2 after it
moves to c4.
1 5 .. .Rhc8 16.Bc4 Na5 1 7.Ba2 Bb5 1 8.Nd4 Nc4+ 19.Bxc4 Bxc4
I was willing to trade my Bishop for the Knight because I felt that, ulti
mately, my Knight would prove itself to be more useful than the enemy
Bishop.
20.Rc2 Ba6 2 1 .Rhc l Rxc2 22 .Rxc2 Kd7 2 3 .e5
In such positions, little things make all the difference. Here I'm gaining
central space, getting my pawns off the color of Black's Bishop, and (by
preventing an eventual . . . e6-e5) making sure the d4-square will be perma
nently available for use by my Knight or King.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSIT I O N S
1 48
The Rooks are traded and, to the uninitiated, the game appears to be headed
for a draw. However, the position is actually very pleasant for White be
cause only he can play for a win while Black will be defending for a long
time to come. Why is White better? The flexibility of the Knight is one
huge factor (the d6-square in particular is calling to it!), and my central
space advantage and superior King also combine to make Black's life un
pleasant.
25.NB
Opening up d4 for my King, while threatening both Ng5 and NB -d2 -
e4-d6.
25 ... h6 26.Nd2 Kd7 2 7.Ne4 b6 2S.f4 Bf l 29.Kd4 Bg2 30.Nd6 f5
White's position has improved, but Black has everything covered. Now
starts a long game of cat and mouse: I make little j abs at his weak points
and torment him endlessly.
3 1 .Nb5 Bf l 32 .Nd6
I avoided 3 2 .Nxa7 Kc7 B .a4 Kb7 3 4.Nb5 Bxb5 3 5 .axb5, because the pawn
endgame would be drawn since White's King isn't able to penetrate.
32 ... a5 H .b4 axb4 34.axb4 Bh3
Black's King isn't in a hurry to move up since that would allow me to at
tack his kingside pawns by Ne8.
35.Ne4 Ke6 36.Nd6 Kd7 3 7.Ne4 Ke6
Of course, Black isn't willing to advance his pawn to b5 because that gives
White a chance to penetrate on the c5-square.
3S.Ne3
By dominating Black's Bishop, I cut his options down considerably.
3 S ... Kb5 3 9.Kc3 g5
Not bad at all, but he could also have considered remaining passive with
3 9 . . . Kc6 40.Kc4 Bg4, since 4 1 .Nxg4 fxg4 followed by . . . g7-g6 is just a draw.
40.Ne4 gxf4 41 .gxf4 Ke6
The game was adjourned here and Korchnoi offered a draw. I declined,
T H E H U NT FO R T H E WO RL D C H A M P I O N S H I P
7 1 ...Qa2+ 72.Kg3 Qa7 73 .QbS+ Ke4 74.QeS+ Kd3 7S.fS Qh7 76.h4 QgS+
77.Kf4 Qc4+ 78.KgS QgS+ 79.Kh6 Qf8+ SO.Qg7 Qd8
Black also loses after SO . . . Qxf5 S l .Qg6 Ke4 S2.h5.
8 1 .f6, 1 -0.
• • •
After I beat Fischer in the first round of the Candidates Tournament, I found
myself facing Tal in the third and seventeenth rounds. I looked forward to these
games with relish since our first meeting in 1 95 7 ended in an unsatisfactory man
ner. Here's the position from the 1 95 7 contest.
White to Move
T H E H U NT F O R T H E WO RLD C H A M P I O N S H I P
This game, from the World Student Team Championship (I was playing for
the Hungarian team), had been going well for me, and why not? Though Tal
was already Russian Champion and occupied their first board, I was older and
considered myself to be more experienced. I was determined to win from the 15I
start! In the diagram, I had to make my 40th move. I was low on time (time
pressure is mandatory in my games!) and had to choose between two King moves.
40.Kg3??
This is the wrong one. I could have won a piece and the game with 40.Kg l ,
since Black couldn't stop both the mate threat and Nxa6. Play would have
then gone: 40 . . . Nd4 4 l .Nxa6 Rxb2 42 .Bc7 ! (stopping . . . Nh2 +), and vic
tory would have been mine.
40 ... Re3 + 41 .Kf2??
I tried to repeat the position so I could correct my mistake and play Kg l .
Of course, Black declined. Better was 4 1 .Kf4 (and not 4 1 .Kh4 h6 !), but
after 41 . . .Rd3 42 .Re l Rd4+ 43 .Kg3 Rd3 +, Black has a draw by perpetual
check. I saw this line but could not bear to let Black escape with a draw.
41 ...Rd3 42 .Re l?
Continuing to self-destruct. White should at least trade Rooks and try to
draw due to the opposite-colored Bishops. Now the game becomes
hopeless.
42 . . . Rd2 + 4 3 . Kg3 Be2 ! 44.Na6 c4 45 .Nc5 Nxc5 46. Bxc5 Rxb2
47.Bd4 Rd2 48.Be3 Ra2 49.Kf4 f6 50.h4 c3 5 1 .g5 fxg5+ 52.hxg5 Kf7
53 .Ke4 c2 54. Bel Rat 55.Ke3 Rxel , 0- 1 .
This was my first taste of Tal's legendary luck. I never forgot this night
marish finish, and it continued to haunt me every time I played him.
I wanted revenge very badly for that 1 95 7 abomination (not to mention sev
eral other losses against him in Portoroz 1 95 8 and the 1 959 Candidates Tourna
ment) ! This was finally achieved in the third round of Cura�ao.
l .g3 g6 2 .Bg2 Bg7 3 .d4 d6 4.e4 Nf6 5.Ne2 0-0 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.Nbc3
We've now transposed into a popular line against the Pirc Defense (usu
ally reached by 1 .e4 d6 2 .d4 Nf6 3 .Nc3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5 .Bg2 0-0 6.Nge2
Nbd7 7.0-0) . At the time, this set-up was rather new and Black's best re
plies were not known (which explains why both Fischer and Tal did poorly
against it). Of course, I was quite happy with this opening position be
cause I felt that it wouldn't be to Tal's taste.
7 ... c6 8.a4 a5 !?
Tal's improvement over the Fischer game. This typical King's Indian move
stops White from advancing to a5 and secures the c5-square for a black
Knight after . . . e5 and . . . exd4.
PA L B E N KO : MY L I F E . G A M E S A N D C O M POSITI O N S
9.b3
An interesting plan: \Vhite intends to play Ba3 , when the pressure along
the a3 -f8 diagonal will prove to be quite annoying for Black. \Vhite usu
1 52 ally plays h3 followed by Be3 with a slight edge. In fact, it's now known
that this setup (the Knight on d7 combined with . . . c6 and . . . a5), with an
eventual . . . e 5 , doesn't give Black equality against \Vhite's system.
9 ... Re8 1 0.Ba3 Qc7 1 1 .Qd2 e5 12 .Rad l
\Vhite's moves are obvious, to the point, and strong (In other words, you
don't have to be flashy to win a game !).
1 2 ... exd4 1 3 .Nxd4 Nc5 14.f3 b6 l S.Nde2 Bf8
\Vhite must stand better if Black has to defend the d-pawn like this.
16.Bb2
The Bishop no longer had a future on a3 so it steps back to the wide-open
a l-h8 diagonal.
16 ... Qe7 1 7.Nd4 Bb7 1 8.Rfel Bg7 19.f4 Rad8 20.Bf3
\Vhite's central space advantage has grown over the last few moves. 2 0.Bf3
is very useful since it keeps the black Knight from jumping to g4 and also
prepares to place the white Queen on g2 when e4-e5 , targeting the c6-
pawn, will hang over the black position like a dark cloud.
20 ... Qd7 2 1 .Qg2
Black is under considerable pressure. Right now the threat is e 5 . If Tal
played the natural 2 1 . . . Qc7, I intended to become aggressive with 2 2 .g4.
Tal was never happy defending a passive position, so he tries to free him
self by lashing out in the center.
2 1 ...d5 22 .e5 Nfe4 23 .Nxe4 dxe4 24.Be2
Naturally, I avoided 24.Bxe4 due to 24 ... Nxe4 2 5 .Qxe4 c5 when Black wins.
24 ... Qe7 25.Ba3
Suddenly the a3 -f8 diagonal is once again useful.
25 ... f6 26.Bc4+ Kh8 27.Ne6
Black's position is critical . If 2 7 . . . Rxd 1 2 8 .Rxd l £Xe5 29.Nxc5 (also good is
2 9.Nxg7 followed by Bb2 when \Vhite's domination of the a l -h8 diago
nal will cause Black lots of pain) 29 . . . bxc5 30.Qxe4, Black's queenside is a
�ai1 Tal: Tal was a genius, there is no question about this. He had an amazing ability
to calculate long, intricate variations. Everyone liked Tal, in fact, I never ran into a player who
wasn't fond of him (I certainly was) .
Once I played him with sunglasses on because he often stared at people, as if he was trying to
hypnotize them. Some journalists convinced me to do it, as a j oke. Afterwards, a story circu
lated around the world that I had been seriously worried about Tal putting me under his spell !
"I can see in your palm, M r. Tal, that the next World Champion wi l l be . . . Bobby Fischer" Framed
between Tal and Fischer. we see in both photos, Lombardy and Weinstein.T he lady in the
foreground is M rs. Smyslov. T he laughing gentleman at the extreme left is Tal's trainer and second,
A. Koblentz. (Photos courtesy USCF.)
1 56
(45) Filip - Benko (Candidates Tournament Cu ra�ao, 1 962)
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.0 0-0 6.Nge2 Nc6 7.Be3 a6
S.Qd2 Bd7
Black's main alternative is S . . . RbS.
9.Nc l
Other critical White moves are 9.Bh6 and 9.h4. This whole line is ex
tremely complicated and always leads to a full-blooded fight.
9 ... e5 1 0.Nb3
More usual here is 1 0.dS Nd4 1 1 .Nb3 Nxb3 1 2 .axb3 .
1 0 ... exd4 I 1 .Nxd4 ReS 1 2 .Be2 Nb5 !?
Taking the bad Bishop, but Black didn't really have a choice since 1 5 . . . Qb8
1 6.Nd5 is unpleasant.
1 6.Nxe2 Qb8
1 57
It might be hard to believe, but this move envisions the opening of the
b-file !
1 7 .Nc3
More testing is 1 7 .c5. After 1 7 .Nc3 , Black gets a comfortable position.
17 ... Be6 1 8 .Nd5 Bxd5 19.cxd5 c5 20.dxc6 bxc6
Suddenly the Queen on b8 is doing a great job putting pressure on the b
file and defending d6!
2 1 .Rac1 Qb5
32 .Rxf7
Now 3 2 . . .Kxf7 3 3 .Qd5+ wins for White. Instead of 3 2 .Rxf7 , White could
have tried to defend by 3 2 .Rg3 , but then 32 . . . Bd4+ 3 3 .Kh I Be5 3 4.Qd5
(34.Rg4 Qxc 1 + mates) favors Black because of the simple 3 4 ... Rf8 ! . The
attempt at beauty via 34 ... Qxc 1 +?? fails to a problem-like refutation: 3 5 .Bxc 1
Bxg3 3 6.Qxa8+ Kh7 and now, instead of 3 7 . Qa7 Re l + 3 8.QgI Bxh4, White
has the wonderful 3 7 .Bd2 ! ! Rxd2 (3 7 . . . Rf2 3 8 .Qxa6 Rxd2 3 9 . Qf1 ) 3 8 .Qf3 ,
winning.
32 ... Rxg2 + 3 3 .Kf l RxgS 34.Rxg7+ Kxg7 3 S.Rc7+??
An unfortunate blunder. White could have forced a draw by 3 5 .Qd7+.
3S ... KhS
Suddenly the game is over.
36.hxgS Rf8+ 37.Ke l QeS+ 3S.Kdl Qxc7
Ending the fun. White is left with a few spite checks.
39.Qd4+ Qg7 40.Qh4+ KgS 41 .Qc4+ Qf7, 0- 1 .
The closed variation against the Catalan i s hard to beat, but this i s too
passive. Black refrains from 9 . . . Nbd7 1 0.cxd5 cxd5 because I l .Nc6 gets
one of his Bishops (whether this means anything in a position with such a
fixed central structure is another matter). I was more concerned with 1 59
9 . . . Nfd7, which is almost certainly Black's best chance to keep White's
edge to a bare minimum.
1O.Nc3 Nbd7 I 1 .Bf4 NxeS 1 2 .dxeS Nd7 1 3 .Qd2 !
A strong move that cuts down Black possibilities like . . . dxc4 or . . . g5 , and
threatens to blast open the center with e2 -e4.
1 3 ...f6? !
Such a weakening move can't be good, but Black didn't like the look of
1 3 . . . Rd8 1 4.cxd 5 cxd5 1 5 .Rac 1 Qb8 1 6.Nb 5 .
14.cxdS! NxeS
There isn't anything better. After 1 4 . . . exd 5, 1 5 .Nxd 5 ! cxd5 1 6.Bxd5+ is
strong, while 14 . . . fxe 5 1 5 .dxc6 wins.
I S .d6 Rd8
Avoiding 1 5 . . . Bd8 1 6.Bxe5 (also strong are 1 6.Qe3 and 1 6.d7 Qc7 1 7 .Qd6)
1 6 . . . fxe5 1 7 .d7 Qc7 1 8 .Bh3 , which is absolutely horrible for Black.
16.BxeS fxeS 1 7.Ne4 cS
This allows White to finish nicely, but it's the only way to try and get out
of the horrible mess that Black has found himself in. It is easy to see that
1 7 . . . Bf6 1 8 .d7 Qc7 1 9.Bh3 wasn't very appealing.
1 8.dxe7
I could have kept control of the game with 1 8. Qc2 Bf6 ( 1 8 . . . Bf8 1 9.Ng5)
1 9.b4 ! , but 1 8.dxe7 was too tasty to resist.
18 ... Rxd2 1 9.Rxd2 Qc7
Trying to avoid 1 9 . . . Qe8 2 0.Nd6, when White gets two pieces and a Rook
for the Queen.
20.Radl
Black is completely lost. 2 0 . . . Bxe4 fails to 2 1 .Rd8+, and 2 0 . . . Qxe7 loses
the b 7 -Bishop after 2 1 .Rd7, so he vainly tries to close off the d-file.
20 ... BdS 2 1 .Nc3 , 1 -0.
PA L B E N KO : MY L I F E , G A M E S A N D C O M POSITI O N S
when White still has some chances for a little something) 1 7 .Nd6+ Kf8 !
with a draw (risky is 1 7 . . . Kd7 1 8 .Qb5+ Qxb5 1 9 .Nxb5 Kc6 2 0.a4! Ne7
2 1 .N l c3 when White retains the initiative) . Throughout all of this,
White was being pushed around a bit. Therefore, less materialistic play- 161
ers should take a close look at 9.Bf4 ! ? , a blatant attempt to refute Black's
6 . . . Bg7 in no uncertain terms. The game I. Glek-Henrichs, Germany
1 995 was a ringing endorsement of 9.Bf4: 9 . . . Bxb2 1 O.Nlc3 Qe7+ I l .Be2
Ne5 1 2 .0-0 Nf6 1 3 .Na4 Bxa l 1 4. Qxa l Ned7 1 5 .Bd6, 1 -0. Of course,
Henrichs played very poorly here, and major improvements for both sides
are undoubtedly lurking behind every move . For example, instead of
10 . . . Qe7+, I can't see how White demonstrates sufficient compensation
after 1 0 . . . d4.
7.Bb5 !?
The second surprise. Instead of the natural 7.Bg2 Bg7, White plays to
isolate Black's d-pawn.
7 ... Bd7 8.exd5 Nxd4!?
Simpler was 2 1 .Re l or 2 1 .Bd4, in both cases stopping Black from gener
ating any real counterplay.
2 1 ...BeS 22 .hxg6 hxg6 2 3 .f4 Re3 24.RhS+ Kd7 2S.Bh4 Rf3 26.RdS+ Ke6
1 62
Not 26 . . . Kc6? ? 2 7 .Rc8+ Kd6 2 8 . Rxc5 ! , when Ke2 will trap the black Rook.
27.ReS+ Kfi 2S.ReS Rf 1 + 29.Kd2 Rf2 + 30.Re2 Rxe2 +
Black could have put up greater resistance with 3 0 . . . Rf3 , though White
would still have every reason to expect the full point.
3 1 .Kxe2 Ke6 3 2.g4
White's extra kingside passed pawn will eventually decide the issue.
32 ... bS H .Bfl Bd6 34.Be3 Be7
Also inadequate is 34 . . . d4 3 5 .Bd2 Kd5 3 6.Kf3 Be7 3 7 .f5 g5 (no better is
3 7 . . . gxf5 3 8.gxf5 Bf6 3 9.b3 Ke5 40.Kg4) 3 8.c3 ! .
35.Kd3 BdS 36.Kc3 Be7 37.b3 Kd6 3S.Ba7 Bh4 39.BbS+ KeS 40.BeS
Bg3 41 .Bd4+, 1 -0.
The game was adjourned here, but team analysis obviously convinced my
opponent that resistance was futile.
� Odcing (two yw, on Wall Slree" then th<ee mo<e ye", ,elHng
mutual funds and real estate as an independent agent) guaranteed me security, I
didn't like getting up every day at a specific time, and much preferred the free
dom of a chessplayer's life. Since I now had some money in the bank and was
comfortably ensconced in my new country, I quit my job and became the only
professional chessplayer (along with Fischer) in the United States.
With super-tournaments like Stockholm and Cura�ao behind me, I didn't ex
pect to participate in another such event for a long time to come. Imagine my
delight when I was invited to the first Piatigorsky Cup in Los Angeles, a tour
nament sponsored by the world-famous cellist Gregor Piatigorsky and his wife.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Piatigorsky were very nice to us, and Gregor even gave
us a cello recital next to his pool in his swimming trunks. Unfortunately, only
one more Piatigorsky Cup was held, and then they refused to do any more .
Gregor told me that the players continuously complained, and that he
couldn't make anyone happy. At one point, Mrs. Piatigorsky had to carry the
demo board to the event herself (none of the players would move a muscle to
help), and the constant demands for more and more money turned the whole
thing sour.
Though the tournament turned out to be doomed as an ongoing event, all
the players experienced the usual array of thrills, horrors, triumphs, and vexa
tions. One memory that stands out is when Soviet politics and Disneyland rammed
heads. Since we were in Los Angeles, several of the players wanted to go to
Disneyland. Keres and Petrosian, acting like delighted little kids, were very ex
cited about it since Disneyland was a legend in the Soviet Union. However,
when the day came to go there, Petrosian said he felt ill and couldn't go, and
Keres said he'd stay with Tigran.
1 63
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E . GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
It turned out that Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was visiting at that time
and also wanted to go. However, Walt Disney wasn't impressed and said, "He
can come if he buys his own ticket. " Because there was no red carpet for
1 64 Khrushchev, Disneyland was suddenly off limits to poor Keres and Petrosian
they didn't dare to go and get the Soviet politicos angry.
Also fresh in my mind is the insanity that
occurred in the very first round against
Reshevsky. We were both in time pressure,
and I was moving so quickly that I only
noticed that his flag had fallen after we
made the fortieth move. At the beginning
of the tournament, it was made clear that
the players didn't have to call the clock
(under FIDE rules), because a director
would always be there to point out any
such forfeiture.
Unfortunately, the director presiding
Piatigorsky Cup l i neup: PB, Gl igoric.
Olafsson, Najdorf, Petrosian, Reshevsky. over our game (a friend of Reshevsky's !)
Keres, and Pan no. chose to ignore the time forfeiture. Na
(Photo courtesy USCF.)
tional master Ronny Gross was watching
the whole thing and was laughing, since
he watched the director stare right at the
clock and deliberately avoid making the
only legal and correct call. In fact, Gross
told me that Sammy's flag had fallen on
move 3 8 !
Once I noticed it myself, I tried to claim
the win. However, I had left a move out
on my scoresheet and it was move forty
one when I pointed to the clock, so he
Petrosian and Keres discuss the real ity
of politics with M rs. Piatigorsky. snubbed my claim. Naturally, I protested,
(Photo courtesy USCF.) but none of the officials supported me
since that would, in effect, point to the in
competence of the director (following the
unwritten rule that tells you to never drag
down one of your own). In the end, I lost
this game. It was the first of three straight
losses - certainly a miserable way to be
gin the event! My final score of four wins,
seven losses, and three draws was not an
auspicious start to my new, professional,
career.
M rs. and Mr. Piatigorsky with I. Kashdan,
the d i rector of the 1 963 and 1 9 66
events.
A P RO FESS I O NA L AT LAST
An experiment that worked out well in this game, but the usual, and best,
line is I l .Nd2 Nf4 1 2 .0-0 Nxe2+ (else White will play Bg4) 1 3 .Qxe2 , with
a very nice game. Why is White better in this position? Because his play
on the queenside is easy to achieve (via Rfb l and b2 -b4), while Black's
kingside play depends on . . . f7 -f5 which, unfortunately, allows exf5 when
the white Knights gain access to the juicy e4-square.
1 1 ... Nf4
Another possibility is 1 1 . . . g4 1 2 .Nd2 Nxg3 1 3 .fxg3 h5 1 4.0-0, when the
weakness of the f5-square gives White good chances.
Three years after this game, Najdorf found himself facing 1 1 .h4 again.
However, this time he played very sharply: I l . . .Nxg3 1 2 .fxg3 gxh4 1 3 .Nxh4
£l11;e; l Naj dorf: I only played three games with Najdorf over the course of my career. I had
a win and a draw against him at the 1 963 Piatigorsky Cup. Our only other game was played at
Mar del Plata. It must be understood that Najdorf was an incredibly nice guy, but he would use
every trick in the book to win . During this third game, we adjourned in a position where I was up
a pawn in a Rook endgame. I didn't have a chance to analyze the position, and was thinking about
a move when we resumed on the next day. Suddenly he looked at me- his face showing pain and
some outrage at the same time - and said, "How can you do this to an old man like me? How can
you play this out? I analyzed all night and it's a dead draw! A dead draw! I guarantee it. In fact, I'll
bet you a thousand dollars it's a draw! A thousand dollars ! " I ignored him and tried to think but he
wouldn't shut up, he just kept gibbering on and on. Finally I just gave him the draw, anything to
get some quiet. Then I went upstairs to my room and looked at the position. Instantly I saw that it
was easily winning for me-he had been lying through
his teeth ! So I rushed downstairs and confronted him.
"Why did you lie to me like that? What in the hell's
wrong with you? Why didn't you let me think? "
He just smiled, put his arm around me and said,
"Don't worry about it. Come on, I'll take you out to a
nice nightclub ! " How could you stay mad at a guy like
this?
During the Piatigorsky Cup, we'd play blitz until
three in the morning every single night, though he
did cancel our late night session once when he found Najdorf and I duke it out at the
a woman friend to spend some time with . I couldn't Piatigorsky Cup.
figure out when he slept, it always seemed like he was (Photo Art Zeller. courtesy USCF.)
QgS 1 4.0-0 Qxg3 I S .NfS BxfS 1 6.RxfS Nd7 1 7 . Qd2 Nf6 1 8 .Raft Nh7 ,
Cobo-Najdorf, Havana 1 966. I have t o wonder, though, why White didn't
simply defend the g3 -pawn with 1 4.Qd3 . It seems to me that White's po
sition would then be very promising.
1 2 .hxg5 hxg5 1 3 .Bfl
An interesting alternative was seen in Dzindzichashvili-Jansa, Tbilisi 1 965 :
1 3 .Kfl fS 1 4.exfS BxfS I S .Nd2 Nxe2 1 6.Qxe2 Qf6 1 7 .QhS Bd3 + 1 8 .Kg l
Bg6 1 9.Nde4 BxhS 2 0.Nxf6+ Bxf6 2 1 .RxhS, and White had an obvious
advantage and went on to win the game.
1 3 ... Bg4
Also possible was 1 3 .. .fS , but at this point I like White's position no mat
ter what Black tries.
14.Qc2 BxO 15.gxO Nd7
Black's idea is to bury White's dark-squared Bishop. Of course, taking on
f4 via Bxf4 would be great for Black after . . . exf4, since Black's Bishop would
then rule the board.
16.0-0-0 ReS 17.Bh3
This leaves Black with a difficult choice. He can either give up his good
Knight for the light-squared Bishop, or let it become powerful on fS .
A P RO F E S S I O N A L AT LAST
This move is hard to understand, but in any case Black was running out of
options. The only way to get rid of the dominating f5 -Knight was by
22 . . . Ne7 , but that didn't work because of 2 3 .Nxg7 Kxg7 2 4.f4 ! , when
White's buried Bishop comes strongly into play (e.g., 24 . . . gxf4 2 5 .Bxf4
exf4 2 6.Qc3 +, and White's attack crashes through).
23 .Qd l
Tempting was 2 3 .Rh7, since 2 3 . . .f6 24.Rxg7+ Rxg7 2 5 .Nh6+ KhS 2 6 .Nf7+
KgS 2 7 .NxdS wins. However, I wanted to mate, and the line 2 3 . . . Bf6
24.Nh6+ Kxh7 2 5 .Nxf7+ Kg7 2 6.NxdS BxdS simply wasn't enough for
me. My 2 3 .Qd l intends to swing my Queen calmly over to the kingside
for a mating attack.
2 3 ... f6
Once again, 2 3 . . .Ne7 would have failed to 24.Nxg7 Kxg7 2 5 .f4! exf4 26.Bxf4
gxf4 2 7 .Qg4+ Ng6 2 S .Rh7+ Kf6 2 9. Qf5 + Ke7 3 0.Qe6 mate. Also inad
equate was 2 3 . . .Nf4 24.Rh7 Bf6 (or 24 .. .f6 2 5 .Rxg7+ Kxg7 2 6.Nh6+) 2 5 .Bxf4
exf4 26.Qg l , when the threats of 2 7 . Qxg5+ or 2 7 . Qh2 will lead to mate.
24.f4!
This allows my Queen to penetrate to the kingside.
24 ... exf4 25.Qh5 Ne5 26.Qh7+, 1 -0.
Black had no wish to experience 2 6 . . . Kf7 2 7 .Qxg7+ KeS 2 S .QxfS+ KxfS
2 9.RhS+.
PA L B E N KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
agree with this since White still has a significant advantage after 1 3 .Bf2
c5 . However, I very much wanted to win this game, and opening the posi
tion seemed a better way to heat up the battle.
1 3 ... bxc6 1 69
Losing is B . . . fxe3 ? ? 1 4.cxd7 Bxd7 1 5 .c5+! Kh8 1 6.c6 bxc6 1 7 .Bxa6, when
White wins a piece and the game.
14.B£2 Rb8
White stands better. If 14 . . . Qa5, then 1 5 .c5+ Kh8 1 6.Ng5 is dangerous
for Black ( 1 6 . . . h6 1 7 .Bxa6 Qxa6 1 8 .Ne6), while 1 4 . . . Qe7 1 5 .c 5+ Kh8
1 6.Qa3 Nc7 (and not 1 6 . . . Naxc5 ? ? 1 7 .Rxd 7 !) 1 7 .Rd6 gives White a clear
advantage according to Dolmotov.
I S .Qa3 Qc7 1 6.Rd2 Nf6 1 7.h3 Ne8
White's advantage is obvious: Black's g7-Bishop is inactive, his a6-Knight
can't move, and his c8-Bishop is stuck defending the a6-Knight.
1 8.Rhdl Bf6 19.cS Qb7
Black is trying to stop me from breaking through on the d-file, but this turns
out to be unrealistic. In the tournament book, Reshevsky pointed out that
1 9 ... Nb4 was met by 20.Bc4+ Kh8 2 1 .Qa4 (threatening to win the Knight
by a2 -a3) 2 l . . .a5 (he only gave this defense, but 2 l . . .Qb7, though still very
good for White, puts up a tougher fight) 22 .a3 Na6 2 3 .Bxa6 Bxa6 24.Rd7.
20.Bc4+ Kg7
2 1 . Bxa6
One source claimed that 2 1 .g4 fxg3 e.p. 2 2 .Bxg3 was stronger. Indeed,
this is crushing, but Black doesn't have to capture en passant. Instead,
2 1 ...Kh8 keeps him in the game. However, a bit more accurate was 2 1 .Qxa6!
Qxa6 2 2 .Rd7+ Kh8 2 3 .Bxa6 Bxa6 24.Rxa7 , when White wins a pawn but
avoids the exchange of a pair of Rooks. This prevents Black from getting
any counterplay by . . . Bfl .
2 1 . . . Qxa6 22 .Rd7+ Wi 2 3 .Rxfi+ Kxfi 24.Rd7+ Kg8 2 S .Qxa6 Bxa6
26.Rxa7
White is a clear pawn ahead and should not have any difficulty in scoring the
point. Unfortunately, my usual time trouble "disease" begins to haunt me.
PAL B E N KO: MY LI FE, GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
I made the time control and the game was adjourned. Imagine my delight
when I discovered that I still had winning chances!
41. ..Be6 42 .Rh7 h3 43 .Bgl g4
White also wins after 43 . . .RhS 44.a7 h2 4S.Bxh2 Bxh2 46.bS ! .
44.a7 g3 45.Nxg3 Bxg3
Black has won a piece and is ready to win another one. Am I lost? No, I
actually think White is close to winning (though Black might have a way
to escape with the half-point) ! Lady luck, who abandoned me earlier, has
staged a triumphant return and suddenly the White pawns begin to show
their strength.
A P RO F E S S I O N A L AT LAST
171
46.b5 cxb5
The tournament book says, "A better try was 46 . . . BtL 47.bxc6 Bxgl 4S.cxd7
Bxd7 49.RbS h2 50.RxcS h l =Q 5 1 .RgS+ Kf7 5 2 .aS=Q Bxc5, with better
chances than in the game. " I can't agree with this because 5 3 .Qd5+ Be6
54.Qxe5 ! KxgS 5 5 .Qxe6+ wins easily-White will pick up Black's second
Bishop with a series of checks.
47.c6
47 ... Bf2 ?
I don't see how White wins after 47 . . . h4! ! 4S.Rxb4 (or 4S.cxd7 Bxd7 49.Rxd7
Rxc3+ 50.Kb2 RcS ! [not 50 . . . Ra3 5 1 .RdS h2 5 2 . Bxh2 Bxh2 5 3 .aS=Q RxaS
54.RxaS Bf4 5 5 .Kc2 ! Be3 56.RbS Bc5 5 7 .Rb5, and White wins. If Black
could have gotten his Bishop to c3 he would have drawn, but White didn't
allow this to happen] 5 1 .Rb7 [5 1 .Rd3 Bel 52 .Rxh3 Bc3 + 5 3 .Kb3 RaS 54.Rh2
Bd4 5 5 .Bxd4 exd4 56.Ra2 d3 47 .Kxh4 d2 5 S .Rxd2 Rxa7, and Black draws]
5 1 ...RaS 5 2 . RbS Rxa7 5 3 .Bxa7 h2 54.RhS Kg5 , and White has nothing. An
other idea is 4S .Rc7 ! ? Rxc7 ! 49.aS=Q, but it's still a draw after 49 . . . Nf6
5 0 .Nd5 Nxd5 5 1 . exd5 Bxd5 5 2 .QdS Rxc6+ 5 3 .Kb2 Be4 54.QgS+ Kf5
5 5 .Qxg3 Rc2 +, =) 4S . . . h2 ! ! 49.Bxh2 BtL ! 50.cxd7 Bxd7 5 1 . Bxe 5 (5 1 .Rb7 Bc6
52 .RbS Bxe4+ 5 3 .Kb2 Rxc3 54.Kxc3 Bxa7, =) 5 l . ..RaS ! , and Black will draw.
PA L B E N KO ; MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
Perhaps some intrepid reader will find a way to win for White, but at the
moment it seems that Black missed his final chance to save the game.
48.cxd7 Bxd7 49.Bxfl hZ 50.Rb8 Rxc3 +
1 72
Trying to make White's King as vulnerable as possible.
5 1 .Kxc3 h l =Q 5Z.a8=Q
The only question remaining in the game is, "Can Black find a perpetual
check? "
5Z ... Qc1 +
Naturally, 52 . . . Qf3 + 5 3 .Kb4 Qxf2 loses quickly to 54.RgS+.
53 .Kb4 Qc4+
Just as hopeless is 5 3 . . . Qd2 + 54.Kc5 Qxf2 + 5 5 .Kd6 Qd2 + 56.Qd5.
54.Ka5 QaZ + 55.Kb6 Qxf2+ 56.Kc7 Qfi 57.Rf8 Qe6
The endgame after 57 ... Qe7 5S.QdS QxdS 59.RxdS is an easy win for White.
58.Rd8, 1 -0.
His Bishop is trapped.
1 73
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
constantly and wanted to get married, political problems forced us to think care
fully about possible ramifications; the Hungarian government would not allow
her to leave the country (she loved it there and had no desire to emigrate) and I
1 74 was still being closely watched by the secret police.
Going back to Hungary was an intense and strange experience. Old emotional
scars opened up, paranoia rekindled, and the fact that I was now Americanized
made me feel like a fish out of water. When I first arrived I met up with an old
friend and we took a train to a well-known spa. After a tiring journey, we arrived
at the hotel and were horrified to find out
. �,�
0; i,'" " that they wouldn't let us stay because I had
c;<fjjB���s
" �� i{;B:i.<;-,{ �W2[:s f' �
LIFE
an American passport! Apparently the close
proximity of a missile site created this reac
tion, and showed that Cold War mentality
was alive and well. Before returning on the
train, we had dinner, and I was sure I was
being watched. My friend insisted I was para
noid, but a military vehicle stopped us a while
later and demanded papers and explanations.
, " Suddenly I began reliving some of the hor
ror of my Hungarian past! Visions of prison
filled my mind, and it took a long time for
me to believe that I was actually safe.
This first tentative step back to my home
land only lasted a month, but it reminded
me that I was very much a Hungarian, and
that I could no longer live without close con
On the cover of Chess Life for wi nning
tact with Gizella and my family. As a result,
the 1 9 64 U.s. Open.
(Photo courtesy useF.) yearly trips to Hungary became a normal part
of my existence.
l .e4 e6 2 .d3
Playing against a French specialist like Byrne, I decided to avoid regular
book lines. The text move heads for a King's Indian Attack, an opening
which I have played with success many times. One example can be found
in my game against Uhlmann in Stockholm, 1 962 .
2 dS 3 .Nd2 Nf6 4.Ngf3 b6 S.eS
••.
There is no hurry to make this move, but White was worried that on 5 .g3
dxe4 6.dxe4, Black could eventually play . . . Ba6. Nowadays, most players
answer 4 . . . b6 with 5 .c3 . However, back in 1 964 we were both on our own
by move five !
S ...Nfd7 6.g3 cS 7.Bg2 Qc7
BAC K TO H U N GARY
8.0-0! Nxe5?
Capturing this gambit pawn is too risky since Black is behind in develop
ment. 8 . . . Nc6 was better. White could then continue 9.Re l or 9.c4 with
good prospects.
9.Nxe5 Qxe5 10.c4!
This was the key move for opening up lines in order to exploit White's
superior development. It puts pressure on the e-file and the long diagonal
while freeing the Queen for action on either side of the board. Black no
doubt underestimated the strength of 10. c4.
1 0 ... Qd6?
Black begins to see the dangers confronting him, but fails to find the best
defense. The text move prepares for I I .cxd5 exd5 12 .Re 1 + Be6. Best, how
ever, was 1 O . . . Bb 7. There would follow I l .exd5 Bxd5 1 2 .Nc4, with a strong
attack.
1 1 .cxd5 exd5 1 2 .Nc4 Qd8 1 3 .Qh5 Bb7
Black is forced to admit the error of his ways since 1 3 . . . Be6 1 4.Re 1 gives
White the double threat of 1 5 .Rxe6+ and 1 5 .Bxd 5 .
14.Ne3
This excellent move recovers the pawn and continues the attack, but stron
ger was the fairly simple 1 4.Re l + Be7 1 5 .Bg5 Nc6 1 6.Ne 5 , winning a piece
and the game. Instead, while analyzing 14 . Re l +, my brain went into
"Morphy Drive " and discounted 1 6 .Ne5 in favor of 1 6 .Rxe7+ Nxe7
1 7 .Re l 0-0 1 8 .Bxe7 Re8 ! 1 9.Bxd8 (I failed to notice that White still wins
with 1 9 . Q e2 dxc4 2 0 . Bxb7 cxd3 2 1 . Bxa8 d2 2 2 . Rd l Rxe 7 2 3 . Rxd2)
1 9 ... Rxe 1 + 2 0.Bfl dxc4, when the game is far from easy.
14 ... Nc6?
Now Black goes down in flames. His only defense was 1 4 . . . Bd6 1 5 .Nxd5
Kf8, though Black is still in serious trouble after 1 6.Bg5 .
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E . GAM ES A N D C O M POSIT I O N S
1 5.Nxd5 Bd6
The only move, since I S . . . Be7 1 6.Re l leaves Black with no hope at all.
1 6.Bg5 Qb8
1 76
If 1 6 . . . Qd7 1 7 .Bh3 wins the Queen.
1 7 .Rfe l + Kf8
It would appear that Black has survived the worst, but actually the assault
against his King is just beginning.
1 8.Nf6! Qc7
Of course, 1 8 . . . gxf6 allows mate in two.
1 9.Bh6!
pawn to d4. Here, White can play d2 -d3 and then strike in the center
with either e2 -e4 or f2 -f4. The second answer lies in the rapidity of Black's
. . . e7-e 5 . Black has built a big center, but is he ready to defend it? It's this
point that I pursue in the actual game.
4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d4
This quick strike at Black's center forces him to show me that he can handle
the pressure I'm about to impose in that area. The alternative is 5 .d3 .
5 ... Be7
A sensible reply. White gets a nice plus after 5 . . . exd4 6.Qxd4 Nc6 7 . Qd2 ,
followed by b2-b3 and Bb2 .
6.Nh3
This move keeps the hl-a8 diagonal open and, if Black's e-pawn ever moves,
allows the Knight to jump to the very nice f4-square.
6 ... 0-0 7.0-0 Qe8
Obviously Black plans to play . . . Qh5 , initiating a kingside attack, and White
must now counter-balance the impending threat by starting action in the
center.
8.e5 !
Now any pawn capture will leave Black with the worse game.
8 ...Ne6 9.Nb5!
White's action in the center has become very dangerous and Black is al
ready experiencing serious difficulties. The alternatives left open to him
are far from satisfactory. For example: 9 . . . Qd8 I O .cxd6 Bxd6 I l .d5 Nb8
1 2 .Ng5 , is better for White due to the hole on e6. Even worse is 9 . . . Qd7
1 O.cxd6 cxd6 I l .dxe5 dxe5 1 2 .Qb3 + Kh8 1 3 .Rd l , when Black's position is
obviously poor.
9 ...Nxd4
Being aware of his positional problems, Black tries to solve them by a tac
tical sacrifice of the Exchange. However, his attack is predicated on the
assumption that White would capture the Rook immediately. Unfortu
nately, he miscalculated the sequence of White's moves.
10.Nxe7 Qh5
PAL B E N KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES A N D C O M POSIT I O N S
1 78
Black's attack looks imposing after I l .Nxa8 Nxe2+ 1 2 ,Kh l £4, with inter
esting complications (Though I think that 1 3 .cxd6! Bxh3 1 4.dxe 7 ! is ulti
mately winning for "White, many of the lines are hair-raising!). However,
why give him a chance for a knockout when I have a way to put out the
flames and get a safe, overwhelming, advantage?
1 1 .Nf4!
This move serves a dual purpose, attacking and defending at the same time.
Black's next moves are all forced.
1 1 ...exf4 1 2 .Qxd4 fxg3 1 3 .fxg3 RbS
Having admitted that the attack is over, the only recourse left open to
Black is that of sad retreat!
14.cxd6 BdS l S.Qxa7 Nd7 16.BO Qg6 1 7.Bf4
The game, of course, is over since Black is two pawns down and has a
poor position too ! However, he decides to play on and make it look better
"on paper. "
1 7 ... Bf6 lS.NdS KhS 1 9.Nxf6 Qxf6 20.Qa3 NeS 2 1 .Racl NxO + 22 .exO
Be6 2 3 .Rc7 Qd4+ 24.Be3
Obviously, "White has not chosen the best continuation since he's given
Black some faint hope due to the Bishops of opposite colors. Here, in
stead of 24.Be 3 , "White should have played the simpler and stronger 24.Qe3 :
24 . . . Qxe 3 + 2 S .Bxe3 Bxa2 26.d7 h6 2 7 .BcS Rg8 2 8 .Be7, and it's over.
24 ... QdS 2 S.Qc3 Rf7 26.Rxf7 Bxf7 2 7.Qc7 RgS 2S.Rf2 BeS
If Black had one more move he could have built up a good defense with
. . . Bc6. Of course, "White cannot allow this.
29.QcS Qe6
Better than 29 . . . Qxa2 3 0. QxfS .
30.b4 Bc6 3 1 .bS BdS 32 .Rd2 BxO H .d7
The blockade, and Black's resistance along with it, is now broken.
3 3 ... RdS
Also hopeless is 3 3 . . .£4 H.d8=Q fxe3 3 S .Qxg8+ Kxg8 3 6.Rd8+ Kf7 3 7 .Qf8+
Kg6 3 8 .Rd6.
34.Qb6 Qe7 3 S .QxdS+ ! QxdS 36.BgS Qb6+ 37.Rf2 , 1 -0.
BAC K TO H U N GARY
From all outward appearances, it does not seem as if Black's game has any
weaknesses. Nevertheless, there are some inherent flaws in the black posi
tion (i.e., the pawn on e5 is a target and the two black Knights are vulner
able to attack by White's pawns). These will become obvious to the reader
as White proceeds to exploit them over the next few moves.
1 2 .h4! Nd7
A bit more accurate is 1 2 . . . Ne6, when 1 3 .Nxe5 ? fails to 1 3 . . . Nxb4! 1 4.cxb4
Nd4, with advantage for Black. After 1 2 . . . Ne6, White should play 1 3 .a3
with a good, flexible, position.
1 3 .a3 NfS 14.e4 Nf6
Black's two proud Knights have been forced back to ineffective squares.
l S .Bh2 Ng6 16.d4
The only weakness in White's position is now dissolved and, with this ma
neuver, he achieves an overwhelming game.
1 6 ... exd4 1 7.RxeS+ NxeS l S.Nxd4 as
Naturally Black wished to exchange his inactive Rook but, in trying to do
so, he merely assists White in carrying out his projected plan of breaking
with b4-b5 -a move that opens up the long diagonal for his Bishop. Black's
best try was 1 8 . . . Bd7.
19.hS exbS 20.exhS Bh6 2 1 .Qc3
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSIT I O N S
1 80
White shouldn't avoid the trade of Queens (by 2 1 . . .Bxd4 2 2 .Qxd4 Qxd4)
because the endgame is equally bad for Black, whose queenside is cramped
and subject to attack.
2 1 ...Nf6 22 .Nc4 BcS 2 3 .Nb3 Bb6 24.a4
Fixing Black's pawn on a5 so I can surround and devour it at my leisure.
24 ...Nffi 2 S.Nxb6 Qxb6 26.Qd4 Qc7
Also miserable for Black is 26 . . . Qe6 2 7 .Nc5 Qe7 2 S.Ba3 (or 2 S.Ne4 ).
27.Rc1 Qe7 28.NxaS
White now begins to reap the rewards of his strategy, for what was merely
positional advantage now becomes a material advantage.
2 8 ...Ne6
Of course, 2 S . . . Rxa5 wasn't played due to 29.RxcS .
29.Qd2
Stopping . . . Ng5 and giving support to my Knight.
29 ... h6 3 0.Nc4
The b6-square is a perfect home for the Knight, so it hurries to get there.
My opponent finds himself in a lost position so he tries a desperate attack.
30 ... NgS 3 1 .Nb6 Bh3
The alternative is 3 1 . . .Nh3 +, but it proves insufficient after 3 2 .Bxh3 Bxh3
B .NxaS Qe4 3 4.£3 .
3 2.Nxa8 Bxg2
Now B .Kxg2 ? ? allows a draw after B . . . Qe4+ 3 4.Kfl Qh 1 + 3 5 .Ke2 Qf3+.
3 3 .Bxf6
Ending Black's attack.
3 3 ... Qxf6
Also possible is 3 3 . . . gxf6 3 4.RcS+ (White can also win with 3 4.Qe3 Be4
3 5 .Kfl ) 3 4 . . . Kg7 3 5 .QdS Qe 1 + 3 6.Kxg2 Qe4+ 3 7 .Kfl , but the checks will
eventually run out and Black will have to give up.
34.Kxg2 Qf3 + 3 S.Kgl
Of course, 3 5 .Kfl ? ? allows a perpetual check.
3 S Nh3 + 36.Kfl Nxf2 37.Qf4, 1 -0.
.•.
BACK TO H U N GARY
l .e4 c6 2 .d4 d5 3 .Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.NfJ Nd7 7.Bd3
181
This is a quiet way of meeting the 4 . . .Bf5 variation. White hopes that his
central space advantage will give him a little something.
7 ... e6 s.o-o Ngf6
Black doesn't fear 9.Bxg6, since 9 . . . hxg6 would give Black kingside chances
due to the open h-file. In that case, Black would follow up with . . . Qc7,
... Bd6, and . . 0-0-0.
.
Black finally frees his position. The white d-pawn would have become very
dangerous if Black had made any other move at this point.
1 9.Qxc4 Nb6 20.Qd4 Nbxd5 2 1 .Bc1
White's a-pawn was hanging so he was forced into 2 1 . a4, which creates a
hole on b4, or this dismal retreat of the Bishop.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES AN D CO M PO S I TI O N S
Also leaving a bad taste in White's mouth was 29.Rh4 because, though it
stops . . . Nc4, Black would have overrun White's position with 29 . . . Rc8
3 0.Bd4 Nd5 3 1 .a4 Be7 followed by . . . Rc4.
29 ...Nc4 3 0.Bd4 Bxa3 3 1 .h4
White is trying to find good squares for his misplaced Rook which, at the
moment, has nowhere useful to go. The advance of the h-pawn prepares
to loosen Black's kingside structure with h4-h5 .
3 1 ...a4 32 .hS gxhS 3 3 .NeS NxeS 34.RxeS Bf8 3 5.RxfS a3 36.RgS+ Kfi
3 7.RxhS Kg6
Material is once again even, but Black's powerful passed pawn leaves White
in a very bad state.
38.Rhl a2
Having reached a won position, I became so confident that I missed a faster
win with 3 8 . . . Ra5 3 9 .b6 Rh5 , when the resultant Bishop endgame is
resignable. Nevertheless, even after 3 8 . . . a2 the game is just a matter of
technique.
3 9.m Bg7 40.Bxg7 Kxg7 41 .Ral Kf6 42.Ke2 Ra3
It's important to contain the white King. Then my own King can calmly
stroll to the center and end White's resistance.
43 .Kd2 KeS 44.Kc1 RaS 4S.b6
Black's last move prevented 45 .Kb2 , since 45 . . .Rxb5 + 46.Kxa2 Ra5+ 47 .Kb2
Rxa l 48 .Kxa l Ke4 49.Kb2 Kxe3 forces resignation.
BAC K TO H U N GARY
45 Ra6
..•
It would have been sheer folly for White to allow the exchange of his ac
tive Knight, since after I S . . .Nxd4 1 6.Qxd4 Bc6, Black's game would be
eased considerably.
I S ...NfS 1 6.Bd2 Re8?
A serious error! White already threatened to place Black's King under se
rious pressure by NgS , BdS+, and QhS . The text only makes things worse.
After this mistake, Black's game approaches the brink of disaster.
1 7 .NgS ! Nh6
This move covers the f7 - and h 7 -squares.
18.BdS+ Kh8 1 9.Bc3
Now White threatens to play QhS followed by Qxh6.
1 9 ... NeS
The only move that allows Black to continue the battle.
20.Qd2
Also good is 20.QhS Neg4 2 1 .Nf7+ (or 2 1 .BB Nf6 2 2 .Qxh6 gxh6 2 3 .Nf7+
Kg7 24.Nxd8 with an obvious advantage.) 2 1 . . .Nxf7 2 2 . Qxf7 Nf6 (A forced
move that allows Black to escape into a poor endgame.) 2 3 .Rfe l Rf8 24.Bxf6
Qxf6 2 S .Qxf6 Rxf6 2 6.Re7.
20 ... Neg4?
Black's only try was 2 0 . . . Ng6, in order to meet 2 1 .Qd4 with 2 1 . . .NeS .
However, White could still play 2 2 .Bxb7, when the end would merely be
a question of time. After Black's 20 . . .Neg4, there is no further hope for
him.
2 1 .Qd3 , 1 -0.
Black loses copious quantities of material after 2 1 . . .BfS 2 2 . QxfS NxfS
2 3 .Nf7+ Kg8 24.Nxd8+.
BACK TO HU NGARY
of these systems.
4.Nc3 c6
This opening has several modern names but can sail just as well under its
old moniker, Fianchetto del Rey. Of course, more common is 4 . . . Nf6, taking
us into a classical line of the Pirc.
S.Be2 Nd7 6.0-0 Nh6
This is an awkward way of developing the
KN, though very typical of Suttles. How
ever, 6 . . . Ngf6 no longer works: 7.e5 dxe5
S.dxe5 Ng4 (also good for White is S . . . Nd5
9.Nxd5 cxd5 1 O.Qxd5 Nxe5 1 1 . QxdS+ KxdS
1 2 . Rd l +) 9.e6 fxe6 l O .Ng5 . Apparently,
Black has missed the right moment for
. . . Ngf6. But does he really need that move?
This game is no proof that he does, in spite
of the strangeness of the Knight's placement
on the rim. Duncan Suttles (left) and Bernard
7.h3 0-0 8.Be3 Zuckerman at the I 966 U.S.
Championship.
Curiously, White already has a threat: (Photo courtesy USeE)
9.Qd2 wins a piece.
8 ... f6 9.Qd2 Nf7 1 0.dS
White starts the hostilities. He prevents the immediate . . . e7-e5 and is also
intent on meeting a later advance of the e 7 -pawn by dxe6, thereby gaining
the half-open d-file.
1 0 ... fS
This thrust is risky and yet perfectly logical. Black aims at eliminating the
enemy center pawns so he can eventually play . . . e7-e5 without exposing
the e-pawn to an undesired exchange.
l 1 .exfS gxfS 1 2 .Nd4 Bxd4 1 3 .Bxd4 cxdS 14.NxdS eS
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAMES A N D C O MPO S I T I O NS
Black has obtained his objective: he has a somewhat shaky King position
but enjoys a menacing pawn center. The sharp pros and cons promise tur
moil!
1 86 1 5.Bc3 f4
Naturally, Black prevents the crashing of his center by f2 -f4.
1 6.Bc4
Now, however, White threatens to shatter the enemy position by 1 7 .Nxf4!
exf4 1 8 .Qxd6 ! , with 1 9.Qd4 or Qxf4 to follow.
1 6 Nc5!
••.
Black comes up with the right answer. Wrong are 16 ... Nf6 1 7 .Qxf4! ! exf4
( 1 7 . . . Nxd 5 1 8 . Qg3 +) 1 8 .Bxf6 ! , and 1 6 . . . Nb6 1 7 .Nxb6 Qxb6 1 8 .Rad l Rd8
1 9.Ba5 .
1 7.Nxf4
Even so, White's move looks very powerful. Not only does it pick up a
pawn, it also prevents Black from obtaining relief with 1 7 ... Ne4 or 1 7 . . . Na4.
Nonetheless, the result of this combination is rather disappointing.
1 7 Ne4
.•.
22 .Qd2
After 2 2 .gxf3 Nxh3+, White will be happy to get away with a draw. Bad is
2 3 .Kh2 (or 2 3 .Kh l ) 2 3 . . . Qh4, when Black wins: 24.Kg2 (2 4.Ng3 Nf4+
2 S .Kg l Qh3 leads to a quick mate.) 2 4 . . . QxhS 2 S .f4 (Another mating line 1 87
occurs after 2 S .Rh l ? Nf4+ 2 6.Kg l Bh3 !) 2 S . . . Nxf4+ 2 6.Kg l Qg4+ 2 7 .Qg3
Nh3 + 2 8 .Kh2 Qxc4. The best answer to 22 . . . Nxh 3 + is 2 3 .Kg2 , though
Black has at least a perpetual after 2 3 . . . Qh4! :
24.f4 (Also interesting is 24.Bf7 ! ? QgS + 2 S .Kh l Qh4 2 6.Qc4 Nf4+ 2 7 .Kgl
dS 2 8 .QbS Be6! 2 9.Nxf4 [2 9.Bxe6 QxhS] 2 9 . . . QgS + 3 0. Kh l Qh4+ 3 1 .Kg l
QgS + ! = ) 24 . . . QxhS 2 S .fxeS (2 S . Rh l ? Nxf4+ 2 6.Kgl Bh3) 2 S . . . Nf4+ 2 6.Kgl
Nh3 + (2 6 . . . Be6 ? ? fails to 2 7 .exd6+) 2 7 .Kg2 Nf4+, with a draw.
22...Rxh3 !
The pawn is recovered and Black's attack rolls on.
2 3 .Be2 Rh4 24.Rad l
White counterattacks in the center.
24 ... Bg4!
But Black continues his own plans.
25.Bxg4 Rxg4
Now Black threatens mate in two.
26.Ng3
On 2 6.f4 (to stop 2 6 . . . Nf3 + and 2 7 . . . Qh4 mate), Black wins by 2 6 . . . Qb6+
2 7 .Rf2 (both 2 7 .Qf2 Nh3 + and 2 7 .Kh2 Rh4+ 2 8 .Kg3 Ne4+ ! also lead to
quick deaths.) 2 7 . . . Nf3 +.
Note that, had White played 24.Rfd l instead of 2 4.Rad l , he could now
proceed with 2 6 . Qxd6. However, Black would have a perpetual again af-
ter 2 6 . . . Nf3 + 2 7 .Kfl Nh2 + 2 8 .Kg l etc. since 2 8 .Ke l or 2 8 .Ke2 both lose
to 2 8 . . . Re4+ ! .
26 ... Qb6!
Black continues to play brilliantly. He is threatening 2 7 . . . Rxg3 , and also has
in mind a combination that renders the loss of the d-pawn rather harmless.
27.Qxd6 Nf3 + ! 28.gxf3
PAL B E NKO : MY L I FE, GAMES AND C O MP O S I T I O NS
This "desperate" move is forced but, believe it or not, it wins. White threat
ens mate in two.
34 ... Rxg1 +
BAC K TO HU N GA RY
The mate must be parried somehow, but there is no playable way of doing
so. The only move that guards simultaneously against 3 5 . Qd4+ and 3 5 . Qf6+
is 34 . . . Qxb2 , but then 3 5 .RxgS+ KxgS 3 6 .Qe6+ still leads to the death of
the black King. 189
3 5.Kxgl, 1 -0.
The threats of 3 6. QfS mate, 3 6.QdS+ Kg7 3 7 .Rd7+, as well as 3 6 . Qf6+
are murderous.
• • •
I have long been considered to be an endgame expert, and I learned early that to
understand the endgame properly, you have to study all the classic examples
and memorize the basic positions. For example, I was playing in Budapest in
1 9 5 2 when Botvinnik (as Black) demonstrated his knowledge of endgame theory
against Szabo.
White is two pawns up and threatens f6-f7. How can Black save this position?
Believe it or not, there is a way.
5 1 ...Rxa5 ! !
This appears to be a blunder since it loses the Exchange. However, the
resulting Exchange-down position turns out to be a dead draw.
52 .Nd7+ Bxd7 53 .Rxa5 Bxg4
This position is drawn even without Black's h-pawn.
54.Ke3 Be6 55 .Kf4 Bc4 56.Ra7 h5 57.Kg5 h4
And Black went on to draw the game. The final moves were:
5S.Kxh4 Bb3 59.Kg5 Bc4 60.Rc7 Ba2 6 1 .Rc 1 Bd5 62.Kf5 Kfi 63 .Ke5
Bb3 64.Rc7+ KfS 65 .Rb7 Bc4 66.Rb4 Ba2 67.Kf5 Bd5 6S.Kg6 Bfi+
69.Kg5 Bd5 70.Rh4 Bb3 7 1 .RhS+ Kfi 72 .Rh7+ Kf8 73 .fi Ke7 74.Kg6
Bc4 75.Rg7 Bb3 76.fB=Q+ Kxf8 77.Kf6 Ke8 7S.Re7+ KdS, 112_112.
Did Botvinnik create this idea out of thin air? No, more than 2 00 years ago,
E. del Rio analyzed an almost identical position and concluded that it was a draw.
In the following game I appear to be dead lost. However, because I was present
at the 1 95 2 Budapest tournament and witnessed the Szabo-Botvinnik game first
hand, I didn't lose heart.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAMES AND C O MPO S I T I O N S
190
White to Move
I had to seal my move here. Black is threatening S 7 . . . Bg3 (and not S 7 . . . Rxf2 +
S 8 .Kxf2 Bgh S 9.Kxf3 ! , drawing). The obvious S 7 .Bxh4? fails to S 7 . . . Bd4, with
the threat of a mating attack by . . . Rg2 or . . . Rh2 . Am I doomed? If you've looked
at the previous examples, you should know how to save the game.
57.Rxe5+ !
An d not S 7 . Bxh4? Bd4 when Black wins.
57 ... Kxe5 5S.Bxh4 Kf4 59.Bf6 Rd2 60.Bc3 Rd5 6 1 .Kf2 Ke4 62.Bb4
White avoids the trap 62 .h4? RcS 6 3 .Bf6 Rc2 + 64.Kfl f2 6S .Kg2 Ke3 ! ,
when Black wins because the Bishop, blocked by its own pawn, can't move
to h4.
62 ... Rb5 63.Bd6 Rh5 64.Bc7 Rh6 65.BbS Ra6 66.Bc7, 1/Z-1f2.
See problem 1 52 in the section on endgame compositions for another look
at this type of position.
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 e6 3 .NB b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2
At the time, this was an experimental try, now it's one of White's most
popular choices.
7 ... d5
A logical move, but modern theory has shown that Black's best options
are 7 . . . 0-0 8.dS fS , with interesting complications, or 7 . . . Bf6 .
S.Ne5
I tried 8.Nxe4? ! dxe4 9.NeS f6 1 0. Qa4+ c6 I l .Ng4 Qxd4 1 2 .Bc3 against
Kuijpers (Tel Aviv 1 964), but 1 2 . . . bS ! is good for Black (though the game
was drawn in 3 6). After playing this unfortunate capture on e4, I devel
oped a liking for 8 .Ne S , and I used it in several games over the years. Of
course, White has many choices here, the most popular being 8.cxd S .
S . . .Nxc3
BAC K TO H U N GA RY
I had the position after 8.Ne5 twice against Rossolimo. In the first (New
York 1 965) Black simply castled, but after 9.Nxe4 dxe4 1 O. Qc2 f5 1 1 .Bc3
Bf6 1 2 .Rd l , White was better (though I eventually managed to lose after
trying too hard for the full point). In the second game (New York 1 966), 191
Black varied with 8 . . . Nxd2 9.Qxd2 c6 1 O.e4 dxc4 I l .Nxc4 Nd7 1 2 .0-0,
and now he tried to make up for his spatial limitations by playing for the
win of a pawn: 1 2 . . . Ba6 1 3 .b 3 Bxc4 1 4.bxc4 Ne5 1 5 .Rfd l Nxc4 1 6 .Qe2 b 5
1 7 .a4, when I had strong compensation for the sacrificed pawn and won
the game in forty-eight moves.
9.Bxc3 0-0 1 0.cxd5 exd5
Now the pawn formation favors White, especially since Black has already
slightly weakened his queenside. White's next move aims to restrict the
development of Black's Knight.
1 l .Qa4 Bd6
I think 1 1 . . .Qd6, as Karpov played against me in Caracas 1 970, is stronger.
12 .0-0 Qe7 1 3 .Qb3
Taking aim at d5 and preventing Black's . . . c7 -c5 break.
1 3 ... c6 14.e4?
A big mistake that tosses my advantage out the window. Correct was 1 4.Re 1 ,
calmly preparing for e2 -e4. This game is actually an excellent example of
the flaws of written theory. Most opening books give Parma's play as a
good way to reach equality. None of the authors cared to take a critical
look at my fourteenth move !
14 ... c5!
This is the move I had tried so hard to avoid. I forgot that Black could
advance this pawn, since he had just placed it on c6! Now both sides play
several forced moves and the position seemingly becomes very drawish.
1 5.exd5! cxd4 1 6.Bxd4 Bxe5 1 7.Rfe l Nd7 1 8.Bxe5 Nxe5 1 9.d6 Qxd6
20.Bxb7 Rae8 2 1 .Rad l Qc7 22 .Bd5 Ng4 2 3 .Qc4 Qxc4 24.Bxc4 g6
Here many spectators thought that the game would be drawn as soon as
the required thirty moves had been played (at that time, a game had to be
PAL BENKO : MY L I F E , G AMES AND C O MPOSITI O NS
at least thirty moves long before a draw could be agreed). Now 2 5 .Rxe8
Rxe8 2 6.Rd7 fails to 26 . . . Ne5 .
25.Bb3 Nf6 26.Kg2 Rxel 27.Rxel Re8 28.Rxe8+ Nxe8 29.KB Kf8 30.Ke4
192 Nc7 3 1 .h4
White still has an annoying edge (better King position and Bishop versus
Knight with pawns on both sides of the board - a fact that always favors
the speedy Bishop), therefore, why not play on and torture Black a bit? I
certainly didn't risk anything by doing so. If I want to win, though, I will
have to find a way to penetrate into the enemy position. The straightfor
ward 3 1 .Ke5 wouldn't have achieved this goal since 3 1 . . .Ke7 followed by
3 2 . . . f6+ pushes me back.
3 1 ...Ke7 3 2 .f4 h6 H .Bc4
Taking my time and further restricting the enemy Knight, which can't move
to a6 or b5 now.
H ... Kf6
Black chooses a waiting policy since, if 3 3 . . . Ne6 3 4.Kd5 Kd7 3 5 .Bb5+,
White's King would penetrate on one side or the other. Also any pawn
moves on the queenside are weakening while 3 3 .. .f6 allows 3 4.h 5 ! gxh5
3 5 .Kf5 .
34.g4 Ke7 3 5.Ke5
Forcing Black to make a pawn move, since both his King and Knight are
tied up.
3 5 ... f6+ 36.Ke4 Kf8 3 7.h5 g5
This may not have been the best try, but it would have been difficult to
hold the game in any event. For example, 3 7 . . .f5 + 3 8 .Ke5 fxg4 3 9.hxg6 g3
40.Bfl Kg7 4 1 .f5 h5 42 .Kf4 h4 43 .Kg5 Nd5 44.Bh3 ! leads to a White
win. His best defense may have been 3 7 . . . Kg7 , though after 3 8.hxg6 Kxg6
3 9.Bd3 , Black would still be in trouble.
3 8.fxg5 fxg5 39.Kf5 Kg7 40.Ke5
Now my King is finally able to penetrate into Black's position. Black's domi
nated Knight and poor King leave him without counterplay, and it's no
surprise that Parma couldn't find a satisfactory defense during adjourn-
BACK TO H U NG ARY
45.Kf6) 45 .Kd6.
44.a4 Ne8
Now it's time for step two: my Bishop practices a bit of BDSM and ties up
his lethargic Knight.
45.Bf5 Nf6 46.Ke6 Ne8
It's time for the greed to begin. My King is primed and ready to rush in
and start the feast.
47.Be4 Nf6 48.Bf3 Ng8 49.Kd6 Kf6
Black loses his Knight after 49 . . .Kf6 50.Bd5 Ne7 5 1 .Be6 ! . A nice example
of how a Bishop can dominate a Knight.
50.Kc6 Ke7 5 1 .Kb7 Kd6 52 .Kxa7 Kc5 53 .Ka6
The easiest way to victory. On 5 3 .a5, Black might be able to disturb me
by bringing his Knight over for the defense.
53 ... Nf6 54.Bc6!
Not letting the Knight approach the queenside.
54 ... Nxg4 55.a5 bxa5 56.b6 Ne5 57.Be8, 1 -0.
This last, exciting bit of Knight domination convinced my opponent to
gIVe up.
Alekhine said that Black can easily defend this Rook endgame. Is that so?
Maybe I will argue with him after all ! It seems to me that Black will have
to suffer for a long time before making a draw. During the game, a master
came up to me and remarked that grandmasters used to give draws in such 1 95
positions. I replied that grandmasters such as Rubinstein and Capablanca
used to win this kind of endgame with great regularity! That shut him up.
Of course, now I felt pressured because I had to go back to the game and
prove that I knew what I was talking about!
1 7.Rc4 Rd6 l S.Ra4 RaS 19.Rc1 a6 20.b3 Kb7 2 1 .Rb4+ Kc7 22.Rg4
Though this looks like a series of beginner attacks, it's actually a maneuver
designed to create weaknesses in Black's kingside pawn structure.
22 ... g6 23 .Rh4 hS 24.Rf4 fS 2 S.RcS RbS
Black is also under pressure after 2 5 . . . Rd5 2 6 .Rfc4 Rxc5 2 7 .Rxc5 Kd6
2 8 .Ra5 .
26.RaS RbS !
Black correctly seizes his first chance for active counterplay. I f 2 7 . Rxa6
Re 5 + 2 8 . Kf3 g5 2 9 . Rb4 g4+ , Black recovers the pawn with a good
position.
27.Rfa4
And not 2 7 .Rxa6 Re5 + 2 8 .Kf3 g5 2 9 . Rb4 g4+.
2 7 ... gS 2S.f4 gxf4+ 29.gxf4
It looks like 2 9 .Kxf4 is promising, but 29 . . . Rxa5 3 0.Rxa5 h4! (and not
30 ... Kb6 3 1 .Re5, with a passive position for Black) gives Black some drawing
chances. For example, 3 1 .Rxa6 Rd4+ 3 2 .Kf3 hxg3 , and the win is still a
long way off.
29 ... RxaS 30.RxaS Rdl !
3 S , . . Ra3 3 6. ReS Kc6 3 7 .RxfS Rxa2 3 S.RxhS b4, turns the b-pawn into a
powerful force and gives Black excellent chances to hold the game.
3 3 .Kd4 Rd1 +
19 6
Also bad was B . . . Rxh2 3 4.KcS Rxe2 3 S . Ra 7 + KcS 3 6 .Kxc6 Rc2 + (or
36 . . . KbS 3 7 .Rb7+ KaS 3 S .Rh7 KbS 3 9.bS) 3 7 .Kd Rc4 3 S .bS Rxf4 3 9.a4 h4
40.aS Rb4 4 1 .Rh7 ! , winning.
34.KeS RdS + 3 S.Kf6 Rd4 36.e3 ! Rxb4 3 7.Ra3 ! Re4
The pawns are now even, but Black's Rook is stuck in the middle of the
board doing nursing duty to the weakling on e6. White's active King de
cides the issue.
38.Rd3 + Kc7 39.h4
White's plan is simple and unstoppable : he intends to chop off Black's h
pawn and then push his own to victory.
39 ... Kb6
The seemingly more active 3 9 . . . cS 40.KgS Kc6 4 1 .KxhS c4, fails miserably
to 42 .Rc3 KcS 43 .a3 , when Blacks counterplay, and the game, is over.
40.KgS KbS 41 .Rb3 + !
The sealed move. It's better than 4 1 . Rc3 cS 42 .a3 Rc4 ! , when Black has
far more counterplay than he deserves.
41 ...KcS
Moving the King to a4 lets White gain an important tempo with 42 .Rc3 .
42 .KxhS Rc4 43 .Rb2 Rc1 44.KgS KdS 4S.Rh2, 1 -0.
The final touch. Placing the Rook behind the passed pawn ends Black's
resistance.
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 cS 3 .dS d6 4.Nc3 g6 S .g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.Nh3
This move was a favorite of Robert Byrne's. I decided to borrow it as a
surprise weapon, counting on the fact that, in the days before the Internet,
games from the United States were not well known in Europe. Byrne had
already played this idea against me in San Francisco ( 1 96 1 U.S. Champi
onship) with the difference that Black had played 6 . . . a6 instead of 6 . . . 0-0.
There followed: 7 ... bS S.cxbS axbS 9.NxbS QaS+ 1 O.Nc3 Ne4 I l .Bxe4
Bxh 3 , and Black had more than enough for the pawn. This game showed
me how effective the . . . b7-bS sacrifice can be, and was one of the factors
in my eventual creation of the Benko Gambit.
7 ... Na6 8.Nf4 Nc7 9.a4
An improvement on the game R. Byrne-Lombardy, U.S. Open 1 96 3 , which
continued: 9.0-0 bS 1 0.cxbS RbS I l .a4 a6 1 2 .bxa6 Bxa6, and Black had
B AC K TO H U NG ARY
sufficient compensation for the pawn. Another early Benko Gambit type
of position !
9... Rb8
1 97
In the last round of this tournament, I played this same line against R.
Garcia since I was curious to see what improvement he might have pre
pared. That game continued: 9 . . . a6 1 0.a5 Rb8 1 1 .0-0 b5 1 2 .axb6 Rxb6
1 3 .Ra3 (Preparing to play b2-b3 , which will eventually be necessary to
defend c4.) 1 3 . . . Bd7 (Another point of 1 3 .Ra3 can be seen if Black tried
1 3 . . . e 5 : 1 4.dxe6 [ 1 4.Nd3 Nd7 1 5 .e4 is also more comfortable for White]
14 . . . fxe6 1 5 .Na4 Rb4 1 6.Rd 3 , with a clear advantage.) 1 4.b3 Qb8 1 5 .Bd2
e6 (Black can't place pressure on b 3 with 1 5 ... Qb7, because of 1 6.Na2 Rb8
1 7 .Ba5 .) 1 6.dxe6 fxe6 1 7 .Qc2 Bc6 1 8 .Bxc6 Rxc6 1 9.Ne4 Qe8 2 0.Ba5 e5
2 1 .Nd5 (and not 2 1 .Bxc7 exf4 2 2 .Nxd6 Qe7) 2 1 . . .Ne6 (Black must avoid
2 1 . . .Ncxd 5 2 2 .cxd5 Nxd 5 ? ? 2 3 . Qc4 Qf7 2 4.Ng5 , when White wins .)
2 2 .Ndxf6+ Bxf6 2 3 .Qd3 Nd4 24.Kg2 Be7 2 5 .f3 Qf7 2 6 . e 3 Nf5 (Not
2 6 . . .Nxf3 2 7 . Qd5 ! and wins.) 2 7 .Bd2 Rd8 2 8 .Nc3 Bg5 2 9 .Nd5 , and White
had a clear advantage which led to a win on the 42nd move.
1 0.0-0 eS 1 1 .Nd3
I decided to keep the position closed because, after l 1 .dxe6 fxe6 1 2 .Nb5
Nxb5 1 3 .axb5 a6 1 4.bxa6 bxa6, it would be difficult to attack the Black
center. Now Black has driven away the strong white Knight but it still has
a good square on d3 , where it can support b2 -b4 or f2 -f4.
1 1 ... aS
Prevents the queenside break via b2 -b4, so White prepares f2 -f4 instead.
12 .e4 Nd7 n .Be3 fS 14.Qd2
Maybe it would have been better to go straight into battle with 1 4.f4.
14 ... Na6
Black prepares to exchange White's powerful Knight on d 3 .
l S.BgS B f6 1 6.Bh6 Bg7 1 7.BgS Bf6 1 8.Bh6 Bg7 1 9.Bxg7
Since Black refuses to make a second-best move, White avoids the draw
and exchanges Bishops.
19 ... Kxg7 20.NbS fxe4 2 1 .Bxe4 Nf6 22 .Bg2 Nb4 2 3 .f4 e4 24.Nf2 !
At the time, I thought that this sharp move was the only way for White to
keep the advantage. I didn't trust 2 4.Nxb4 axb4, because White cannot
get his Knight back to attack the e-pawn. However, recently Fritz pointed
out the interesting 2 5 .f5 ! Bxf5 2 6.Qf4, and the d6-pawn falls.
24 ... e3
Black is forced to accept the sacrifice of the Exchange since, after 2 4 . . . Bf5
or 24 . . . Re8, there follows 2 5 . Rae l and 2 6.Nc3 , attacking e4.
2 S.Qxe3 Ne2 26.Qc3 Nxal 27.Rxal Kg8 28.Re l BfS 29.Bh3 !
PAL BENKO : MY L I FE, G AMES AND C O MPOS I T I O NS
1 98
A very important move ! White must obtain control of the vital square on
e6, otherwise Black might easily get the advantage. This was the long
range idea of the positional Exchange sacrifice. The threats now are 3 0 . g4
or 3 0.Bxf5 , followed by 3 1 .Re6.
29 ... Bxh3 30.Nxh3 Re8 3 1 .Ng5 Rxe 1 + 32 .Qxe l Qe8 3 3 .Ne6
White has achieved his goal - both my Knights are magnificently placed.
Now Black has to deal with his two attacked pawns on a5 and d6.
3 3 ... b6?
Black doesn't want to lose a pawn, but 33 ... Qe7, protecting the d-pawn,
would have offered more resistance. If then 34.Qxa5 b6, though White
has an obvious advantage here too.
34.Nxd6 Qxa4 3 5 .Qe5
Centralization!
3 5 ... Qdl + 36.Kg2 Nh5 3 7.Ne4
The Knight goes back to the kingside to stop any possibility of perpetual
check.
37 ... Re8 38.Nf2 Qc2 39.g4
Winning a piece. The game is practically over.
39 ... Nxf4+ 40.Qxf4 Qxb2 41 .d6
Winning the Exchange, since Black can't capture the Knight. Even stron
ger was 4 1 .Qc7, but I expected my opponent to resign at any time.
4 1 . .. Qe2 42.d7 Qxe6 43.dxe8=Q+ Qxe8 44.Ne4 Qe6
44 ... Qe7 would have held out a bit longer.
45.Kf3
Now that my Knight's protected, my Queen is free to wreak havoc in Black's
camp.
45 ... a4 46.Qb8+ Kg7 47.Qa7+ Qf7+ 48.Qxf7+ Kxf7 49.Nd6+ Kf6 50.Nb5
Stopping the pawn with time to spare. The rest is simple.
50 ... Kg5 5 1 .Kg3 h5 52 .h4+ Kf6 53 .gxh5 gxh5 54.Kf4, 1 -0.
~ of my life w" filled with tr,vel ",d che". I no longe' h,d youthful
ambitions to conquer the world, but I enjoyed seeing the many faces of the United
States by playing in tournaments in virtually every state. I also played a lot in
Europe, combining chess with my now regular visits to Hungary. Though inter
national tournaments gave me a chance to play more serious chess, the prizes at
that time were almost laughable. That's why I played in so many open events;
the prizes there, though still small, kept me solvent when mixed with some teaching
and lectures.
I have to admit that open tournaments were quite stressful. You could be do
ing well throughout, but a loss in the final game would usually put you com
pletely out of the money! This occurred in my very first open event, played in
Nebraska . Koltanowski was directing this tournament and, for reasons I never
understood, he didn't seem to like me. To make his distaste clear, he gave me the
black pieces in the final three games. Going into the last round a half-point ahead
of the field I lost to Weinstein, which allowed Bisguier to take clear first.
Another Koltanowski adventure (and typical of the madness that often appears
in this type of tournament) occurred in an event in San Antonio. I was playing
Bisguier and we both had fifteen minutes left for many moves. Arthur offered a
draw with his clock still running and I said, "Make your move and I'll consider
it. " He made a move and I calmly thought about the position until most of my
time was gone. At this point I didn't have much choice, so I accepted his offer. I
couldn't believe it when he said, "No, I want to play! " I immediately complained
to the director (Kolty, of course), but he insisted we continue . Horribly upset
(and with no time left), I lost.
199
I made a living from
chess prizes, teaching,
lectures, and simuls like
this one.
(Photos Dr R. Cantwell.)
Fortunately, there were lots of open tournaments and I played in one after
another. If you bombed in one, there was always next weekend ! Eventually I
became known as the "King of the Opens," and I even won the Triple Crown
(i.e., taking first in the U.S. Open, the National Open, and the American Open
all in one year) !
l .d4 Nf6 2 .NfJ g6 3 .c4 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.Nc3 Nc6
Initiating the Panno Variation, a line that represents one of Black's sharp
est tries against the fianchetto system.
7.0-0 Rb8
An unusual move. More common is 7 . . . a6, preparing for . . . b7-bS .
8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 c5
This position offers Black a good deal of flexibility: he will play for . . . a7-
a6 followed by ... b7-b S , and can follow up with ... e7-e6 or ... e7-eS . The
one flaw with Black's game is the Knight on as , which can easily end up
out of play since it has no good way to return to the center.
TRAVEL.TRAVEL, AND MORETRAVEL
10.a3
This seemed to be worth a try at the time, though it's by no means stron
ger than the main line that results after I O,Qc2 a6 1 1 .b3 b5 1 2 .Bb2 , with
sharp play and chances for both sides. 20 I
10 ... Qc7
Black has tried several moves in this position:
1O ... Bd7 1 1 .b4 cxb4 1 2 .axb4 Nxc4 1 3 .Nxc4 Qc7
1 4.Qd3 Rfc8 is interesting; 10 ... Nd7 and 10 ... Ne8
are both a bit passive; 10 . . . e6 ! ? 1 1 .b4 Nxd5 1 2 .cxd5
Bxc3 1 3 . Rb 1 Bxd2 1 4. Qxd2 cxb4 1 5 .axb4 Nc4
1 6. Qd4 b5 1 7 .dxe6 fxe6 1 8 .Qxa7 Bb7 1 9.Bb2 Qb6
was seen in the interesting game, Filippov-Ryskin,
Moscow 1 994; 1 0 . . . b6 1 1 .b4 Nb7 which, though
it appears to give White what he wants, has proven
quite resilient in a number of games.
1 1 .Qc2
White gives up on his plan to trap Black's Knight
because 1 1 .Nb5 Qb6 1 2 .b4 Nxc4 leads to Black Robert Byrne i n 1 9 62.
winning a pawn. (Photo courtesy USeE)
202
A move with a double purpose: to secure f4 for the Knight and to open
the g-file for an attack against Black's King.
23 ... Rb7 24.gxf5 gxf5 2 5 .Nf4 Rf7 26.Rb l Nb7 27.0 exB 2 8.NxB a5
Black's plan is to bring his Knight to b 3 after . . . as -a4 and . . . NaS , but there
isn't enough time for this. A more active try would have been 2 8 . . . QaS .
29.Khl ! a4 30.Ne6
Everything has been prepared and the time is ripe for the final assault.
3 0 ... Nxe6
Black has nothing better than this capture: 3 0 . . . QaS 3 1 .Qb2 ! . By retain
ing the Queens, White places a lot of heat on the black King- threats
like Rg 1 , Nh4, and NfgS leave Black in bad shape. In comparison, 3 1 .QxaS
NxaS 3 2 .Rb8 Re7 3 3 .Nh4Ieads to the win of the Exchange with the bet
ter chances, but the game remains complicated after 3 3 . . .Nxc4 3 4.Nxg7
Kxg7 3 S .NxfS + Kf6 3 6.Nxe7 Kxe7). Other thirtieth moves are even worse:
30 ... Qe7Ioses to 3 1 .NfgS Qf6 3 2 . Qxf6 Rxf6 3 3 .Rxb7, while 30 ... Qc8 also
leads to defeat after 3 1 .NfgS Rd7 3 2 .Qf6 Bg6 3 3 .Nxg7 Rxg7 3 4.Qe6+ Qxe6
3 S .dxe6 h6 3 6.Nf7 .
3 1 .dxe6 Rg7 3 2 .Nh2 !
Black's unfortunate Knight cannot be safely protected. Now a short rush
of tactics leads to Byrne's surrender.
32...Qg5
Black tries to counter with a mate threat, but to no avail. Other moves
also lost: 32 . . . NaS 3 3 . e7 Qxe7 (3 3 . . .Rxe7 3 4.BdS+ Bf7 3 S .Rg 1 + leads to
mate) 3 4.BdS+ Kf8 (34 . . . Bf7 3 S .Rb8+) 3 S .QxaS Qxe3 3 6.Re 1 Qxh3 3 7 .Qd8
is a forced mate; 32 ... Qc8 3 3 .BdS Bc6 3 4.e7+ Bxd S + 3 S .cxd S , and there is
no defense to 3 6.Rxb7 ; 32 . . . Rxg2 3 3 .Kxg2 QgS+ (White gets a mating at
tack after 3 3 . . . Bc6+ 3 4.Nf3 Qh4 3 S . Rg 1 ! ) 3 4. Kh 1 ! Bc6+ 3 S . e4 fxe4
(3 S . . . Bxe4+ 3 6.Nf3 ) 3 6.Rg1 e 3 + 3 7 .Nf3 Bxf3 + 3 8 .Kh2 .
3 3 .Bxb7 Rxb7
An exciting moment for the spectators. But the illusion is soon shattered.
34.Rgl Bc6+ 3 5.e4 Bxe4+ 36.NO , 1 -0.
TR AVE L. T R AVEL, AND MO RE TR AVE L
Black has a slight but definite advantage due to the weakness of \Vhite's
doubled pawns. But winning the game is far from easy because of the pres
ence of opposite-colored Bishops.
16.Bd3
Fifteen years later, Mariotti stumbled into the same bad position against
Korchnoi (Rome 1 98 1 ). However, instead of 1 6.Bd3 , he tried 1 6.0-0-0
and after 16 ... d5 1 7 .Kb l Bc5 1 8.g3 Rhe8 1 9.Bb5 Re7 20.Rhe l Rxe l 2 1 .Rxe l
a6 2 2 .Bd3 Bb4 2 3 .Re l Bxc3 24.Rxc 3 + Kd7 2 5 .a4 Kd6, Black's superior
pawn structure led to a win in forty moves.
16 ... d5 1 7.Ke2 Bb4 I S.Kf3 RheS 1 9.Racl KbS 20.Rhd l h5 2 l .h3
\Vhite played this to prevent the threatened 2 1 . . .Ng4. Inasmuch as Black
is now able to cripple \Vhite's majority, perhaps 2 1 .g3 should have been
tried, though 2 1 . . .Ng4 2 2 .h3 Re3 + 2 3 .Kg2 Nf6 24.Bc4 Bxc3 2 5 . Rxc3 Rxc3
2 6.bxc3 Kc7 still favors Black.
2 1 . ..h4 22 .Bb5 Re7 23 .a3 Bxc3
Taking advantage of the opportunity to get rid of the opposite-colored
Bishops. Black now has all the winning chances thanks to his passed pawn.
24.Rxc3 ReS 2 5.RxeS+ KxcS 26.Ba4 Ke7 27.Bb3 Kd6 2S.Ba2
TRAVEL.TRAVE L,AND MORE TRAVE L
Winning the Bishop, as the threat of . . . Ne3 + and pushing the d-pawn is
too strong. Actually, the immediate 47 . . . d2 was even stronger, but the an-
swer I was expecting to 47 . . . Nc2 was 48. Resigns. The rest wasn't really
206 necessary.
4S.Bxd3 Kxd3 49.Kc1 Nb4 SO.Kh2 NdS S 1 .Ka3 Ke3 S2.Ka4 Kxf3 S3 .KbS
Kg3 S4.Kc6 Kxh3 S S .KxdS Kg4, 0- 1 .
1 .g3 dS
One of the most usual replies. Black, playing in classical style, tries to build
a pawn center, which is prevented by White's next move. It must be said,
however, that it is not necessarily disadvantageous for White to permit
Black his pawn center. For instance, after 2 .Bg2 e S , White can play a
Robatsch Defense Reversed with 3 .d3 , or a reversed Hyper-Accelerated
Dragon (in the Sicilian) by 3 .c4. In both cases, the extra tempo would
prove quite useful.
2 .NO Nf6 3 .Bg2 b6
Attempting to neutralize the pressure exerted by White 's powerful
fianchettoed Bishop.
4.c4 e6 S.cxdS exdS 6.0-0 Bd6
This seems more aggressive than 6 . . . Be7, but that would have been the
wiser course, as the sequel shows.
7.d4 0-0 S.Nc3 c6
While examining this position, I was surprised to discover that I was acci
dentally playing a Caro-Kann Defense with colors reversed ( 1 .e4 c6 2 .d4
dS 3 .exdS cxdS 4.Bd3 Nc6 S . d Nf6 followed by . . . g7-g6Ieads to the same
structure), in which Black has made the unnecessary and weakening move
. . . b7-b6. In this type of position, White's usual plan is to play Bf4 in order
to trade off Black's good Bishop. I decided, however, to try to exploit my
opponent's weakened queenside.
9.Ne S ! Bb7
Bad would be 9 . . . BxeS 1 0 .dxe S , as after 1O . . .Ng4 White has the choice
between two very strong moves: l 1 .f4 and I 1 .NxdS ! . I was actually ex
pecting 9 . . . Re8, which I was planning to answer with 1 O.BgS ! BxeS I I .dxeS
RxeS 1 2 .£4 Re8 ( 1 2 . . . Re6 is powerfully met by 1 3 .e4 d4 1 4.eS) 1 3 .NxdS !
cxdS 1 4.Bxf6 Qxf6 I S .QxdS Nc6 1 6.Qxc6, with advantage.
1 0.BgS h6
If 1 O . . . Nbd7 I 1 .Nxd7 Qxd7 1 2 .Bxf6, the game would be as good as over.
1 1 .Bxf6 Qxf6 1 2 .f4 RdS 1 3 .e4!
This isolates White's d-pawn, but in view of his far superior development
and aggressively placed pieces, this is a minor consideration.
TRAVE L.TRAVEL, AND MORE TRAVE L
1 8.Bxc8
During the game, both Bisguier and I thought that 1 8 .Nxf7 wasn't pos
sible because of 1 8 . . . c4. However, though Black obtains some nasty-look
208 ing threats, this turns out to be more illusion than reality: 1 9.Rxc4 Qxe4
2 0.Nxh6+ Kh8 (Or 20 . . . gxh6 2 1 . Rxc8+ Kg7 2 2 .Rxd8 Qh l + [2 2 . . . Bd5 2 3 .Qf3
Qxd4+ 24.Qf2 Bc5 2 5 .Rd7+ Kf8 2 6 . Qxd4 Bxd4+ 2 7 .Rf2] 23 .Kf2 Qxh2 +
2 4.Ke3 Qxg3 + 2 5 .Ke2 , when Black has to admit defeat.) 2 1 .Nf7+ Kg8
2 2 .Nxd8 Qh l + (2 2 . . . Rxc4 2 3 .Qxc4+ Bd5 24.Qxd5 + Qxd5 2 5 .Be6+) 2 3 .Kf2
Qxh2 + 24.Ke l Bd5 2 5 .Bxc8 Bb4+ 2 6.Rxb4 Bxb3 2 7 .Rxb 3 , with far too
much for the Queen. As good as 1 8 .Nxf7 might be, the move I chose is
safer, easier to calculate, and completely winning.
1 8 ... Bxc8 1 9.Nxd6
The attempt to win another Exchange is too dangerous: 1 9.Nc6? Qxe4
2 0.Nxd8 Qe8 ! , and the Knight is trapped.
19 ... Rxd6 20.dxcS NxcS
It seems as though Black has some counterplay for the Exchange as his
pieces are becoming very active. But White had prepared a simplifying
maneuver that immediately clarifies the hopeless nature of Black's
position.
2 1 .Qxfi+! Qxfi 22.Nxfi Rd2
If 2 2 . . . Kxf7 , White wins back the piece with 2 3 .b4.
2 3 .NeS
Not 2 3 .b4 Bh3 ! .
2 3 . . .Rxb2 24.Rf2 Rxf2
2 4 . . . Rb4? is met by 2 5 .Nc6, but 24 . . . Rb5 might have prolonged the game,
though Black would have had no real hope.
2 S.Kxf2
The rest doesn't need comment.
2S ... Be6 26.a3 gS 2 7.Ke3 Kg7 28.Rd l as 29.Rd6 gxf4+ 30.gxf4, 1 -0.
TRAVEL.TRAVEL,AND MORE TRAVEL
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nfl Nbd7
209
Entering the classic main lines of the fianchetto King's Indian. Other sys
tems like 6 . . . cS and 6 . . . Nc6 are also very common.
7.0-0 e5 8.h3
A useful move that intends e2 -e4 (which could be played right away, of
course) followed by Be3 when Black can't harass my Bishop with . . . Ng4.
8 ... c6 9.e4
This position used to be a favorite of Fischer's (as Black) . Black realizes
his d-pawn might become weak, but he expects to compensate for this by
placing pressure against e4 ( . . . exd4 followed by . . . NcS and . . . Re8 piles up
on this pawn) .
9 ... a6
There are several ways for Black to play here, but 9 . . . QaS is the most popu
lar. Then l O.Re l exd4 1 1 .Nxd4 NeS (hitting c4) 1 2 .BfI Re8 leads to a
tension-filled struggle with chances for both sides. Black's 9 . . . a6 aims for
queenside play via a . . . b7-bS advance .
1 0.Be3 Qe7
This isn't a good mix of systems, but the most logical move, lO . . . b S , is
also met by 1 1 .cS ! , when White achieves a very promising position: 1 1 . . .b4
1 2 .Na4 Nxe4 (or 1 2 . . . dS 1 3 .BgS dxe4 1 4.NxeS Qc7 l S .Nc4, with advan
tage for White) 1 3 .cxd6 Nxd6 1 4.Nxe S Nxe S l S .dxeS Bxe S 1 6.BcS , and
Black is in serious trouble.
I l .Qc2 Re8 1 2 .Rfe l b5 1 3 .c5 !
This break usually works well against Black's kingside play. It works even
better in this particular position since Black, after 1 3 . . . dxcS 1 4.dxe S , doesn't
have the usual . . . Ne8 .
1 3 ... dxc5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 1 5.Nxe5 Qxe5 16.f4 Qc7
On 1 6 . . . Qe7, White has the strong 1 7 . e S . But now, after 1 6 , .. Qc7, White
gets his pawn back with a clearly superior position.
1 7.Bxc5 Nd7 1 8.Bf2 Bb7 19.e5
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E . G AMES AN D C O MPO S I T I O N S
Finally arriving at a French Defense that is favorable for Black. It's well
known, of course, that Black's troubles in the French stem from his prob
lem light-squared Bishop, which is usually difficult to develop effectively.
Here the Bishop has already found a good home.
8.Nbd2 exd4 9.exd4 Ne6 I O.h3 Bh5 I l .g4
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E . G AMES AN D C O MPOSITI O N S
This weakening move will be a sad necessity sooner or later to relieve the
pressure against the e-pawn. After the next several moves Black can be
satisfied with his opening, as he is able to trade his bad Bishop for White's
212 good one.
1 l ... Bg6 12.Bxg6 hxg6 1 3 .Nb3 as
Forcing White to make an unpleasant decision: should Black be allowed
to push this pawn to a4, or should White prevent the advance with a2 -a4
and cede the b4-square to his opponent?
14.a4 Re8 l S .Bd2 Bb4 1 6.Kfl Bxd2 1 7.Qxd2 Qb6
Black's pressure against d4, b4, and b3 gives him all the chances.
1 8.Ncl Nb4 1 9.Ne l 0-0 20.Kg2 Re4 2 1 .Ne2 Rfe8 22 .b3 R4e7 23 .NO
Black is in control of the only open file, but White still has defensive re
sources which Bisguier handles very well.
23 ... Re2 24.Rael ! Qa6!
But not 24 . . . Rxd2 ? ? 2 S .Rxc8+ Nf8 (2 6 . . . Kh7 ? 2 6 .NgS + mates) 2 6 .Nxd2 ,
and the tables have turned. Another poor idea is 24 . . . Qc6 ? ? 2 S .Rxc2 Qxc2
2 6.Rc 1 , and White wins.
2 S .Nf4 Qe6
Now the variation mentioned above is not available for White. After all of
White's efforts to throw pepper in Black's eyes, Black is still in control of
the c-file.
26.Rxe2 Qxe2 27.Qxe2 Rxe2
Even though the position has simplified somewhat, Black still has
pressure.
2 8.Re l Nb8
The Knight had no future on d7, so it heads for c6 where it will eye the
d4-pawn.
29.Re3
It was better to eliminate Black's strong Rook by 29.Re2 . Black retains
some pressure after 29 . . . Nbc6 3 0.Rxc2 Nxc2 3 1 .Ne2 gS 3 2 .Kg3 f6, but
it's very difficult to break White's defenses down.
29 ... N8e6 3 0.Nd3 gS !
A strong move, preparing the center break . . . f7-f6. If now 3 1 .NcS Nxd4
3 2 .Nxb7 Nxf3 3 3 .Kxf3 Nc6, Black gets the better of the bargain because
his d-pawn is mobilized and White's e-pawn is weak.
3 1 .Nxb4 axb4 3 2 .Kfl Kf8
Also good is 3 2 . . . Rb2 , tying White's Rook down to the defense of the
pawn on b 3 .
H .Rd3
White can't escape his problems with 3 3 .Re2 Rc3 3 4.Re3 , since 3 4 .. .f6
3 S .Ke l (a better try is 3 S .Rxc3 bxc3 3 6.Ke2 Nb4, though Black's advan-
TRAVEL.TRAVE L, AND MORETRAVEL
3 ... Nf6
On 3 . . .a6, White could go back into main line Sicilian theory with 4.d4
cxd4 5 .Nxd4 Nf6 6.Nc3 . However, what if Black didn't wish to play the
214 Najdorf (which he's now in)? Of course, White can also answer 3 . . . a6 by
4.g3 with a closed Sicilian where . . . a7 -a6 isn't a move that Black would
normally play. Another move that Black can consider is 3 . . . e 5 , stopping
d2 -d4 once and for all. It's not all happy for Black, though, because White
would answer with 4.Bc4, when the hole on d5 gives White real chances
for an advantage .
4.e5
Taking my opponent out of book and forcing him to think for himself.
4 ... dxe5 5.Nxe5 Nbd7
A good reply. Also common is 5 . . . a6.
6.Ne4
Larsen played a similar setup with the white pieces on a couple of occa
sions (Larsen-Tringov, Amsterdam 1 964, which was drawn, and Larsen
Geller, Copenhagen 1 966, which Larsen won), and the positions he reached
in both games made it worth repeating.
6 a6
.•.
It's now thought that 6 . . . g6, refusing to weaken the b6-square, is adequate
for equality.
7.a4 Nb6 8.a5 Nxe4 9.Bxe4
A nice position for me: I have a comfortable development and control over
the hole on b6.
9 ... Bg4 10.0
Black thinks that he's making me create weaknesses in my game, while I
was quite happy to use the opportunity to gain kingside space and grab
the initiative.
10 ... Bf5 1 1 .g4 Bd7
I think 1 1 . . .Bg6 was better. Then 1 2 .h4 Qd6 1 3 .d3 Qg3 + 1 4.Kfl h6 1 5 .Qe2
e6 1 6 . Qf2 Qxf2 + 1 7 .Kxf2 gives White a slight edge.
12 .g5 Nh5 1 3 .d4 exd4 14.Qxd4 e6 1 5 .Be3 Re8 16.Ne4
TRAVEL.TRAVEL. AND MORETRAVEL
Desperation, but if Black doesn't try something, White will win mundanely
on the queenside with his pawn majority. The problem for Black is that he
can't move his King to d8 (after ... Bd? followed by . . . Kd8, White picks up
a piece with Ba4) or f8 (which is answered by Rd8). Since his Bishop isn't
doing anything, and his Rook is imprisoned, White is free to improve his
position in any way he wishes (f3 -f4 followed by c2 -c4, Bc2 , and b2 -b4.
An eventual King-march across the board will also take place.O) while Black
shuttles back and forth, waiting to die.
2S.hxgS Rg6 29.f4 h4 30.Kgl RgS
Black also loses after 3 0 . . . e5 3 1 .Re2 e4 3 2 .Rh2 , followed by 3 3 . Rxh4.
PAL BE NKO: MY LI F E , G AMES AND COMPOSITI O NS
l .g3 e5 2.e4 Nf6 3 .Nc3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nb6 6.NfJ Ne6 7.0-0
Be7 S.a3
This move, and the idea behind it - to expand on the queenside with b2 -
b4 while threatening the black e-pawn by b4-b5 - is credited to Botvinnik,
who played it against Duckstein in 1 95 8 (although he played a3 on the 7th
move, without having castled) . The other main line, d3 followed by Be3 ,
doesn't give White much. Black can, of course, hinder White's queenside
plans by . . . a 7 -a s , but at the cost of weakening his own position.
S ... O-O 9.b4 Be6 1 0.d3
Winning a pawn by 1 O.b5 Nd4 I l .Nxe 5 ? ? is bad because of l l . . .Bb3 1 2 .Qe l
Nc2 .
10 ... f5 1 1 .Bb2
Again, I l .b5 Nd4 1 2 .Nxe5 fails, this time to 1 2 . . . Bf6 ! 1 3 .f4 Nb3 with a
double threat of 1 4 . . . Nxa l and 1 4 . . . Qd4+.
1 1 ...Bf6 1 2 .Nd2
Black's game appears to be all right, but this Knight maneuver points out
its drawbacks. After the game, Duckstein told me he had played this line
as Black many times, but it was not until this game that he realized how
strong White's position really was. The Knight aims for the dominating
c5 -square, when Black's b-pawn will come under heavy fire.
12 ... QeS?!
This i s now considered to be very dubious and Black's best move i s , most
likely, 1 2 . . . Bf7, intending to answer 1 3 .Nb3 with 1 3 . . . e4. However, even
after 1 2 . . . Bf7, White should come away with some advantage by 1 3 . Rb l
Rb8 1 4.Ba 1 , giving the b3 -square more support and nipping Black's . . . e5-
e4 tricks in the bud.
1 3 .Nb3 RdS 1 4.Ne5 BeS 1 5 .Qb3 +
Over twenty years later, it was found that the immediate 1 5 .NbS ! is even
more accurate : 1 5 . . . a6 1 6.Qb3 + Qf7 1 7 .Qxf7+ Kxf7 1 8 .Nxc7, and White
won quickly in Dzindzichashvili-Donaldson, National Open 1 98 8 .
15 ...KhS 16.Nb5 !
TRAVEL. TRAVEL. AND MORE TRAVE L
217
Black, it seems, has developed his pieces and organized a defense against
Nxb 7, but after this move he finds himself in trouble. The threat, in addi
tion to the obvious Nxc7, is 1 7 .Bxc6 followed by Nxa7 and Nxc8 . White
is not worried about giving up his light-squared Bishop, since he will be
depriving Black of his QB too, thus taking the sting out of any possible
kingside attack. Black's next move is forced.
16 ... Nd4 1 7.Bxd4
Of course, 1 7 .Nxd4 exd4 1 8 .Nxb7 Bxb7 1 9.Bxb7 Qxe2 2 0 . Rfe l was also
strong, but a player can only make one good move at a time !
1 7 ... Qxb5
After 1 7 . . . exd4 1 8 .Nxc7, White threatens to win the Exchange by 1 9.N7e6.
18.Bc3 Na8
A sad move, but it was the only way to protect the b-pawn. If 1 8 . . . c6
( 1 8 . . . Nd7 1 9.Ne6 wins the Exchange) 1 9.a4 forces Black to give away a
piece by 1 9 . . . Nxa4.
19.Ne6
After the obvious 1 9.a4 Qb6 20.a5 Qb5, Black is still kicking since 2 1 .a6
doesn't accomplish anything due to 2 1 . . .b6. Because of this, White heads
for the endgame, which was carefully calculated and assessed.
19 ... Bxe6 20.Qxe6 e4
Virtually forced, due to the threats of 2 1 .Qxf5 and 2 1 .a4.
2 1 .a4 Qe8 22.Qxe8 Rdxe8 2 3 .Bxf6 Rxf6 24.dxe4 fxe4
P AL B E NKO : MY LI FE. G AMES AND COMPOSITI O NS
White has calculated that this endgame is a win for him because: 1 ) Black's
e-pawn is very weak; 2) Black's pieces will be tied up defending it; 3) White
will control the open d-file; 4) White's Bishop is a far better piece than
218 Black's Knight.
25 .Rfd l KgS
The threat was 2 6 . Bxe4. The counterattack by 2 5 . . . Ref8 would not have
worked because of 26.Bxe4 Rxf2 2 7 .Bf3 , trapping the Rook.
26.e3
Fixing the weak pawn.
26 ... Nb6 27.Rd4 Rfe6 2S.Rc1 c6 29.b5
"What's the threat? " you may ask. Is it always necessary to threaten some
thing? Black must make moves too, but he cannot improve his position,
while White can continually exert more and more pressure until some
thing in the enemy position cracks.
29 ... cxb5 30.axb5 RSe7
White was threatening 3 1 .Rc7 . The Knight could not be reactivated by
30 . . . Nc8 due to the winning 3 1 .Bh3 . Also losing material was 30 . . . R6e7
3 1 . Ra 1 Nc8 3 2 .Raa4, when the e-pawn falls.
3 1 .Ral g5
Once again, 3 1 . . .Nc8 ? loses to 3 2 .Bh3 .
32 .Rxa7
Threatening 3 3 .Rd8+ followed by Rb8, winning the b-pawn.
32 ... Kg7 H .Rxe4! , 1 -0.
Black, not needing to see B ... Rxe4 3 4.Bxe4 Rxe4 3 5 .Rxb7+ and 3 6.Rxb6,
gave up.
White is positionally lost due to the weakened dark-squares and the vul
nerable pawns on e4, gS , and h3 .
2 1 .Kh l Nc5 22 .Qc4 b5
PAL BE NKO: MY L I F E . G AMES AND COMPO SITI O NS
Black wins a pawn with 2 2 . . . QeS, but he can afford to be tricky with the
text move since 2 3 .QxcS Bf8 wins the Queen.
2 3 .Qb4 Qe5 24.Qe l d3 ! 25.b4
220
If 2 S .cxd3 Nxd3 26.Qfl , Black wins with 26 . . . QcS , 26 . . . Qxb2 , or 26 . . . Nxb2 .
25 ... dxc2
White was hoping for 2 S . . . dxe2 2 6.Rxd8+ Rxd8 2 7 .bxcS, with some chance
for salvation due to the Bishops of opposite colors.
26.RxdS+ RxdS 27.bxc5 Rd l 2S.Qb4 Qa l , 0- 1 .
There is no defense to the threat of 2 9 . . . Rxg 1 + followed by promoting
the pawn. A poorly played game by White, but instructive for players who
live in fear of aggressive opponents who go after their King.
l .e4 c5 2 .c3 Nf6 3 .e5 Nd5 4.NO Nc6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4
In the late 1 980s (lasting through the 1 990s), the Alapin Variation of the
Sicilian (2 .c3) burst into popularity due to renewed interest in the posi
tion after 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 d6 8 . exd6 Qxd6.
6 ... d6 7.Nc3
Black has no problems at all after this. The best move is 7 .Bc4, when 7 . . . Nb6
8 .BbS (8.Bb3 leads to interesting complications that also turn out to be
fine for Black) 8 . . . dxe S 9.Nxe S Bd7 has been shown to be fully equal. In
case of 7 . exd6, Black gets very comfortable play with 7 . . . Qxd6 8 .Nc3 Bg4
(8 . . . g6 is also good) 9.Be2 e6 1 O.h3 BhS 1 1 .0-0 Be7 1 2 .NbS Qd8 B .NeS
Bxe2 1 4.Qxe2 Qd6 1 S .Rd 1 NxeS 1 6.dxeS 0-0, Lane-Sadler, Torquay 1 998.
7 ... dxe5
And not 7 . . . Nxc3 8.bxc3 dxe S ? 9.dS .
S.dxe5 Nxc3 9.QxdS+ KxdS
Practice has shown that 9 . . . Nxd8 is a safer move, but I've always been
happy to take on d8 in this manner. Black has lost the right to castle, but
the King hopes to find shelter on c7 where it helps to support the queenside
and later joins in the attack on White's weak queenside pawns.
lO.bxc3 h6
It seems necessary to spend a tempo to prevent NgS . If 1 0 . . . Bg4, White
would gain attacking chances with 1 1 .e6 ! Bxe6 1 2 .NgS .
l l .Bb5
In Sveshnikov-Ruban, Kemerovo 1 99 5 , White preferred 1 1 .Be3 , when
1 1 . . .Bg4 1 2 . Rb 1 Kc8 B .Nd4 NxeS 1 4.f4 Nd7 1 S .h3 BhS 1 6.g4 eS 1 7 .gxhS
exd4 1 8 .Bxd4 Kc7 1 9.Bc4 Bd6 2 0 .Bxf7 Rhf8 2 1 .Bg6 Rxf4 2 2 . Bxg7 Bf8
2 3 .Bd4 BcS 24.Rfl left White with some advantage, though Black drew
without too much difficulty. Some books on theory also give a hearty nod
TRAVEL. TRAVEL, AND MORE TRAVEL
to I 1 .Bf4, claiming a White edge after l l . . .e6 1 2 .Nd2 gS 1 3 .Bg3 Bg7 1 4.Nc4
Ke7 1 5.0-0-0, Milner-Barry-Benko, Moscow 1 956. However, the followup
showed that Black is actually doing very well: I S . . . bS 1 6.Nd6 NxeS 1 7 .BxbS
Rd8 1 8 . Rhe l Rxd6 1 9 .BxeS Bxe S 2 0 . Rxe S Bb7 2 1 . £3 BdS 2 2 . Re2 Rc8 22 1
B .Rc2 , and now 2 3 . . . RcS ! (instead of my mistaken 2 3 . . . Rc7) can only be
good for Black. Finally, let's take a look
at I 1 .Bc4: 1 1 . . .e6 1 2 .0-0 BcS 1 3 .Re l Bd7
1 4. Rb l Rc8 I S .Nd2 NaS 1 6 . B d 3 Bc6
1 7 .Ne4 Bxe4 1 8 .Bxe4 b6 1 9.g4 Ke7 2 0.h4
Rhd8 , and Black is for choice, Kunte
Rashkovsky, Ubeda 1 999.
1 1 ...Bd7 1 2 .0-0 e6 1 3 .Rd l Kc7 14.c4?!
There should have been no hurry to make
this move, since Black was not yet threat
ening to take the e-pawn.
1 4 ... Bc5 1 5 .Bb2 a6 1 6.Ba4 Rhd8
Black now threatens to take the initiative
with . . . NaS . Black's only real problem is
the hole on d6. White's following maneu
ver, aimed at taking advantage of this, is
logical. The "King of the Opens" accepts
the National Open trophy in 1 966.
1 7.Nd2 Bd4! (Photo courtesy USeE)
It seems that White has reached his goal. Feeling that he couldn't lose
this position, Bisguier offered a draw, which I declined. The fact of the
matter is, White's in trouble. Black was threatening 2 1 . . . Ne2+, and if White
defended by 2 1 .Kfl , then 2 1 . . .Nc6 2 2 .Rxd7+ Rxd7 1 3 .£4 Rd4 is strong.
2 1 ...f6!?
PAL BE NKO: MY L I F E,G AMES AND COMPOSITI O NS
When declining the draw, I had in mind a different line: 2 1 . . .Nc6 2 2 .f4 f6
2 3 .Rab l Kb8 24.cS fxeS 2 S .fxeS Nxe S , and Black has safely won a pawn,
as on 2 6.Re l , Black wins with 2 6 . . . Nd3 . But this variation (which, in ret
222 rospect, is best) is a little tricky and, because of the fast tempo of play in
the tournament, I preferred to play something clearer. After the text, White
must lose the base of support for his proud Knight since 2 2 .f4 is not play
able because of 2 2 . . . Ne2 +.
22 .Rxd4 fxe5 2 3 .Nb5+
After 2 3 .Re4 Rxd6 24.RxeS Rd l + 2 S .Re l Rxa l 2 6. Rxa l Rd4, Black has a
great advantage. Or if 2 3 .Nxb 7, either 2 3 . . Rxd4 or 2 3 . . . exd4 favors Black.
23 ... axb5 24.Rxd7+ Rxd7 2 5.cxb5 Kb6 26.a4 Ka5 27.f3 b6
The immediate 2 7 . . . Rd4 gives White counterplay after 2 8 .Rc 1 followed
by 2 9.Rc7 . Now that this is prevented, White must look elsewhere for
active play. His next move is more or less forced.
28.Re l Kxa4 29.Rxe5 Rd5 30.Rxe6 Kxb5
This is the position I was aiming for. The outside passed pawn is very
strong, but White can still secure a draw with accurate play.
3 l .Re7 g5
Also interesting is 3 1 . . . Kc4! ?
32 .h4?
White forsakes the opportunity to chase the Black pawns by 3 2 .Re6! hS
3 3 . Rh6 KcS 3 4.RxhS bS 3 S .h4 b4, as Black's passed b-pawn appears to
rush up the board much too quickly. However, this is just an illusion, and
White can hold the position after 3 6.hxgS b3 3 7 .Kf2 ! , since 3 7 . . . b2 is now
met by 3 8 .Rh l . Having missed this possibility, White's game quickly be
comes lost.
32 ... gxh4 3 3 .Kh2 Kc4 34.Kh3 Rd4!
Naturally, if Black gives up the advanced h-pawn without a fight, it will be
easier for White to get connected passed pawns.
3 5 .Rc7+
Forcing Black's King to step in front of his pawn, for if 3 S . . . Kd3 3 6. Rb7.
TRAVEL. TRAVE L, AND MORE TRAVE L
l .e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3 .Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.h5 Bh7
8.NO Nd7
Nowadays 7 . . . Nf6 has become all the rage. The idea is to retain the op
tion of placing the bS-Knight on c6 after a quick . . . c6-cS . At the time of
this game, however, 7 . . . Nd7 was considered to be a forced move since NeS
was thought to be a very real threat. It took some time for the chess world
to realize that NeS weakens the d4-square and gives Black good chances
to counterattack in the center.
9.Bd3 Bxd3 1 0.Qxd3 Qc7 I l .Bd2 e6 12 .0-0-0 Ngf6 1 3 .Ne4
Also seen is 1 3 .Qe2 , but the sharp positions that arise after 1 3 . . . 0-0-0
1 4.NeS Nb6 I S .BaS ( I S .c4 and I S .Rh4 have also failed to offer White
anything) I S . . . RdS don't seem to promise White any advantage.
1 3 . . . 0-0-0 1 4.g3
PAL BE NKO : MY L I F E , G AMES AND C O MPO S I T I O NS
This move, threatening Bf4 and forcing a Knight exchange on e4, was
first played in Geller-Foguelman, Chile 1 96 5 . Thirty-five years later, it's
still the only way for \\!hite to play for an advantage !
224 l4 ... Nxe4
This allows Black to meet an eventual Bf4 with . . . Bd6. However, it gets
\\!hite's Queen off the sensitive d-file and gives \\!hite more control over
the critical e5 -square.
1 5 .Qxe4 N£6 l6.Qe2 Bd6 l 7.c4
This is more accurate than the cautious Kb l . The King move can always
be played at a more appropriate time.
l7 ... c5 l 8.Bc3 cxd4!
This is now known to be the most accurate move. In fact, Kagan's whole
plan (2 0 . . . Rd7) is still considered to be cutting-edge theory! Over the years,
Black has often held off on the d4-capture and instead tried I S . . . RheS, but
Motylev-Slapikas, Swidnica 1 999 showed the right way for \\!hite to meet
this: 1 9.Ne5 cxd4 2 0 . Rxd4! , when the threat of 2 1 .Rhd i forces Black to
go into a slightly worse endgame with 20 . . . Bxe 5 .
1 9.Nxd4
Taking on d4 with the Rook is now harmless because of 1 9 . . . Rd7 followed
by 20 . . . RhdS . Also promising \\!hite little is 1 9.Bxd4. The game R. Byrne
Seirawan, Greenville 1 9S0 went 1 9 . . . Bc5 (Black has also done well with
1 9 . . . Qa5) 2 0 . Bxc5 Qxc5 2 1 .Ne5 Qc7 2 2 .f4 Rxd 1 + 2 3 .Rxd l RdS 24. Qf3
Rxd 1 + 2 5 .Kxd l Qd6+ 2 6.Kc2 Qd4, and Black drew comfortably in thirty
five moves.
19 ... a6 20.Nf3 Rd7
Black's Rooks rush to get to the important d-file. Now 2 1 .Ne5 Bxe5 2 2 . Bxe5
Qc6 2 3 .Rxd7 Nxd7 , is fine for Black.
2 1 .Kb l Rhd8 22 .a3 Qe6
Also tempting is 22 . . . Qc5 ! ? , eyeing h5 and preparing to swing the Queen
over to f5 .
2 3 .Rh4
This keeps Black's pieces off e4. Now Black, apparently tiring of the unre
solved situation in the center, decides to clarify matters with a few trades.
23 ... Be7
Perfectly playable, but 2 3 . . .Qc5 ! ? still deserves serious consideration.
24.Rxd7 Rxd7 2 5.Ne5 Bxe5 26.Qxe5 Ne8 27.Qe2 £6 28.Re4 e5
This locks out the Bishop and threatens . . . Nd6. The alternative was 2 S . . . Nd6
2 9 . Rxe6 Qxc4 2 9 . ReS+ Kc7 , when \\!hite's advantage is very small.
29.Bb4 b6! ?
TRAVE L . TRAVEL, AN D MORE TRAVE L
225
Throughout my chess career, there have been many cases where I lost or drew a
game I should have won. On several of these occasions I have to admit that my
play was not up to the task. Mostly, though, the trouble was time pressure. It has
226 been said of me by no less a personage than Tigran Petrosian that I play like a
genius in time trouble, seeing quite deeply into the position. Be that as it may, I
do not subscribe to the belief that a player can play better in time pressure than
he can when he has plenty of time - it is simply against all logic. I will agree
that, sometimes, it might seem that someone always finds the best moves when
he's forced to play quickly, but this is just an illusion. Every player wants to con
ceal his true intentions from his opponent, and for this purpose he contrives
devious and complicated plans requiring a lot of time to analyze. In time pres
sure, however, he must make more or less direct moves, and this creates an erro
neous impression that his play is sharper or more incisiv e- but this is not to say
that it is better.
Though tossing away an easy win or simple draw is always traumatic, blaming
the ravages of time pressure is not a valid excuse - there is no one to blame but
myself. However, there are times when I can't find the justice in a system which
allows a player to lose when the board shows a clear win and when his opponent,
who really should have resigned long ago, similarly has no time on his own clock.
The following game is a perfect example. Having completely outplayed Larsen,
and with a dead won position, I was given a loss instead of the richly deserved
win. The circumstances are described at the appropriate point in the game.
8.b4
White immediately starts queenside action. Black usually counters with
play on the kingside, but Larsen fails to achieve this in the present game.
8 ... aS 9.bS Nbd7 1 O.Ba3 Qe8 I 1 .Rc1 Rb8 1 2 .e3
This move has a double purpose: it takes the c S -square away from Black's
Knight ( 1 2 . . . NcS 1 3 .d4) and it takes the sting out of Black's . . . QhS , which
can be answered by moving the f3 -Knight, offering to exchange Queens.
(A Queen exchange rarely slows down a queenside attack, but it puts a
real dent in a player's kingside aspirations by getting rid of his potential
knockout punch.)
12 ...Nb6 l 3 .eS!
This move obtains a majority of central pawns.
l3 ... dxeS 14.NxeS Be6 I S.Qe2 Bd6 16.f4 Nbd7 1 7.NB
According to classical principles, most of which are still useful, one should
avoid exchanging pieces when the opponent has a cramped position.
1 7 ...NdS 1 8.e4
Kicking my central majority into action.
18 ... Nb4 1 9.Bb2 e4? !
Obviously 1 9 . . . Nxa2 2 0.Nxa2 Bxa2 2 1 . Bxg7 + is bad for Black, as his kingside
is then seriously weakened. With 1 9 . . . c4, Black is seeking good squares
for his pieces and isn't afraid to sacrifice a pawn to achieve this. However,
a better way of gaining access to the squares on cS and d3 was 1 9 . . . fxe4
20.dxe4 c4! .
20.dxe4 Nb 6 2 1 .Nd2 Rd8 22.Khl
The reply to 2 2 .a3 is 2 2 . . . Nd 3 and if 2 3 .Qxd3 ? ? BcS + .
PAL BE NKO: MY LIFE, G AMES AND C O MPOSITI O NS
22...Bc5 2 3 .Nd5!
This strong move was planned when I accepted the pawn sacrifice and
entered the complications that, obviously, Larsen felt would turn out well
228 for him.
2 3 ... Bxd5
The tactical justification of 2 3 .Nd5 can be seen after 2 3 . . .Nxa2 2 4.Nxc7
Nxc 1 2 5 .Bxg7 + ! (An important Zwischenzug -Black's King can't take the
Bishop as his Queen is then captured with check.) 2 5 . . . Kg8 2 6 . Rxc 1 Qd7
27 .Nxe6 Qxe6 2 8 . Bxf8, and White comes out with two extra pawns while
Black's King is in an unsafe position.
24.cxd5 Na4
Flashy but inadequate is 24 . . . Rxd5 2 5 .Nb3 Bd6 2 6.Bxg7+ Kxg7 2 7 .Qb2 +
Kg8 2 8 .exd 5 .
2 5 .Nb3 Bb6 26.Be5 fxe4 27.Bxe4 Nxd5
Black has recovered his pawn at the cost of extreme positional inferiority.
His Knight on a4 is badly misplaced and White's two centralized Bishops
exert tremendous pressure on both sides of the board.
28.Qc4
As pointed out in the note to my 2 9th move, 2 8 .Rfe l ! was stronger.
28 ... Nb2 !
A nice move that saves the Knight since 2 9 . Bxb2 Ne3 3 0 . Qa4 Rd4!
actually wins for Black!
29.Qc2
Both players were already in time pressure at this point. Since I was not
keeping score here, I cannot be sure if the moves were repeated once or
twice (2 9.Qe2 Na4 3 0.Qc4 Nb2), but this position was reached. Actually,
29.Qe2 was the better move, since if 2 9 . . . Na4 3 0.Rfe l threatens 3 1 .Bxd5
followed by 3 2 .Bxg7 + as well as 3 1 .Qc4.
29 ... Na4 30.Rfe l Ne3
Black might have offered more resistance with 30 . . . Qxb 5 , though 3 1 .Qg2 !
Nf6 (3 1 . . .h6 3 2 .Qh3) 3 2 .Bxb7 still gives White a clear plus, but his time
pressure was even worse than mine !
3 1 .Qe2 Qf7
Black was lost no matter what he played. For example: 3 1 . . . Rb8 3 2 .Rc4
Qxb5 (3 2 . . . Nxc4 3 3 . Qxc4 also wins the Knight on a4.) 3 3 .Qh 5 .
32.Bxb7 Nd5 H .Qc4 229
Winning, but even stronger was B .Rc4 Nb4 3 4.Be4, when there's no de
fense to the simple threat of a2-a3 .
3 3 ... Nb4 34.a3 Qxc4 3 5.Rxc4 Nd3 3 6.Re2 Nf2 +
White wins easily after 3 6 . . . Nxe5 3 7 .fxe5 Rd3 3 8 .e6 Rxb3 3 9.e7 Re8 4O.Bc6.
3 7.Kg2
Of course, I could have won simply with 3 7 . Rxf2 Bxf2 3 8 .Rxa4, but there
were only seconds remaining!
3 7 ... Rdl 3 S.Rxf2 Bxf2 3 9.Kxf2 Nb6 40.Rxc7, 0- 1 .
As I made my last move, Larsen said, "Your flag is down." Out of sheer mo
mentum, however, I completed the move and punched my clock, at which
point Larsen's flag fell. Neither of us had been keeping score for the last ten
or twelve moves, so we didn't know how many moves had been made. The
tournament director ruled that Larsen was the winner. When I protested,
he set up a committee (it included both Szabo and Keres, so I couldn't ex
pect a favorable decision) to decide the question and they later upheld his
original ruling. Since my final score was only one point below Larsen's who
tied for first place, the loss of this game meant the loss of a first-place tie . As
for the game itself, Larsen should have resigned some time ago.
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 e6 3 .NB b6 4.g3 Bb7 5 .Bg2 Be7 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Bd2 f5
S.d5
One of the ideas of the 7 .Bd2 system is to lock Black's light-squared Bishop
out of play for as long as possible. Because of this possibility for White, it
might be better for Black to play 7 . . . d5, as Parma did against me in Belgrade
1 964 (see game 5 7) .
S ... Bf6 9.Qc2 Na6
An attempt to improve the line for Black. Inferior is 9 . . . 0-0 1 O.Nxe4 fxe4
I l . Qxe4 exd 5 1 2 . Qc2 Nc6 (better is 1 2 . . . Re 8 , but the game Bukic
Matanovic, Yugoslavia 1 967 showed that Black is still in trouble: 1 3 .0-0
Qe7 1 4.cxd5 Qc5 1 5 .Qxc5 bxc5 1 6.Ng5 ! , when White had a clear advan
tage) 1 3 .cxd5 Nd4 1 4.Nxd4 Bxd4 1 5 .e3 Qf6 1 6.Bb4 Bxb2 1 7 .Rb l Be5
1 8 .Bxf8 , and White won the Exchange and the game.
1 0.0-0
Taking on e4 gives Black good play: 1 O.Nxe4 fxe4 I 1 .Qxe4 Nc5 1 2 .Qc2
exd5 1 3 .0-0 dxc4 1 4. Qxc4 1 5 . Qc2 0-0, Bukic-Sibarevic, Yugoslavia 1 96 8 .
1 0 ...0-0 I l .Nxe4 fxe4 12 .Qxe4 ReS
P A L BE NKO: MY L I F E . G AMES AND C O MPOS ITI O NS
Black can't take either of the offered pawns: 1 4 . . . Bxd S I S .NgS Bxg2
1 6.Qxh7 + Kf8 1 7 .QhS BdS 1 8 .Nh7 + Kg8 1 9.Nxf6+ and 2 0 . QxdS + wins
for White, while 14 . . . Rxe2 I S .d6 threatens both 1 6.NgS and 1 6.Qc4+ (i.e.,
IS ... NcS 1 6 .NgS ! BxgS 1 7 .Qc4+ ! Re6 1 8 .Bxb7 Nxb7 1 9 .dxc7).
1 5 .Rad l Qe7
Both pawns are still poisoned: I S . . . Bxd S ? fails to 1 6.NgS , while I S . . . Rxe2
1 6.b4 Na6 ( 1 6 . . . Ne4 1 7 .Qc4 wins material) 1 7 .Qc4 Re8 1 8.d6+ Re6 1 9.Rfe l
is also awful for Black.
1 6.Rfe l
Simpler was 1 6.Be3 .
16 ... Qe4
White is a clean pawn up after 16 . . . BxdS 1 7 .NgS Ne4 1 8.Nxe4 Bxe4 1 9.Bxe4
Qxe4 20.Qxc7 Bxb2 2 1 .Qxd7.
1 7.Qxe4 Rxe4 1 8.b3 ?
White returns the well-earned pawn too soon. Better was 1 8 .d6 or 1 8 .b4,
with a huge advantage in both cases.
18 ... Bxd5 1 9.Bg5 Bb7 20.Bxf6 gxf6 2 1 .Nd4 Re7 22.Nf5 Re5 2 3 .Bxb7
Nxb 7 2 4 . e4 d6 H . f3 a s 2 6 .Ne 3 Rf8 2 7 . Rc 1 NcS 2 8 .Red l Rf7
29.Rc2 Kf8
TRAVEL. TRAVEL, AND MORE TRAVE L
White's superior pawn structure gives him the better position. The proper
plan now is to prepare queenside action with Rc3 , a3 and b4. This would
force the strong black Knight off its perch and make the c7 -pawn vulner-
able to attack. 23 1
30.Kf2
As my previous note pointed out, the
strongest move was 3 0. Rc3 followed by
a2-a3 and b3 -b4. �xander Matanovic: Matanovic
was a very serious guy, and seldom
30 ... KeS 3 l .RdS
smiled. I beat him many times. For some
Now 3 1 . Rc 3 IS m e t by 3 1 . . . Rx e 4 ! reason, I always had his number.
3 2 . Rxc 5 Rxe 3 B . Rxc7 Rxc7 3 4.Kxe3
Kd7 .
3 1 ...Kd7 32 .Red2 Rfe7? 3 3 .Ng4
Black probably overlooked this. Now 3 3 . . . Rxd5 10ses to 3 4.Nxf6+ followed
by 3 5 .Nxd 5 .
3 3 ... RSe6 34.RfS Rfi 3 5 .eS
Suddenly Black's game is terminal !
3 5 ... KeS 36.Rxf6 Rfxf6 3 7.Nxf6+ Kfi 3S.NdS dxeS 3 9.Nxe7 Re7 40.NbS
e4 41 .Nd6+ Kf8 42 .Nxe4 Nxe4+ 43 .fxe4 Rxe4 44.RdS ! a4?
Black's game was lost anyway, but this makes it easy. After 44 . . . Kg7 45 .Rb 5
Re6 46.a4 White, with a n extra pawn and the more active Rook, should
encounter no real problems. Eventually the white King walks over to the
queenside.
4S.RfS+ Kg7 46.Rf4 ReS
Black has an unpleasant choice: trading Rooks and going into a lost King
and pawn endgame, or giving up a second pawn and going into a lost Rook
and pawn endgame. Of course, there is a third choice: resigning.
47.Rxa4 bS 4S.RaS ReS 49.Ke3 Re2 SO.h4 b4 S 1 .Kf4 Kg6 S2 .Ra6+ Kg7
Avoiding 52 . . . Kh5 5 3 .g4+ Kxh4 54.Rh6 mate.
S 3 .Kg4 Rd2 S4.Ra4 Kg6 S S .Rxb4 Rxa2 S6.Rb6+ Kg7 S7.b4, 1 -0.
When asked why I knowi ngly went into my opponent's preparation: " It would have been
coward ly to do anything else."
~ book on the B'nko Gambit, I mentioned that lin" 'imibr to mod
ern versions of this system appeared as early as the 1 92 0s, and were used after
that by Sweden's Stahlberg, Stoltz, and Lundin. In these early games (Bronstein
Lundin and Szabo-Lundin, both played in Saltsjobaden 1 948), Black would only
sacrifice the pawn after White played e2 -e4 (i .e., 1 .d4 Nf6 2 . c4 c5 3 .d5 d6 4.Nc3
g6 5 .e4 b5), apparently afraid of setups where White leaves his e-pawn on e2 . I
was aware of these games, and began to wonder why Black didn't sacrifice the
pawn earlier, when a quick . . . Bxa6 would make White think twice about e2 -e4
since the first player would then lose the right to castle (after . . . Bxfl ). Of course,
I had no fear of lines where White kept his pawn on e2 since his most threaten
ing plan is based on an e2 -e4-e5 counterstrike in the center.
I admit that I was never able to study openings - it really bored me. I remem
ber being with a girlfriend who asked me to look over some chess openings with
her. I instantly fell asleep. I found that I could always take a nap in any situation
by just looking at some opening variation- my eyes would shut right away.
Endgames, though, fascinated me. I wanted to dig deep for the ultimate truth,
but truth doesn't exist in the beginning phase of a game.
I desperately wanted a new opening that would allow me to avoid mainstream
theory, and would force my opponents to think for themselves. Looking at the
. . . b7-b5 gambit idea in more detail, I soon realized that I was onto something!
Here was a complete system (against l .d4) that had no body of theory (thus no
memorization !), that was largely unknown (my opponents would not know what
was going on), that lent itself well to general ideas and strategic motifs, and that
gave Black excellent chances in most endgames !
I began testing it in American tournaments with incredible success. In 1 967
(against Vukic), I introduced the gambit into international competition. Within
23 3
PAL BE NKO: MY LI FE. G AMES AND C O MPOSITI O NS
a few years, many players added it to their repertoire and Benko Gambit theory
developed by leaps and bounds. Eventually I realized that I had created a
monster-it was born to help me avoid opening preparation, but now all my
234 opponents entered each game booked to the hilt! As a result, I found it neces
sary to turn to other openings in the mid-seventies. Nevertheless, after more
than fifty games with it, I only lost three (and those defeats had nothing to do
with the opening). Today, the Benko Gambit seems more popular than ever, with
players of all strengths making use of it at every opportunity.
The following game signifies the birth of the Benko Gambit in international
tournaments. There were many people who regarded my choice as an extrava
gance, thinking that I had underestimated my opponent by sacrificing (as Black)
a pawn in the opening for the sake of surprise. However, they didn't know that I
had put the gambit into practice in the U.S. several times and, as a result, was
well acquainted with its mysteries.
l .d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3 .d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5 .bxa6 Bxa6 6.Nc3 d6 7.NO g6 8.g3
Bg7 9.Bg2 0-0
Many years later, GM Lev Alburt introduced 9 . . . Nbd7 1 0.0-0 Nb6, put
ting pressure on the d5 -pawn.
1 0.0-0 Nbd7 I l .Qc2 Qb6
After years of practice, it is still difficult to determine the best move. Black
can consider 1 1 . . .Qa5 (which I've tried), 1 1 . . .Qc7, 1 1 . . .Nb6, and even
1 1 . . . Ra7, intending to place the Queen on a8.
1 2 .Rd l Rfb8 1 3 .Rb l Ne8 14.Bg5 Qd8
Having made room for the KR to swing over to b8, the Queen returns to
its original position in order to give the e7-pawn some support.
1 5 .Bfl h6 1 6.Bd2 Nc7 1 7.b3 Nb6 1 8.e4 Bxfl
White has succeeded in getting rid of the strong a6-Bishop, but this came
with a price: the light squares on the kingside have been weakened.
1 9.Rxfl Qd7 20.Rfe l Klt7 2 1 .Kg2 e6!
CRE AT I NG T H E BE NKO G AMBIT
When RHM Chess Publishing proposed that I write a book on this opening, I
asked what I should name it, because at the beginning I called this system the
Benoni Counter Defense. The publisher's answer was to the point: "Name your
opening the Benko Gambit! " To popularize my upcoming book, I gave a tour of
simultaneous exhibitions where I would take the Black side of the gambit if any
one wanted me to. I was undefeated with the Black pieces, but I lost two games
with White !
Walter Browne had been watching me play the Benko Gambit for a while, but
he never showed any real interest in my system. This attitude changed when we
were both playing in a tournament in Spain. He approached me and asked if I
would teach him how to play this gambit. I accepted and spent time showing
him the ideas and variations. He successfully played it for a couple of years, and
then he published his games under the name, the Browne-Benko Gambit. I
couldn't believe my eyes !
P A L BE NKO: MY L I F E , G AMES AND C O MPOSITI O NS
Black forsakes the usual idea of placing pressure on the queenside and in
stead prepares to attack the center with a timely ... e7-e6.
1 3 .b3 Nc7 14.0 e6 1 S.dxe6 fxe6 1 6.Be3 Qc6 1 7 .Qd2 ?
237
White underestimates the danger. He had to try and neutralize the posi
tion with 1 7 .b4 cxb4 1 8 .Rxb4, though 1 8 . . . dS 1 9.Rb6 Qc4 20.Qb3 Qd3 is
good for Black.
1 7 ... dS 1 8.exdS exdS 1 9.Bf4 d4
Black's game almost plays itself at this point!
20.Na4 NfdS 2 1 .Rhfl Ne6 22.Rf2 d3 !
The position is hopeless for White despite his extra pawn - Black's active
pieces and strong center are more than White can handle. After 2 2 .Rf2 ,
Black could have won in several ways, for example: 2 2 . . . c4 is very strong. I
even toyed with 2 2 ... Rxa4 2 3 .bxa4 c4, when the two connected passed pawns
would be irresistible. Finally I decided in favor of the advance of the d
pawn, which I felt was the shortest and simplest solution.
2 3 .Ng1
2 3 .Qxd3 isn't possible due to 23 ... Rxf4, when Black wins a piece.
23 ... Nexf4+ 24.gxf4 Nxf4+ 2 S .Kh1 Bd4 26.Rff1 Ne2 ! , 0- 1 .
After 2 7 . Qxd3 (2 7 .Nxe2 RxB i s even worse) 2 7 . . .Nxg l 2 8 . Rxg l RxB
2 9 .Qc4+ Kh8 3 0 . Rg2 Rf2 3 1 . Rg l Rxa2 , there isn't any defense against
Black's mating attack.
1 .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 c5 3 .d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 6.g3 d6 7.Bg2 g6 8.Bd2
Bg7 9.Bc3 ! ?
1 3 ... Ra7
So far, Black has built up his position in a logical manner, but the text is
probably too slow. Sharper seems 1 3 . . . gS ! (I recommended this right after
the game, but it wasn't tested until 1 99 5 ! ) since 1 4.Nd3 hangs d S . After 239
1 4.Nh3 h6, the Knight on h3 is stuck, and there isn't much White can do
about the threat of . . .NbxdS : I S .Qd2 ( I S . Re I ! , giving some support to e2 ,
is probably best) I S . . . NbxdS 1 6.BxdS NxdS 1 7 .Bxg7 Kxg7 1 8 .NxgS QfS
1 9.Nc3 Nxc3 2 0.Qxc3 + Kg8 2 1 .Nf3 Bxe2 2 2 .Nh4 Qd 3 , with advantage
to Black, Castro Moler-Magem Badals, Barbera del Valles 1 99 5 .
14.h4
With this move, White denies Black the previously mentioned opportu
nity, but even here Black can try 1 4 . . . Bh6, making the white Knight's fu
ture uncertain on f4.
14 ... Rb8 1 5 .Re l e4
This looks like the only way to open lines on the queenside, but White is
developed enough to meet it.
16.Bd4! Re7 1 7.Nc3 exb3 1 8.axb3 Be8 1 9.Qd3 Reb7 20.b4 Qe8 2 1 .b5!
This pawn, strong o r weak, will decide the issue. White always finds a way
to defend it, but Black should probably try 2 1 . . . Bd7 anyway.
2 1 ...Nbd7 22 .Reb l Ne5 23 .Qd l Bd7 24.b6 Ne4 2 5.Ra7 Qd8
Not 2 S . . . Nxb6? 26.Rxb7 Rxb7 2 7 .Rxb6
26.Rxb7 Rxb7 27.Rb4 Ne5
Admitting his failure to win the pawn. After 2 7 . . . Nxb6? , there follows
2 8 . Qb3 pinning and winning a piece.
28.Qb3 Qe8 29.Bxe5 dxe5 30.Nd3
After this exchange, Black's game collapses because of the threats of dS -d6
and Nxe S . His next move is an act of desperation.
30 ... e4 3 1 .Nxe4 Nxe4 32.Bxe4 Bf5 H .Bxf5 gxf5 34.Re4 Qd8 3 5 .Re6
Bd4 36.Qe4, 1 -0.
The passed b-pawn has been successfully nursed through to victory, but
even during the game I occasionally wondered, "Is it worth all this suffer
ing to keep the extra pawn? "
P AL B E N KO : M Y L I F E , G AM ES AN D C O M POSITI O N S
e5 3 6.Ne6 Rf2 3 7 .Bh4 Rxa2 3 8 .Rfl Ra8 3 9.Bd8 Bf2 40.g3 Ra2 41 .Kg2 Ne4
42 .KB d5 43 .Rd l Bd4 44.Nxd4 cxd4 45.Re l Rf2 + 46.Kg4 Rxh2 , 0- 1 .
1 3 ... Qxe2 +
242
This exchange is already forced as \Vhite was threatening 1 4.Nb 5 . How
ever, just because it's forced doesn't mean it's not good! The endgame is
comfortable for Black due to \Vhite's many weaknesses along the b-file.
14.Kxe2 Na6 1 5 .Rb l
Necessary. On the natural 1 5 .Nc4 Rfb8, in connection with . . . Rb4, would
prove strong.
1 5 ... f5 ! , 112_ 112 .
Here I offered my opponent a draw, which he gladly accepted. Many of
my fellow competitors, Larsen for instance, were of the opinion that Black
had more than enough compensation for the sacrificed pawn.
• • •
Before I played Vranesic, I was warned by several players that he was well-known
for his expertise on the white side of the Benko Gambit. He'd developed a sys
tem that he had used successfully on many occasions. This was, of course, news
to me, and though I had no idea what his system was, I used my gambit without
hesitation. It would have been cowardly to do anything else.
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Nf3 g6 8.Nd2
I finally saw his "mysterious" system, but it was hardly new to me. \Vhite's
plan is to play e2 -e4 and then, after . . . Bxfl , recapture on fl with his Knight
(allowing \Vhite to retain his right to castle) which will then hop to e3
and c4.
8 ... Bg7
An interesting possibility is 8 . . . Qa5 ! ? , when 9.e4 Bxfl 1 O.Nxfl ? (he has to
play 1 0.Kxfl ) no longer works due to 1 O . . . Nxe4.
9.e4 0-0
Over the course of my career, I've lost very few games with the Benko
Gambit. One of my least pleasant memories is 9 . . . Bxfl 1 0.Nxfl 0-0 I I .Ne3
Na6 1 2 .0-0 Nd7 1 3 .Qe2 Qc7 1 4.Bd2 Qb7 1 5 .Rab l Nc7 1 6.b3 e6 1 7 .a4
Rfe8 1 8 .Nc4 Qa6 1 9.Qf3 , when \Vhite had a small plus which grew after
an unfortunate error on my part (Taimanov-Benko, Wijk aan Zee 1 970).
After this defeat I switched to 9 ... 0-0, but there's nothing wrong with
the capture on f1 . For example, 1 1 . . .Nbd7 (instead of 1 1 . . .Na6) has given
Black reasonable results, while 1 0 . . . Qa5 I 1 .Bd2 0-0 1 2 .Ne3 Nbd7 1 3 .0-0
Qa6 1 4.Qc2 Ne5 1 5 .b3 Nfd7 1 6.f4 Nd3 1 7 .a3 Bd4! was used successfully
by no less a player than Kasparov (versus Bareev at Linares 1 994).
CRE ATI N G T H E BE N KO G AM BIT
chances.
12 ... Nb6
Also possible is 1 2 . . . Nc7 ! ? 1 3 .Qe2 Qb8 1 4.Bd2 Nb5 1 5 .Rfc 1 Nd4 1 6.Qd3 ,
Doroskevic-Georgadze, USSR 1 97 2 , and now 1 6 ... Ne5 ! 1 7 .Nxe5 Bxe5 gives
approximately equal chances.
1 3 .Ne3
1 3 .Qe2 Nxc4 1 4.Qxc4 Qb6 1 5 .Na4 Qb4 1 6. Qc2 Nc7 1 7 .Nc3 Rfb8 1 8 .a3
Qc4 gave Black fine compensation for the gambit pawn in Ivkov-Browne,
RovinjiZagreb 1 970.
13 ... Qd7
Vranesic had already reached the position after 1 3 .Ne3 against Diez del
Corral, Siegen 1 970. In that game Black tried 1 3 . . . Qc8, but White got a
clear advantage after 1 4.a4 Nb4 1 5 .Ra3 Qa6 1 6.Nb 5 . The move I played
improves on that game (though I was completely unaware of it at the time),
but other moves are also possible: 1 3 . . . Qc7 (Walter Browne was success
ful with 1 3 ... c4! ? against Fitzgerald in 1 970) 1 4.Bd2 Rtb8 1 5 .Qe2 c4 1 6.Rfc 1
Nc5 , when both sides had chances in Soos-Jakobsen, Stockholm 1 9 7 1 172 .
14.a4
A committing move that obviously intends to secure the strong c4-square
for the white Knight on e3 by driving away Black's b6-Knight. On the
other hand, the move seriously weakens the squares on the b-file, and it
also makes the two queenside pawns more vulnerable.
14 ... Rfb8 1 5.Ra3
Disclosing the other side of White's plan: to protect the Rook and to make
possible a future Rh3 , which might help in a later kingside attack. Never
theless, I feel that 1 5 .a5 Nb4 1 6.Ra3 would have been more exact.
1 5 ... Bd4 16.Qe2
PAL BE N KO : MY L I F E , G AMES AN D C O MPOSITI O NS
This is the endgame Black was willing to enter, since he has all the win
ning chances. Believe it or not, it is difficult, if not impossible, for White
to hold this position. If 2 6 . Rd I , Black plays 26 . . . Rb I , setting up a very
unpleasant pin. Also in Black's favor is 2 6.Bd2 Rb2 2 7 .Bb4 Na3 .
26.KgI f5 !
After this typical breakthrough in the center, White cannot avoid the loss
of a pawn.
27.exf5 gxf5 2 S.Kf2
Also hopeless is 2 8 .Rd l Rb I 2 9 .Kf2 NbS 3 0 .Re l Nc3 .
2 S ... Nxd5
Now Black will have two connected passed pawns in the center.
29.Rd l e5 3 0.Rd3 Kf7
CRE AT I N G THE BE N KO G AMBIT
246
This position favors Black. Correct is 4O ... Rxe2 (Also interesting is 40 ... Ra3 ! ?
4 1 .Rb2 Kg7 followed by 4 2 . . . Kf6, 4 3 . . KeS and 44 . . . Nf4) 4 1 .Bxe2 Rxb3
42 . Ra 1 ! Ke8 43 .aS Rb7 44.a6 Ra7 4S .Rb 1 Kd7 46.Rb8 NeS 47.BbS+ Kc7
48 .Re8 c4! 49.Kf2 (49.Rxe7+ Kb6 is good for Black) 49 . . . Kb6 SO.Rb8+
KcS S l .Rb 7 Ra8 , with good chances for Black. It's clear that Black is in
the driver's seat, but the move I played put an untimely end to the struggle:
40 ... Nf4?? 4 1 .Rxa2 . Hort said, "Sorry" as he gently removed my Rook
from the board. Naturally, I resigned. Sitting there, I didn't know whether
to laugh or cry. To cheer myself up, I recalled my favorite cartoon charac
ter and his famous remark: "Oh Magoo, you've done it again ! "
1 1 . . . Qb6
1 1 . . .Qc7 is now considered to be the most accurate reply to 1 1 .Re 1 .
1 2 .e4? !
Premature. White is intending a thematic breakthrough in the center with
e4-eS, but he should have prepared this plan with h2-h3 .
1 2 ... Ng4!
Not only preventing White's pawn advance, but also threatening to take
aim at d3 by jumping into e S .
1 3 .Qc2 Rfb S 14.h3
Right after this game was played (in 1 97 1), I wrote: "White is obviously
worried about his f2 square. After, for instance, 1 4.Rb 1 or 1 4.b3 , the move
1 4 . . . c4! threatens both 1 S . . . Bxc3 and 1 S . . . Qxf2 + . However, the text move
allows Black to gain another tempo. " Five years later, someone challenged
me by playing 1 4.Rb 1 . Did I follow through with 14 . . . c4 or did I try some
thing else? For the answer, go to the game Gordon-Benko, National Open
1 976.
14 ... Nge5 1 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 1 6.b3 ?
It was absolutely necessary to protect d3 with 1 6.Rd 1 (but not 1 6.Bfl ?
Nf3 +). After this error, White's whole position quickly collapses.
16 ... Nd3 1 7.Rdl c4!
CRE AT I NG THE BENKO G AMBIT
247
The threat is I S . . . cxb3 . If I S .bxc4 Qxf2 + I 9.Qxf2 Nxf2 2 0.Kxf2 Bxc3 traps
the a I -Rook.
1 8.Be3 Qb4
Avoiding I S . . . cxb3 ? , because I 9.axb3 Qxb3 2 0 . Qxb3 Rxb3 2 l .Rxd3 lets
White escape. The text move improves Black's position and cranks up the
pressure.
1 9.Bd2 Qe5 20.RfI
Losing the Exchange, but so does 2 0.Be3 cxb3 2 I .axb3 Qxc3 2 2 . Qxc3 Bxc3
2 3 .Rxa6 Rxa6 2 4.Rxd3 Rxb3 , with an easy win.
20 ... exb3 2 1 .axb3 Nb4 22.Qb2 Re8 !
There's no hurry to win material: 2 2 . . . Bxfl 2 3 .Bxfl Rxa i is an easy win
for Black, of course, but I thought that 2 2 . . . RcS was even stronger.
23 .Qa3
Naturally, B .Rfd Nd3 is crushing. White's best try was probably; 2 3 .Rad
Bxfl 24.Bxfl , when the incredibly tempting 24 . . . Na2 ? ! (Correct is 24 . . . Qd4
2 5 .Be3 Qf6, when White's cause is hopeless.) let's White continue the battle
with 2 5 . Qxa2 ! Bxc3 (2 5 . . . Rxa2 2 6.Nxa2) 2 6 . Qb l .
2 3 ... Bxc3
Of course, 2 3 . . . Bxfl 24.QxaS RxaS?? (Black still wins with 24 . . . Bxg2 2 5 .Kxg2
Bxc3) 2 5 .RxaS+ BfS 26.Bh6 would be too naIve, even for a long-time blun
derer like me !
24.Bxc3 Qxc3 25 .Rfc1 Qd4 26.Bfl Re2 , O- l .
Suffice it to say that my game was over long before Browne's, who was
still struggling to make something happen with his regular Benoni.
l .d4 Nf6 2 .e4 e5 3 .d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Nfl g6 8.e4
Bxfl 9.Kxfl Bg7 I O.h3
Most of the time this move is necessary to prevent Black's possible . . . Nf6-
g4-e5 maneuver. But here it also serves another purpose: White wants to
use h2 as a shelter for his King and allow his h I -Rook to get into play.
PAL BENKO: MY L I F E , G AMES AND COMPOSITI O NS
Black stands better: the pawns on a2 and b2 are targets, the d5 -pawn can
be undermined by an eventual . . . £7 -f5 advance, and "White's counterplay is
nowhere to be seen.
20.Bc1 Qxe2
This is the beauty of the Benko Gambit: Black's pressure carries on right
into the endgame.
2 1 .Rxe2 Kf8
By defending e7, I'm ready to play . . . £7-f5 .
CRE AT I NG T H E BENKO G AMBIT
I have to admit that you won't find this in my oid book o n the Benko
Gambit, though now, in 2 00 1 , the move is quite common. The main line
was (and still is) 1 2 . . . Qb6, preparing a queenside attack by freeing the way
for the f8-Rook to get to the b-file, while 1 2 . . . QaS , and even 1 2 . . . Qb8
also have supporters. The text has a different strategic idea: to prepare a
central break by . . . e7 -e6, in which case the f8-Rook is better left on f8 . At
the same time, the move prevents White's thematic e4-eS advance because
of the pressure on his d-pawn. Of course, queenside play is not forgotten
since the Knight can come strongly into action by . . . Nc4 or . . . Na4. Clearly,
the theory for Black in the Benko Gambit is far from exhausted!
I do not agree with Bent Larsen, who wrote in his chapter for How to
Open a Chess Game that I use this opening to save thinking time. In fact, it
is my opponent who was known for his practice of playing very well ana
lyzed opening systems deep into the middlegame. I have always been quick
to condemn mechanical chess play, preferring to use my own head when
ever possible, even at the cost of more clock time in the opening. The text
move was dreamed up on the spur of the moment as a psychological ploy
against my opponent, who had used a whole sixty seconds for his first twelve
moves! After 1 2 . . . Nb6, he started to think, and to worry.
1 3 .Re l Qd7 14.Qc2
The game Taylor-Benko, World Open 1 974 went 1 4.eS ? (White wasn't
aware of my game with Gligoric, and was very surprised when I played
1 2 . . . Nb6.) 1 4 . . . dxeS I S .NxeS Qb7 1 6.Qb3 e6! (Also possible is 1 6 . . . NfxdS
1 7 .NxdS Qxd S + 1 8 .QxdS NxdS 1 9.Bd2 Nb4, with the better endgame for
Black: he will soon win both of the queenside pawns in exchange for his c
pawn. However, with four pawns against three on the same side of the
board, a win would be far off. The move I played is stronger.) 1 7 .Be3 Rfc8
1 8 .Nd3 NfxdS 1 9.NxdS c4! 20.Qxb6 Qxd S + 2 1 .Kg l cxd 3 , and Black had
an overwhelming position and eventually scored the full point.
C R E AT I NG T H E BE NKO G AMBIT
14 ... Qb7
In this line the black Queen is well placed on the same diagonal as White's
King. Now Black is ready to break with . . . e7-e6.
25 1
l S .BgS
Trying to prevent Black's plan since now 1 5 . . . e6 fails to 1 6.Qb3 ! , when
1 6 . . . exd5 1 7 .Bxf6 Bxf6 1 8 .Nxd5 or 1 6 . . . c4 1 7 . Qb4 are both bad for Black.
l S ... h6
Forcing the following trade, as the Bishop has no good retreat (i.e., 1 6.Be3
Nc4) .
16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Qb3
After the game, Gligoric thought this was a mistake. He tried other moves
in the postmortem such as 1 7 .Rab l , 1 7 .Rad l , and 1 7 .b3 , but Black gets
good play on the queenside anyway thanks to his strong Bishop and pres
sure down the half-open a- and b-files. We finally agreed that the text was
probably best after all. Some years later, 1 7 .Rad l was tested: 1 7 ... Nd7 1 8.Re2
Qb4 1 9.a3 Qc4 20.Rd3 Rfb8 2 1 .Nd i Qa6 2 2 .Rde3 Ra7 2 3 .Qd3 Qa4 =,
Naumkin-Salov, USSR 1 98 3 .
1 7 ... Rfb8 1 8.eS
Giving back the pawn and securing the draw. White didn't like the look of
1 8 .Rad 1 Qa6, when Black would have an excellent position.
18 ... dxeS 1 9.NxeS e6 20.Radl
Of course, 2 0 .Nc6 would be a mistake on account of 2 0 . . . Nxd 5 ! 2 1 .Qxb7
(Both 2 1 .Nxd5 Qxc6 and 2 1 .Nxb8 Ne3 +, with mate to follow, are unac
ceptable for White.) 2 1 . . .Rxb7, when White has a very bad endgame.
20 ... exdS, 112 _ 112 .
After 2 1 .Nxd5 Nxd5 2 2 .Qxd5 Qxd5+ 2 3 .Rxd5 Rxb2 24.Rxc5 Raxa2 2 5 .Nd3
or 2 5 .Rfl , all of the queenside pawns are gone and Black's slight theoreti
cal advantage is not enough to win.
However, 1 3 .Bc4 100ks very nice for White.) I l .Bg5 ? ! f6 1 2 .exf6 exf6 1 3 .Be3
Bg7 1 4.Nd2 f5 1 5 .Nc4 0-0 1 6.Be2 f4 1 7 .Bd B ! 1 8 .gxB ( 1 8 .BxB Qe8+!)
18 ... Nf4, and Black won nicely. Unfortunately, White can improve with
252 I l .Qa4! (instead of I l .Bg5) 1 1 . . .Bd7 1 2 .e6! fxe6 1 3 . dxe6 Bc6 1 4.Nxd6+
Qxd6 1 5 .Bb5 ! Qxe6+ 1 6.Be5 Bxb5 1 7 .Qxb5+, with a win.
Tseshkovsky-Alburt, Vilnus 1 97 5 saw Black try something different:
8 ... Nbd7 9.NB Nb6, but this turned out poorly: l O.Rd ! (threatening Rxc5 !)
1 0 . . . Nxe4 1 2 .Bd3 Nf6 1 3 .Qe2 e6 14.dxe6 fxe6 1 5 .Ng5 Nbd5 1 6.Nxe6 Nxf4
1 7 .Nxf4+ Be7 1 8 .Bc4 ! , and Black can't castle.
Since these lines appeared to favor White, I did some homework and
was prepared to meet 8.Bf4 with 8 . . . g5 ! , and I mentioned this to Zaitsev
after our game.
He said that he would have played 8.Bf4 if he had known that I would
respond with such a move ! However, I succeeded in convincing him that
Black would have good chances. In a new article (written after our game),
he gave 8 . . . g5 an exclamation mark and wrote that this move is one of the
best weapons against White's system. By the way, it's interesting to note
that, on seeing me make my 7th move so quickly, Zaitsev realized that I
had something new lurking. Therefore, he decided that, instead of walk
ing into my preparation, he'd surprise me with something new on move
eight. Mter 8.Bf4 g5 ! 9.Bxg5 Nxe4 1 0.Bf4 (worse is 1 0.Bh4 Bg7 I 1 .Bd3
Nf6 1 2 .NB Nbd7 1 3 . 0-0 Bb7 1 4.Ng5 h6 1 5 .Ne6 fxe 6 1 6 . dxe6 0-0
1 7 .exd7 Qxd7, with a clear advantage for Black in Halldorsson-Benko,
World Open 1 97 8) 1 0 . . . Bg7 (also interesting is 1 0 . . . Qa5 ! ?) I 1 .Qe2 Nf6
1 2 .Nxd6+ Kf8 1 3 .Nxc8 Qxc8, Black would be the one with the initiative.
S.NO
This move aims to bypass the line with 8.Bf4, and was played here for the
first time. I selected a very cautious continuation because I feared some
new Soviet analysis and did not want to step on unknown paths in such a
sharp variation. The first move I considered was 8 . . . Nxe4, which Zaitsev
analyzed as follows in his second article: 9.Bc4 g6 1 0.Qe2 Nf6 I 1 .Bf4 Ra6
1 2 .Nxd6+ ! Rxd6 1 3 .Bb5+, and White gains the Exchange. However, in
stead of 1 0 . . . Nf6 ? , which seems weak to me, much better is 1 0 . . .f5 ! 1 1 .Ng5
Bg7 , returning the pawn but reaching an excellent position. Zaitsev also
CRE AT I NG T H E BE NKO G AMBIT
considered 8 . . . g6 9.Bc4 (9 .e5 dxe5 1 O.Nxe5 Bg7 I l .Bc4 0-0 1 2 .0-0 Ba6!
gave Black good chances in Gulko-Vasiukov, Yerevan 1 976) 9 ... Bg7 1 0.e5
dxe5 I l .Nxe 5 0-0 1 2 .0-0 Ne4 1 3 .Re l Nd6 1 4.Nxd6 exd6 I S .Nd3 and,
according to Zaitsev, the position is even. Though that would be a moral 25 3
victory for Black, I feel that this position actually favors the second player
since \Vhite's d-pawn and a-pawn are weak. Black can begin exploiting
this at once with . . . Nd7-b6.
8 ... Nbd7 ? !
As shown i n the last note, Black's safest course was 8 . . . g6, trying t o castle
as quickly as possible. The text is now known to give \Vhite a clear advan
tage but, at that time, this was all virgin territory.
9.Bf4 NhS
Probably best. Later, Black tried 9 . . . Nxe4, 9 . . . Nb6, and 9 . . . Ba6, with uni
formly horrible results.
l O.BgS Nhf6
Zilberman tried 1 O . . . Qb6 on a couple of occasions (in 1 9 7 5 and again in
1 98 1 ), losing miserably in both cases. After I l .Nd2 g6 1 2 .Nc4 Qb8 1 3 .a4
Bg7 1 4.Bd3 , \Vhite's advantage is obvious.
1 1 .Qe2 ?
\Vhite could have repeated moves with I I .Bf4, but I didn't expect Zaitsev
to do this because he had to win this game to fulfill the grandmaster norm.
Perhaps this explains why he was playing so sharply. Later he suggested
I I .e 5 ! as a better solution, giving the following possible continuation:
1 1 . ..dxe5 1 2 .Qe2 Ra5 1 3 .Nxe5 Nxe5 1 4.Qxe5 Qb6 1 5 .Nc7+ Kd8 1 6.Bf4
( 1 6.d6 Qxd6! 1 7 .Rd l Kxc7 is fine for Black) 1 6 . . . Ra7 1 7 .NbS Rd7 1 8 .Bc4,
when he claims a white advantage in this complicated position. In my opin
ion, Black can improve on the 1 6th move by 1 6 . . . Nd7 . For instance, 1 7 .QfS
(or 1 7 .Qg5) 1 7 . . . Qf6, and after the Queen exchange the endgame is about
even. If \Vhite tries 1 7 . Qe 3 , then 1 7 . . . gS 1 8 .Bg3 Bg7 1eads to an unclear
position. For example, if \Vhite lashes out with the seemingly strong 1 9.d6
exd6 2 0.Nd 5 , Black turns the tables with 20 ... Re8 2 1 .Qxe8+ Kxe8 2 2 .Nxb6
Nxb6 2 3 .Bxd6? Bxb2 .
\Vhite's I l .Qe2 strongly threatens e4-e5. How can Black prevent this?
1 1 ...RaS ! !
PAL BE NKO : MY LI FE,G AMES AND C O MPOSITI O NS
The ending is, of course, advantageous for Black because of the weakness
of \Vhite's d-pawn and a-pawn. In this troublesome position, \Vhite tries
to create counterplay since passive defense is hopeless . Note that 2 0.NgS
is useless due to 20 . . . h6, when 2 1 .Nxf7 Rf8 traps the Knight.
20.a4! bxa3 2 1 .Rxa3 Ra8
CRE AT I NG T H E BE NKO G AMBIT
Also possible was 2 1 . . .Nxd5 n .Ra7+ Nc7, but why give him any activity
at all?
22 .Rae3 Nxd5 2 3 .Rd3 e4 24.Rd4 Re8? !
255
I t was better to protect the c-pawn with a unit o f lesser value. Thus,
2 4 ... Nb6 ! was correct, all the more so since that move prepares ... d6-d 5 .
Unplayable (after 2 4 . . . Nb6) i s 2 5 .Ne5 + Rxe 5 2 6 . Rxe5 Ra l + .
25.Red l Ree5 26.h4? !
After the game I suggested 2 6.Kfl to my opponent, which eliminates the
weakness of the first rank and, at the same time, brings the King closer to
the battle site on the queenside. In his article, Zaitzev gave 2 6.Kfl Kc6
2 7 .R4d2 Ra5 2 8.b4! and if 2 8 . . . cxb3 2 9.Nd4+. I must add that all this would
not really have been so simple for White, since Black had at his disposal
the same combination played in the game, although under less favorable
circumstances.
26 ... Rxb2 !
A very surprising offer of a Knight, completely confusing White in his
serious time shortage.
27.Nd2 ?
This loses immediately. Of course, White had to try 2 7 .Rxd 5 , though af
ter 2 7 . . . Rxd5 2 8 .Rxd5 c3 Black wins easily: 2 9.Nd4 (2 9.Ne l Rb I ; 29.Rd4
c2 3 0.Ne 5 + Ke6 3 1 .Nd3 Rb l +) 29 . . . Rd2 .
27 ... Nc3 28.Nxe4 Nxd l , 0- 1 .
Black gets good play: 1 0 . . . h5 1 1 .Bh3 (Or 1 1 .Bg2 0-0 1 2 .0-0 Nb6 1 3 .Qc2
Ra7 1 4.b3 Qa8 1 5 .Bb2 Rb8, with comfortable play in A. Petrosian-Leko,
Lippstadt 1 993) 1 1 .. .0-0 1 2 .Qc2 Ne5 1 3 .0-0 Qb6 1 4.Rb 1 Bc8 1 5 .Bxc8 Rfxc8
256 1 6.b3 Nfg4 1 7 .Kg2 c4 1 8 .Ne4 Qa7 1 9.a3 cxb3 20.Qxb3 Nc4 2 1 .Ng5 Nxa3
2 2 .Qxa 3 Qxa 3 2 3 .Bxa3 Rxa3 , Ih - Ih , Yusupov-Topalov, Vienna 1 996.
1 1 .hS NeS 12 .hxg6 hxg6 1 3 .Bh3 QaS 14.Qc2 RfbS
Also deserving consideration is 1 4 ... Bc8 ! ? , when 1 5 .Bg2 Bf5 1 6.e4 Bg4
gives Black the initiative.
l S .Ne6
Hoping for 1 5 . . .fxe6 1 6 .Bxe6+ followed by f2 -f4, with a very strong
attack.
l S ... BhS
I didn't want to part with my KB , but much stronger was 1 5 . . . Nxd 5 !
1 6.Nxg7 Kxg7
when Ravikumar gives 1 7 .Qd2 (Black also wins after 1 7 .Bd2 Nb4 1 8 .Qd 1
Ned 3 + ! 1 9 .exd3 Nxd 3 + 2 0.Kf1 Nxb2 + 2 1 .Ne2 Nxd 1 2 2 .Bxa5 Rb2 2 3 .Bg4
Bb7 24.Rxd 1 Rxa5 2 5 .Rh2 f5 2 6.Bh3 Ba6 2 7 .f4 Raxa2) 1 7 . . . Nxc3 1 8 .Qh6+
( 1 8 . Bc8 Rxc8 1 9.Qh6+ Kf6 and the King escapes via e6) 1 8 . . . Kg8 1 9.Be6
Nxe2 + 2 0.Kd 1 (2 0.Kf1 Nf4+ mates, as does 20.Bd2 Nf3 + 2 1 .Kfl Nf4+,
and mate next move) 20 . . . Qa4+ 2 1 .Bb3 Nc3 + 2 2 .bxc3 Qg4+ 2 3 .Kc2 Qe4+
24.Kb2 Nc4 mate.
16.f4 Ned7 1 7.fS ?
White unreasonably insists on attacking, although he had many possible
continuations here. 1 7 .Bd2 , 1 7 .Ng5 , or even 1 7 .0-0 are reasonable alter
natives.
17 ...fxe6 l S.fxg6 Nf8 1 9.Bh6 Bg7?!
Overlooking White's next move and giving him chances t o revitalize his
attack. Correct is 1 9 . . . exd 5 .
20.Qcl !
I was expecting only 20.Qd2 , on which I planned 2 0 . . . Rxb2 ! 2 1 .Qxb2 Bxh6
and, having removed White's QB, I would be ready for a murderous coun-
CRE AT I NG T H E BE NKO G AM BIT
The risk Black takes i s not that of losing his Rook (for 2 3 .Nxe2 Nf2 + 24.Kc2
Bd3 + leads to mate), but that White is able to chase the black King all
over the board. Curiously, 22 . . . Nxd S ? ? would not have led to the goal:
2 3 .Bxe6+ Nxe6 24.RhS+ Kxg7 2 S .Qh6+ Kf6 2 6.g7+ KeS (2 6 . . . Kf7 2 7 .QhS+
Kxg7 2 S .Rh7+ mates) 2 7 . QhS+ Kd4 2 S . QxdS + Kxc3 2 9.Rc l + , and Black
gets mated.
23 .Bd4
After long thought, White avoids the main line (resulting from 2 3 .Bxe6+),
realizing that it would not lead to a white mate, and he decides to try a
trick in view of my serious time pressure. Obviously, I had used too much
time calculating all the possible checks in the main line: 2 3 .Bxe6+ Nxe6
2 4.RhS+ Kxg7 2 S .Qh6+ Kf6 2 6.g7+ KeS 2 7 . Qxe6+ Kd4 2 S .Nxe2 + (No
better is 2 S .Qxe4+ Rxe4 2 9.Nxe4 Kxe4 3 0.RxaS Kd3 mates.) 2 S . . . Bxe2 +
2 9.Kxe2 Qd2 + 3 0.Kf3 Qf2+ 3 1 .Kg4 Qxg3 + 3 2 .KfS QgS mate. To use prob
lem terminology, White's Queen on e6 is a self-block.
23 ... Nxc3 +
Played immediately, and avoiding: 2 3 . . .cxd4? ? 24.Bxe6+ Nxe6 2 S .RhS+ Kg7
2 6 . Qh6+ Kf6 2 7 .g7+ Ke S 2 S . Qxe6 mate.
24.Qxc3 Qa4+ 25 .Kcl Qxd4 26.Qf3
Overlooking mate, but the game was lost anyway.
26 Qxa l mate.
•..
PAL BENKO : MY L I FE, G AMES AND C O MPOSITI O NS
26 1
I share a laugh with Robert Byrne at the 1 9 68 Lugano Olympiad.
l .NfJ cS 2 .e4 d6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 S.Nc3 Nc6 6.BgS Bd7
A refreshing change from the usual 6 . . . e6. With 6 . . . Bd7, Black starts to
develop his queenside quickly and tells White that he doesn't fear the dou
bling of his pawns by Bxf6.
7.Qd2
In 1 992 , Byrne played the white side of this line (against Goldin in Phila
delphia) and decided to chop on f6. However, Black got an excellent posi
tion after 7 .Bxf6 gxf6 8.Nf5 Qa5 9.Qh5 e6 1 O .Ng3 Qe5 ! 1 1 .0-0-0 a6 1 2 .Kb l
b 5 1 3 .Bd3 Be7.
7 ... RcS S.O-O-O Nxd4 9.Qxd4 QaS 1 0.Bd2
At this point I became suspicious that Byrne was trying to inveigle me
into some of his private analysis. We had both seen the variation earlier in
the year at the Monte Carlo tournament, in the game Gheorghiu-Hort:
1 O.f4 Rxc3 l 1 .bxc3 e5 1 2 . Qb4 Qxb4 1 3 .cxb4 Nxe4 1 4.Bh4 Nc3 1 5 .Re l
Nxa2 + 1 6.Kb2 Nxb4 1 7 .fxe5 d 5 1 8 . Rd l Be7 1 9.Bxe7 Kxe7 , draw agreed.
This is a very interesting variation, obviously not all forced (later it was
discovered that 1 5 .Rd3 ! Nxa2 + 1 6.Kb2 Nxb4 1 7 .Rb 3 Nc6 1 8 .Rxb7 favors
White, but that Black could have improved earlier by 1 4 . . . g5 ! , with fasci
nating complications), and the final position is unclear. I decided to avoid
it and, after calmly studying the position for a while, came up with this
new move. At least Byrne had to stop and think!
1 0 ... a6
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
Eventually 1 0.Bd2 e5 turned into one of the main lines, but Byrne's 1 0 . . . a6
still retained some devotees. Less good is 1 O . . . Qc5 ? ! I 1 .Qxc5 dxc5 (Poor.
Better is 1 1 . . .Rxc5 , though White retains a nice spatial plus after 1 2 .f3 !
[and not 1 2 .Be3 Rxc3 1 3 .bxc3 Nxe4, with compensation for the Exchange] 263
12 ... a6 1 3 .Be3 Rc8 1 4.g4.) 1 2 .Bf4 (Also good for White is 1 2 .f3 e6 1 3 .Bf4.)
1 2 ... a6 1 3 .Be2 Bc6 1 4.Nd 5 , and White stood better in Benko-Klein, Ventura
1 97 1 . The conclusion is entertaining: 1 4 . . .Nxd5 1 5 .exd5 Bd7 1 6.Bf3 f6?
1 7 .h4 h5 1 8 .Rhe l Kd8 1 9. Re6! g5 2 0.hxg5 fxg5 2 1 .Bxg5 Bxe6 2 2 .dxe6+
Ke8 2 3 .Bxb7 Rc7 2 4.Bxa6 Bh6 2 5 .Bxh6 Rxh6 2 6.Bb 5 + Kf8 2 7 . Rd8+ Kg7
2 8 .Rd7 Rc8 2 9 . Rxe7+ Kf8 3 0 .Rf7+ Kg8 3 1 . Rb7, 1 -0.
1 1 .Be4
Also good is 1 1 . f3 .
1 1 . .. Qe5
Instead, Black could win a pawn by 1 1 . . .e5 1 2 .Qd3 Qc5 1 3 .Bb3 Qxf2 , but
White's attack is too strong after 1 4.Rfl .
12 .Qxe5 Rxe5 1 3 .Bb3 g6 14.Be3 Re8
Mter this, Black finds himself in trouble. Had he foreseen what was com
ing, he would undoubtedly have played 14 . . . Rc6. After 14 . . . Rc8 , White is
able to grab the initiative by making use of his lead in development.
1 5.Bd4 Bg7 16.Nd5 Nh5 1 7.Bxg7 Nxg7 1 8.e5 !
White has achieved some success after the opening - he's reached an
endgame in which Black has a permanent organic weakness. But the game
is not yet over - the victory still has to be earned.
264 24.Rd l Bxb3 25.axb3 Kd7 26.Nd5 Ne6 27.b4 Nc7 28.Nf6+ Ke7 29.Ne4
Rd8 3 0.Re l Ne6 3 1 .Kd2 b6?
Under pressure, Black loses patience. The purpose of the text is to pre
pare . . . dS without fearing the answer NcS . Nevertheless, it is a weakening
of the queenside which soon makes itself felt.
32 .Nc3 d5 3 3 .Ra l Nc7 34.Ne2 Ra8 3 5.Nd4 Kd6 36.Ra3 !
The Rook acquires greater activity on the third rank, threatening Rf3 and
Rc3 to try to break into Black's position. Black's answer proves inadequate,
but it is far from easy to find a good defensive plan. Perhaps best was 36 . . . aS .
36 ... Ne6 3 7.Nxe6! fxe6
It would appear that 3 1 . . .Kxe6 offers more resistance, but after 3 2 .bS as
B . Rc3 RdS 3 S .Rc7 Rd7 3 S .RcS White still has winning chances because
of his active Rook and Black's isolated pawn. Understandably, Black was
happy to solve his isolated pawn problem.
3 8.b5 ! Rf8
A desperate try for active counterplay. If 3 S . . . aS 3 9.Rc3 RbS 40'£4, Black's
game is hopelessly lost: White will put his Rook on c6 and march his King
to the center.
3 9.bxa6 Rxf2 + 40.Kc3 Rf8 4 1 .Kb4 d4 42 .a7 Ra8 43 .Kb5 Kc7 44.Ka6
In time pressure, White misses the best continuation several times. Here
or on the next move, Rf3 wins much faster. For example: 44.Rf3 Rxa7
4 S . Rf7 + KbS 46.Rxa7 Kxa7 47.Kc4 Kb7 4S.Kxd4 Kc6 49.KeS Kd7 SO.c4,
with an easy win.
44... e5 45 .Ra4 b5 46.Rb4 Kc6
I suddenly realized that my whole plan was wrong-I cannot take the b
pawn because 47 . Rxb6 Rxa7+, and White actually loses. My only winning
chance, therefore, was to advance the other queenside pawns. So the race
is on!
47.c4 bxc4 48.Rxc4+ Kd5 49.Rc7 d3 50.Rd7+ Kc4 5 1 .b4 e4 52.b5 Rxa7+
EURO P E AT MY F E ET
This was Black's sealed move. The position intrigued several players, some
of who were convinced that Black wins ! Later that evening Byrne and I
sat down to analyze the game as the guests ofJack Howard, a most hospi-
table and hard-working tournament organizer. Byrne revealed his sealed 265
move and, after analyzing the adjourned position, realized he was lost and
promptly resigned. The game could con
tinue: 5 3 . Rxa7 e3 54.Rc7+ Kd4 5 5 .b6 e2
56.b7 e l =Q 5 7 .b8=Q Qa l + 5 8 .Kb7 Qb2 +
59.Kc8 (had Black answered 54.Rc7+ with
5 4 . . . Kd 5 , in order to try for a perpetual
check with 59 . . . Qh8+, White would play
59 .Ka8) 5 9 ... Qxb8+ 60.Kxb8 h5 (not 60 . . . d2
because of 6 l .Rxh7) 6 1 .Kc8 d2 62 .Rd7+ Ke3
6 3 .Kd 8 , and wins because White simply
takes off all the Black pawns. Actually,
5 2 . . . Rxa7+ wasn't the best sealed move, but
White wins anyway-in that case, the game
is decided by just one tempo: 5 2 . . . e3 5 3 .b6
Re8 (5 3 ... e2 54.b7 Rxa7+ 5 5 .Kxa7) 54.Rc7+
Kb4 5 5 .Rc6 ! e2 (5 5 ... Re5 56.b7 Ra5 + 5 7 .Kb6
1 968.
Rb5 + 5 8 .Kc7) 5 6.b7 e l =Q 5 7 .b8=Q+. (Photo Art Zeller. courtesy USCF.)
1 5 ... a5 1 6.Nd4
The e6-square is suddenly a tender point in Black's camp.
1 6 ... Ned7 1 7.g4!
266
White has more central space and he has also completed his development
(Black still hasn't found good squares for all of his pieces). In such situa
tions, opening up the position is always in favor of the better-mobilized
side, following the rule that the better-developed side (White has all his
men in play while Black still hasn't found good squares for all his pieces)
should strive to open up the position.
17 ... fxg4 I S.fxg4 Nc5
Black is trying to cover the weak e6-square. If l S . . . NeS , then 1 9.BgS would
have been strong.
1 9.Bg5
Not letting Black trade pieces and relieve his cramped position with . . . Nfe4.
19 ... Rxe l 20.Rxe l Qd7 2 1 .Ne6!
An unexpected and powerful blow. Black can't play 2 1 . . .Nxe6 due to 2 2 .dxe6
Bxe6 2 3 .Bxf6 Bxf6 2 4.Rxe6 Qxe6 2 S .BdS, pinning and winning the black
Queen.
2 1 ...ReS
Trying to shake off the pressure by trading pieces. Other moves are even
worse. For example, 2 1 . . .BhS is strongly met by 2 2 .Nb S ! NeS (2 2 . . . Bxe6
2 3 .dxe6 Qe7 24.Nxc7! Qxc7 2 S .e7 ReS 2 6.BdS+ NxdS 2 7 . QxdS + Kg7 2 S.Rfl
Rxe7 2 9 .Bf6+) 2 3 .Nexc7 Nxc7 24.Re7, and White wins.
22 .Nxg7 Rxe l + 2 3 .Qxe l Kxg7 24.Nb5!
This wins a pawn because 2 S .Qc3 is a serious threat.
24 ... NeS 25.Qxa5 h6 26.Qc3 + K.h7 27.Bcl
Black is busted. He's a pawn down and the loss of his fianchettoed Bishop
has left the dark squares around his King horribly weak.
27 . . . KgS
Trying to run, but it's far too late .
2S.Bb2 Kf8 29.QhS+ Ke7 3 0.Qxh6
In combat against O ' Kel ly, Spain 1 9 68.
Down two pawns, Black no longer has anything to play for. For some rea
son, he continues the game, but things quickly become even worse.
30 ... KdS 3 l .Qe3 BgS 32 .h4 Na4 3 3 .Bd4 e6 34.dxe6 bxe6 3 S .QgS+ KeS
36.Na7+ KbS 3 7.Bxe6, 1 -0.
There's no reason to suffer through more abuse.
A strange place for the Knight, but consistent with Black's idea. I rather
expected 1 0 . . . b6, avoiding the isolated pawn and giving the QB a promis
ing future on a6.
268 l 1 .Nc3 Bf5
The killer ! Incorrect i s 1 7 .Bxd5 Qxd 5 I S .Ng6 Qc5 (Even better than
I S . . . Qe6 1 9 .Qxe6 fxe6, which also favors Black.) 1 9.Qxc5 Bxc5 2 0 .NxfS
Nc2 2 1 .Nd7 Bxa 3 , when Black wins. After this unexpected Knight sacri
fice, Black has no way to save himself.
1 7 ... Qe8
1 7 . . . Nc7 is answered by I S .Be4 (This move of the fianchettoed Bishop to
the center in order to threaten the enemy kingside is an Alekhine trade
mark - it appears in a number of his games.) I S ... Ra6 1 9.Qh5 threaten
ing 2 0 .Bxh7+ with mate to follow as well as simply 2 0 .NxdS. The Knight
can't be touched. 1 9 . . . Rh6 20.Qxh6 and Black can resign. Actually, best
for Black is 1 7 . . . Rxf7 , but after I S .Bxd5 he's a pawn down with a very bad
position. Black prefers to die with his boots on.
1 8.Nh6+ Kh8 1 9.Qxd5 Ne2
PA L B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSIT I O N S
Not that it matters at this point, but 19 ... QeS would have held out a bit
longer. In that case, 2 0.Rxa l would give White a decisive material superi
ority. The text allows a primitive mate.
270 20.Qg8+, 1 -0.
You don't get to play a classic smothered mate too often (2 0 ... RxgS 2 1 .Nf7
mate).
7 ... Bh4
The modern main line is 7 . . . Ne 5 8 .e4 Bb4 9.Qe2 with a sharp, unclear
battle in store . However, theory also thinks highly of Reshevsky's choice.
8.Bg2 d5 27 1
12 .Be3 Qa6
White has an obvious lead in development to compensate for his broken
pawn formation. He must therefore act at once as otherwise his advantage
will evaporate. Reshevsky offered a draw here and, after quite a bit of con
sideration, I declined because I conceived a long-range plan to obtain the
better endgame.
1 3 .Bc5 0-0 14.Qd3 ! Qxd3 1 5 .exd3 Rd8
Perhaps 1 5 . . . Re8 ! ? is a slightly more accurate defense .
1 6.Bxc6 Bxc5 1 7.Nxc5 hxc6 1 8.f4
PA L B E N KO : M Y L I F E , GAM ES AND CO M PO S ITI O N S
White's plan has become clear: he has exchanged all of Black's developed
pieces, leaving him with only an inactive Bishop trapped behind his own
pawns. When you compare this with the active white Knight, you begin
272 to realize how serious Black's predicament really is.
1 8 . . . Rb8 1 9.Rab l
Making sure that Black doesn't get any counterplay on the b-file.
19 ... Rb5 20.d4 Kf8 2 1 .Kf2 Bd7 22.Rb3 Ke7 23 .c4 Rb6 24.Rili I Rdb8
2 5 .Na4!
This forces the exchange of one pair of Rooks, after which the a-file be
comes important.
2 5 ... Rxb3 26.axb3
Black could defend himself much more easily after 2 6 . Rxb3 Rxb3 2 7 .axb3 .
In the present position, White's Rook will become very active on the a
file, while Black's Rook is nothing more than a passive defensive piece.
26 ... Kd6 2 7.Nc5
The Knight has done its job and now returns to the dominating c5-square
where it defends b 3 , thus freeing the Rook for more aggressive pursuits.
27 ... Bc8 28.Ral a6 29.Ra3 Ra8 30.Ke3 Kc7 3 1 .Ne4 h6 32 .c5
Creating an even better home for the Knight on d6.
32 ... Bd7 3 3 .Nd6 f5
I would have preferred the safer 3 3 . . .f6, but Black was probably afraid of
an eventual f4-f5 breakthrough.
3 4.Nc4
The Knight enjoys the freedom of the board, hopping merrily from square
to square. However, this doesn't really accomplish anything since d6 is
the Knight's best post. The most effective plan was 3 4.Kd2 followed by
walking the King to a 5 . A shortage of time prevented me from playing in
the most accurate manner.
34 . . . Be8 3 5.Nb6 Ra7 3 6.Ra I Bf7 3 7.Ra3 Bh5 3 8 .b4 Be8 3 9.Kd2 Bh5
40.h3 Kd8 41 .Nc4
The sealed move. Although White has wasted some time, he still holds a
significant edge. After considerable analysis, I decided that my plan should
EURO P E AT MY F E ET
• • •
While 1 968 was a relatively quiet year as far as chess is concerned, 1 969 turned
out to be very busy! Since I was in Hungary, all of Europe lay before me and I
availed myself of this geographical opportunity by playing in the quiet little sea
side town of Wijk aan Zee in Holland. As a man that loves hot climates, the
bitter chill of a Dutch winter was not to my liking, and I made a beeline to Malaga's
Spanish sunshine. After this, I virtually went berserk (in a purely chessic sense !),
hitting tournaments in Monte Carlo, Netanya, Venice and Vrsac. I also did my
American "duty" by playing in the U.S. Open and U.S. Championship!
This pattern continued in 1 970 (Caracas, Wijk aan Zee, Malaga, Reggio Emilia,
Saraj evo, Siegen Olympiad, U.S. Open) , 1 9 7 1 (Malaga, Netanya , Palma de
Mallorca, Reggio Emilia, Vrnj acka Banja, U.S. Championship), 1 972 (Wijk aan
Zee, Las Palmas, Novi Sad, Skopj e Olympiad, U.S Championship), and 1 9 7 3
(Hastings, Sao Paulo, Vrnjacka Banja, Malaga, Orense, Torremolinos, U. S. Cham
pionship), with me playing in many European events while my days of American
opens more or less came to an end.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D CO M PO S I TI O N S
In 1 97 1 Fischer was at the Grossinger Hotel in the Catskills preparing for his
match with Spassky. He invited me to work with him, but at that time I had
already accepted an invitation to a European tournament and had (rather sadly)
274 to decline, though I did come up with one counter "variation": I offered to with
draw from the tournament and help him out if he also hired me to be his second
in Iceland. Unfortunately he couldn't make up his mind, so I had to walk away
from this possibility as well (he eventually chose Lombardy).
10.a4
This move gains queenside space and stops possible . . . b7-b5 advances (for
example, 1 O.Rad l Bd7 1 1 .Ne l b5 ! has recently become popular for Black).
10 ... Ne8 275
Keeping the c8-g4 diagonal clear for his light-squared Bishop. The more
natural l O . . . Nd7, as played in Benko-Seirawan, U.S. Open 1 9 7 5 , lets White
trade off his bad Bishop for Black's
good one by I l .Ng5 or 1 1 .Ne l .
In that game I decided to toss in
I l .a5 first, when 1 1 . . .a6 1 1 .Ng5
would follow. However, Vasser
took on f3 instead and soon got
into a difficult position: 1 1 . . . Bxf3
(and not 1 1 . . .f5 ? 1 2 .Ng5) 1 2 . Bxf3
f5 1 3 .Qe2 ( 1 3 .g3 ? is a mistake be
cause of 13 . . .f4!, when 14.gxf4 exf4
1 5 .Bxf4 g5 wins a piece for Black)
1 3 ...Nf6 1 4.Bg5 fXe4 (there was no
hurry to give this square to White.
Vs. Bronstei n in Monte Carlo, 1 9 69.
B e tter was 1 4 . . . a6 or 1 4 . . . f4 , (Photo William Lombardy, courtesy USCF.)
though the absence of Bla ck's
light-squared Bishop makes any kingside breakthrough difficult to achieve)
1 5 .Bxe4 Qd7 1 6 .a6 b6 1 7 .Bxf6 Rxf6 1 8 .Nb5 Nf5 1 9.c3 Bh6 2 0 . Ra4 Rf7
2 1 .Bf3 Bg5 2 2 .Rb4 h5 2 3 .Be4 Kg7 2 4.Bxf5 Qxf5 (2 4 . . . gxf5 isn't possible
since that would hang the h-pawn) 2 5 .Rc4 Bd8 2 6 . f4, with a won game. I
eventually scored the full point after making things harder for myself than
I needed to.
l 1 .a5 a6 1 2 .Ra3 Bd7 1 3 .g3
I want to answer his anticipated . . . f7-f5 with Ng5 . This move is necessary
since it stops him from playing . . . f5 -f4.
1 3 ...f5 14.Ng5 ! ?
A very committal move . White heads for the e6-square .
14 ... h6 1 5 .Ne6 Bxe6 1 6.dxe6
PA L B E N KO : M Y LIFE, GAM ES AND C O M POSITI O N S
Black lost the thread of the game somewhere or other (he probably should
have looked for an improvement on move twenty-three).
26.Rxd4!
The simple 2 6.Re l leaves White with a large, safe, advantage. However, I
couldn't resist the Exchange sacrifice.
26 ... exd4 2 7.Qxd4 h5
If Black tries to return the Exchange with 27 . . . Rxe6, White can refuse the
offer and gain a strong attack by 2 S .Qd3 NfS 2 9 .BxfS gxfS 3 0. QxfS + Rg6
3 1 . Qd3 .
28.Bh3 Qf8 29.Qxd6 Nf5 30.Qxf8
The endgame guarantees White a simple win. His pieces are just too ac
tive, and his passed e-pawn is just too powerful.
30 ... Bxf8 3 1 .Rd l Kg8 32 .Rd7 Ne7 H .Bd4, 1 -0.
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
flaw with 5 . . . e5 (if any exists) doesn't lie in the tempting 6 . dxe5 dxe5
7 . Qxd8+ Kxd8, which doesn't really give White much of anything, but in
the fact that Black has committed himself to a plan involving a rather early
advance of his e-pawn.
6.Nge2
This and 6.d5 are White's best responses. Ineffective is 6.Be3 , since 6 . . . exd4
7 . Bxd4 Nc6 shows that White's important dark-squared Bishop is vulner
able on d4.
6 ... 0-0
Heading back into well-known main lines. Black has, on occasion, tried to
put off castling by 6 . . . c6 (moves like 6 . . . Nc6, 6 . . . c 5 , and 6 . . . Nfd7 have also
been seen) 7 . Bg5 Nbd7 8 . Qd2 a6, but his results haven't created many
supporters.
7.BgS c6
Trying to improve on my game with Fischer, which went 7 . . . exd4 8.Nxd4
Nc6 9.Nc2 Be6 1 0.Be2 , with an edge for White. See game 2 5 .
8.Qd2 QaS
Another idea is 8 . . .Nbd7 9.d5 Qb6, but the game Petrosian-Bronstein, USSR
1 974 saw White gain some advantage after l O.Be3 Qc7 1 1 .g4 h5 1 2 .g5
Ne8 1 3 .h4 as 1 4.b3 .
9.dS cxdS 1 O.NxdS
Surprise ! I went for an immediate endgame instead of the more pedes
trian 1 0.cxd 5 , which also led to a big advantage for White after 1 0 . . . Na6
1 1 .Nc 1 Bd7 1 2 .a3 Rfc8 1 3 .g4 Qc7 1 4.h4 Nc5 1 5 .h5 Na4 1 6.Nxa4 Bxa4
1 7 .Na2 Qc2 1 8 .Nc3 Qxd2 + 1 9.Kxd2 , Korchnoi-Tal, USSR 1 95 6 . Perhaps
Tatai had an improvement prepared after 1 O.cxd 5 , but my choice quickly
made this question moot.
10 ... Qxd2 + 1 1 .Kxd2 NxdS 12 .cxd5 f6
Stopping my threat of Be7, forking f8 and d6.
1 3 .Be3
PAL BENKO: MY LI F E, G AMES AND COMPOSITI O NS
White usually has better queenside prospects in the KID (thanks to the
dS -pawn and the extra space it offers in that sector) while Black seeks his
chances (in the form of a kingside attack) on the opposite wing. It stands
278 to reason then, that an exchange of Queens will diminish Black's kingside
attack without hurting my queenside play in any way, shape, or form.
1 3 ... Bd7 I 4.Nc3 a6
Black has stopped Na4 and NbS possibilities, but now his Knight has no
where to go. In any case, it was hard to find a good way for Black to resist
White's queenside pressure.
I 5.a4
Stopping . . . b7-bS and preparing to claim the b6-square by a4-aS .
I 5 . . .ReS I6.a5 f5 I 7.Bd3 f4 I S .Bf2 Bf6
This Bishop wasn't doing anything on g7 , so it heads for d8 where it will
eye both as and b6.
I 9.Ra3 BeS
Black's Knight will finally be able to enter the game on d7.
20.b4 BdS 2 1 .Rhal
A "mysterious" Rook move that creates future tactics (and guards as) based
on a b4-bS advance.
2 1 ...Nd7
Black had to make use of this piece, but he has blocked the e8- Bishop and
White takes immediate advantage of this fact by moving his own Knight
to a far stronger post.
22 .Na4 Kf8
Black brings his King closer to the embattled area, but it doesn't really
help. If 2 2 . . . Rc7 , then 2 3 .Nb6 would have been strong since 2 3 . . . Nxb6
24.axb6 followed by b4-bS wins a pawn (this shows the point of 2 1 . Rha l ) .
2 3 .Nb2 !
The Knight heads for the very effective c4-square, where it will lash out
at both b6 and d6. After that I can double my Rooks on the c-file without
fearing any exchanges.
23 . . .Nf6 24.Ne4 Be7 2 5.Bh4 Kf7 26.Rc3 Bb5
Black wants to get rid of the dominating Knight, but he ends up walking
into a nasty pin. However, there wasn't any defense. If 26 . . . Bd7 2 7 .Bxf6
Kxf6, White has the very strong 2 8 .Rac 1 , threatening NxeS and winning
at least a pawn.
27.Rac1 Bxe4
White also wins after 2 7 . . . Ne8 2 8 .Nb6 Bxb6 2 9.Rxc8 .
2S.Rxe4 NeS 29.g3 , 1 -0.
Black has no defense against Bfl -h3 . Another winning maneuver was 2 9 .Be2
with the idea of B d l -a4.
EURO P E AT MY FE ET
280
This i s the move that made m e reject l S .Qd3 i n the Evans game. Black's
threat to chop on e S and then leap into f4 is very unpleasant.
20.Qe2
There is no better move . Black threatened ... Bxe S . In case of 2 0.Qfl , there
would follow 20 . . . f6.
20 ... Bxe5?
It was only recently, when I finally had Mr. Fritz take a look at this game,
that I realized that 2 0 . . . BxeS was an error. Correct was 2 0 ... Qc6 ! , which
looks risky, but seems to work tactically: 2 1 .dS (Black is up a free pawn
after 2 1 .Qg4 Nxd4 2 2 .Bxg7 Nxg7 , while 2 1 .Qfl BxeS 2 2 .dxeS Nf4 trans
poses into the game.) 2 1 . . .exdS 2 2 .Bxg7 Kxg7 (Also strong is 22 . . . d4 2 3 .BdS
RxdS 2 4.NxdS QxdS 2 S .RxcS+ Kxg7 2 6.QB Qd7 2 7 .RdS Qc7 2 S .RdS Nf4
2 9.Rd7 BxB 3 0.Rxc7 Bxd l ) 2 3 .BxdS RxdS 24.RxdS Nf6 (24 . . . QxdS 2 S .NxdS
Rxc 1 + 2 6.Nfl BxdS 2 7 .Qd2 Rxfl + 2 S .Kxfl Nf6) 2 S .Rcd l RdS 2 6.QeS ReS,
and Black is winning.
2 1 .dxe5?
During the game w e both thought that 2 1 .QxeS Nxd4 was just a clean
pawn for Black. However, 2 2 .Ng4! changes this assessment and brands
20 . . . BxeS as a mistake. After 2 1 .dxe S ? , the game once again follows its
logical course.
2 1 ...Qc6
This diagonal will kill White, since 2 2 .NdS fails to 2 2 . . . Qxc 1 . The result
of 2 2 .B would be the loss of a pawn after 22 . . . QcS+ 2 3 .Qf2 Qxe S .
22 .Rxd8+ Rxd8 2 3 .Qf1 Nf4 24.NB
2 4.NdS fails to 24 . . . Qxc 1 2 S .Nf6+ Kg7 2 6 . Qxc 1 Ne2 +, while 24.B Rd2 is
also lights out for White.
24 ... Nd4!
Black had many good moves (24 . . . Nxh 3 + and 24 . . . Qc7), but this ends the
game quickly.
2 5 .Nxd4 Rxd4 26.Rd l Rxdl 27.Nxdl Ba6!, 0- 1 .
EURO P E AT MY F E ET
This move foils all of White's defensive plans and creates new weaknesses
in his position. Black threatens to chase the Knight and, in case of 2 7 .h4,
he could successfully play 2 7 . . . Rc3 (2 8.Re l Ng4). White tries instead to
exploit the drawing chances offered by Bishops of opposite colors, but, as
will be seen, it is all in vain.
27.Bd4 h4 28.Bxf6 hxg3
And not 2 8 . . . gxf6 2 9.Nh5 .
29.Bd4 gxh2 30.Rhl
I t would seem that White will win Black's h-pawn and cut Black's winning
chances to nil. In fact, Black can exploit the absence of the enemy Rook
for a decisive stroke.
30 ... Be4 3 1 .Rxh2
If the white Bishop were posted on b2 (as after 2 9 .Bb2), then 3 1 . . . a4 would
decide: 3 2 .bxa4 b 3 .
3 1 .. .Rd8 ! , 0- i .
White can't avoid the loss of the c-pawn.
PAL B ENKO: MY LI FE, G AM ES AND C O M P O S I T I O NS
1 .c4 e6 2 .NB dS 3 .d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 S .Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7
284
Nowadays, it's well-known that Black's best move is 6 . . . c 5 . However, at
the time 6 . . . Nbd7 was employed quite a lot.
7.cxdS
In this position, theory recommends 7 . Qc2 or 7.c5, though 7 . cxd5 be
came rather popular in the '90s and is still considered an excellent choice.
In the game Benko-Medina, Palma de Mallorca 1 968, I played 7 .a3 c5
8 . cxd5 exd5 9.Be2 a6 1 O.dxc5 Nxc5 1 1 .0-0 Be6 1 2 .B e 5 , and White had a
slight advantage due to his control of the d4-square. Taking it for granted
that my opponent had carefully studied my earlier games (none of which
featured 7 . cxd5 since, at the time, this capture was a novelty), I suddenly
decided to cross his plans and deviate from the expected continuation.
7 ... NxdS 8.NxdS exdS 9.Bd3
Compared with the normal variations, a new element here is the disap
pearance of White's QN and Black's KN. Naturally, had Black played
7 . . . exd 5 , a normal Exchange Variation would have arisen, which is consid
ered to be a bit better for White.
9 ... Nf6
In case of 9 . . . Bb4+, White planned the simple 1 0.Nd2 .
1 O.Qc2 c6 1 1 .0-0 Bg4
An inaccuracy which will be immediately exploited by White's taking the
initiative on his next move. Of course, 1 1 . . .Be6 is questionable owing to
1 2 .Ng5 , but Black might have considered 1 1 . . .h6 or 1 1 . . . a 5 , parrying any
immediate attempt at attack on the queenside.
1 2 .NeS Be6 1 3 .b4!
I 6.Nf3 b 5 ? !
Black's plan envisions a Knight maneuver with . . . Nb6-c4.
I 7.a4 a6?
Good or bad, 1 7 . . . Nb6 was a must. After 1 8 .axbS cxbS 1 9. Qa2 ( 1 9.Bc7)
19 ... Na4, White's position would be superior, but not as markedly as after
the text.
I S.a5
Depriving Black's Knight of the b6-square and thus stopping . . . Nd7 -b6-
c4. Now the c6-pawn is a permanent target.
IS ...f5 I 9.h3 Rf6 20.Rb3 KhS 2 1 .Qb I Qf8 22 .Be5 Rg6
2 2 . . . NxeS isn't a good idea since, after 2 3 .dxe S , White's Knight would oc
cupy a commanding position on d4.
n.Rbc3 Nxe5
White would willingly give up his b-pawn for Black's c-pawn since the
latter is more valuable - the fall of the c-pawn weakens the a6- and d S
pawns and allows the white Rooks t o penetrate into Black's position.
24.Nxe5 Rf6 2 5 .Rxc6 RaS 26.Rxe6
This combination results in an extra pawn for White and an irresistible
kingside attack, despite the presence of opposite-colored Bishops (remember
that such Bishops are often drawish in an endgame, but they add a lot of
zip to most attacks since one Bishop can't defend what the other attacks).
26 ... Rxe6 27.Bxf5 Rxe5 2S.dxe5 Bxb4 29.Qd3 Bxa5 30.Qxd5 Bb4 3 1 .Bd3
Be7 3 2 .Qe4 QgS, 1 -0.
Black resigned as soon as he made his move. Some might say it is too
early to accept defeat, but in fact Black's surrender is fully justified. White
has several winning continuations, for instance, 3 3 .Rc7 Ba3 34.f2 -f4-fS
f6 o r 3 4.e6, forcing a quick decision since Black's queenside pawns are
harmless.
l .c4 Nf6 2 .Nf3 g6 3 .b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 0-0 5.g3 c5 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.0-0 RbS? !
Preparing to play . . . a 6 and . . . b S . However, this push isn't necessarily a good
idea if the center is still open.
S.Nc3 a6 9.d4
White directs play towards the middle and away from the wings. This strat
egy brands Black's queenside demonstration as premature.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
9 ... d6
Black should trade by 9 . . . cxd4. The text lets White place immediate pres
sure on Black's position.
286 1 0.dxc5 dxc5 I l.Na4 Nd7
Better was 1 1 . . . b6 since Black will never get a chance to free himself with
. . . b7-b S . Black's reluctance to admit this leaves him with an unpleasant
position.
1 2 .Bxg7 Kxg7 1 3 .Qd2 e6?
This weakens the d6-square and White, of course, instantly goes after it.
Better was 1 3 . . . Qc7, while 1 3 . . .b S ? 1 4.cxbS axbS l S .NxcS NxcS 1 6.Qc3 +
would have led to the loss of a pawn for Black.
1 4.Rfd l Qe7 1 5 .Ng5
Intending to bring yet another piece to bear on d6 via Ne4. This also
gives White the option of Bxc6, leaving Black's pawn structure in ruins.
1 5 ... Nd4
Black avoids Bxc6 and creates the little threat of 1 7 . . . Nxe2+ 1 8 .Qxe2 QxgS .
1 6.Ne4
Getting my Knight off the vulnerable gS-square and creating a counter
threat of 1 7 .NexcS Nxe2 + 1 8 . Qxe2 NxcS 1 9.QeS+, winning a pawn.
16 ... b6 1 7.e3 Nf5 1 8 .Racl
This prevents a future . . . b6-bS (due to cxbS when the cS -pawn falls) and
allows me to begin the plan that follows without having to worry about
black counterplay.
1 8 ... f6 19.Nd6!
White could have tried to get a winning pawn endgame by 29.RxcS Rbxc8
3 0.Bxd7+ Rxd7 3 1 .Rxd7 Kxd7 3 2 .Nxb6+ . However, Black would be able to
thwart this by 3 0 . . . Ke7 ! 3 1 .Ke2 (a bit more accurate is 3 1 .Ke l [prevents a
check on d2 in some lines] but even here Black puts up strong resistance
with 3 1 . ..Rc7 3 2 .Nxb6 RbS 3 3 .NcS+ RcxcS 34.BxcS RxcS, when this pawn
up Rook endgame isn't nearly as favorable as my position was earlier)
3 1 . ..Rc7 3 2 .Nxb6 Rb7 , when unwelcome complications arise. In the posi
tion after 2S . . . Ke8, Black can't do anything (he's completely helpless) so I
will take my time, torture him, and only cash in when it ends the game.
29.e4
Playing to squeeze the life out of my opponent quietly and safely. How
ever, a sharper way to end the game was 2 9.b4! cxb4 3 0.c5, when Black
will suffer heavy material losses .
29 ... Ke7
On 2 9 . . . fxe4, I would play 3 0 .Ke3 when Black would have to continue to
tread water.
30.e5 g5 3 1 .h3 gxf4 3 2 .gxf4 h5 3 3 .Kg3
Anything wins. For instance, I could play 3 3 .Rd6 and wait for Black to
run out of pawn moves (multi-piece 2ugzwangs are always fun !). The plan
I chose is more than sufficient, though. I simply intend to march my King
up the board and eat his h-pawn.
3 3 ,. .RgS+ 34.Kh4 KdS 3 5 .Ra7 Rg7 3 6.Kxh5 KeS 3 7.Kh6 Re7 3 S.Kg6
It's over. Now I'm going to push my h-pawn and make a new Queen.
3S . Kf8 3 9.Bxd7 Rg7+ 40.Kf6 Rf7+, 1 -0.
..
After making the time control, Black, facing 4 1 .Kxe6, decided to resign.
PAL BEN KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
w.fim Geller: Just before I lost a game to Geller in some tournament, we adjourned and,
though I was worse (he had been torturing me the whole game) I sealed the wrong move and
resigned. The Russians were surprised that I resigned, but
they didn't know that I had blundered while sealing.
Next time we played, he offered a draw. But I had sworn
that I would extract revenge on him, and this time I tor
tured him all the way and won. The need for revenge al
ways makes me play better!
I couldn't talk to Geller because he didn't speak En
glish or German. He was a great attacking player, and had
mastered the King's Indian. Later in life, though, he be
came very positional. I asked him (after he fmally picked
up a few words of English), "Why are you quitting the
KID?" He said, "Because it's no good!" Oddly, Fischer
also told me it was not a very good opening, but he kept
Geller with his son.
playing it in game after game. (Photo courtesy USCF.)
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
1 1 .Qb3
Naturally, Black would have been satisfied with the position resulting from
I l .Nxc6 bxc6, even though his pawns would be weak, since his dark-squared
Bishop exerts strong pressure on the long diagonal and his other Bishop 289
could be actively mobilized on a6. Though this position must have oc-
curred in Soviet tournament practice, Botvinnik called the text move
( l l .Qb3) a new idea ! Up to this point the moves followed each other in
quick succession.
1 1 ...Nxd4
Of course, 1 1 . . . Bxd4 would not win a pawn either because White can eas
ily restore the material after 1 2 .exd4 Nxd4 1 3 . Qd l . White's two Bishops
would then give him a significant edge.
1 2 .exd4 Nf5 1 3 .Qxd5 Qxd5 1 4.Nxd5
Not as obvious as one might think, since White would also maintain pres
sure after 1 4.Bxd5 Nxd4 1 5 .Bf4.
14 ... Nxd4
The position is completely symmetrical and the reader might remark here,
"It is high time to agree to a draw. " However, this is far from correct since,
in chess, complete symmetry doesn't really exist - it is just a temporary
phenomenon because one of the players has to make a move. As a matter
of fact, my opponent offered a draw after the exchange of Queens but I
wasted no time in refusing his offer. All the more so because, at the Lugano
Olympiad, Geller rej ected a similar offer of mine in an apparently drawn
position. You see, revenge plays a greater role in chess than one might
suppose !
1 5 .Bg5 ! Bh3 ! ?
Black wants to get rid o f my strong light-squared Bishop by means o f this
clever move. Symmetry can't be maintained by 1 5 . . . Bg4, since after 1 6.Nf6+
Bxf6 1 7 .Bxf6 Nf3+, White is not obliged to capture the Knight. It would
be equally unpromising to play either 1 5 .. .f6 or 1 5 . . . Ne2 +, with the idea
of winning a pawn.
16.Rad l Bxg2 1 7.Kxg2 Ne6
PAL BEN KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES AN D C O M POSITI O N S
After the game, Geller remarked that this move was a n obvious blunder.
He felt that 1 7 . . . Nc6 was better, when White would possibly continue with
1 8 .b4 or 1 8 .Rd2 .
290 1 8.Be7 Rfe8 1 9.Nf6+ Kh8
Naturally, after 1 9 . . . Bxf6 2 0 .Bxf6, White's superiority would be accentu
ated by his control of the d-file and the power of his dark-squared Bishop
(which is making Black's King quite uncomfortable) . It should also be
pointed out that the Bishop, with its long range abilities, will be vastly
superior to Black's Knight because there are pawns on both sides of the
board (a Knight is often better than a Bishop if there are pawns on only
one side of the board).
20.Rd7 b6 2 1 .Rfd l Re2 2 2 .R l d2 Rxd2 2 3 .Rxd2 NfS
Passive, but Black didn't want White's Rook moving to the seventh rank.
Though 2 3 . . . Rc8 24.Rd7 Rc7 may look like a better defense, it allows White
to demonstrate one major flaw of the black position: the second player is,
in effect, a King down ! Thus, White's Monarch would decisively penetrate
into the enemy position after 2 5 .Rxc7 Nxc7 2 6.Kf3 Ne6 2 7 .Ke4.
24.b3 Re8 2 5 .Rd6 !
to a hopeless position after 2 9.Ba3 Kg7 3 0.Bb2 + KfS 3 1 .h4, when Black is
completely helpless.
29.Ne3
29 1
Naturally, 2 9 .Rxa7 would now be a mistake due to 2 9 . . . Bd4.
29 ...Ra2 3 0.Rxa7 Bd4 3 1 .Kf3 Rb2 3 2 .b4 Kg7 3 3 .Ke4?
An unfortunate move that lets my opponent back into the game. I would
have retained a winning endgame with 3 3 .Rd7 or 3 3 .h4.
3 3 ... Bc3 ?
White's last move was not the luckiest choice, but Black failed to exploit
it. He should have tried 3 3 . . . Bf6, with real chances to save the game.
34.NdS Bel 3 S .Nxb6 Bxfl
The final mistake. Geller had to try 3 5 . . . Bxb4, when he would still have
chances to resist. Now it's all over.
3 6.BcS Nf6+ 3 7.Kd3 BxcS 3 8.bxcS Rxh2 3 9.c6
Though material is even, White's passed pawns are far stronger than Black's.
3 9 ... Ne8
White could now win a piece by 40.c7, but why hurry?
40.Re7 Nd6
If 40 . . . KfS , then 4 1 .RxeS+ Kxf8 42 .c7 ends matters quickly.
41 .Rd7 Rb2 42 .Rxd6 Rxb6 43.Kc4, 1 -0.
Avoiding a n isolated d-pawn, which can be inflicted after, say, 7 .0-0 cxd4
8 . exd4 (not 8 .Nxd4 e5) 8 . . . dxc4. The text permits a natural development
of the dark-squared Bishop.
292 7 ... Be7
In similar positions (where Black plays . . . c7 -c5 , meaning that he is up a
tempo), Black used to employ a tactical break in the center by 7 . . . cxd4
8.exd4 dxc4 9.bxc4 e5 1 O.dxe5 Nxe5 1 1 .Nxe5 Qd4. However, entering such
a sharp line with a move less is a sure recipe for disaster, so the fact that
Black gets punished shouldn't be surprising: 1 2 .0-0 (Also strong is 1 2 .Qa4+
Nd7 1 3 .Ndf3 Qxa 1 1 4. 0-0, transposing into lines reached via 1 2 .0-0. An
other promising possibility is 1 2 . Q e2 ! ? ) 1 2 . . . Qxa 1 1 3 . Qa4+ Nd7 (or
1 3 . . . Bd7 1 4.Nxd7 Nxd7 1 5 .Re 1 + Be7 1 6.Nf3 0-0-0 1 7 . Qxa7 , with a crush
ing attack) 1 4.Ndf3 f6 (Both 1 4 . . . b5 1 5 .Qxb 5 Rb8 1 6.Qd5, and 1 4 . . . Bd6
1 5 .Nxd7 Bxd7 1 6.Re 1 +, are extremely unpleasant for the second player.)
1 5 .Nxd7 Bxd7 1 6.Qb3 , when Black's Queen is trapped.
8.0-0 0-0 9.Bb2 b6
Black doesn't seem eager to swap pawns in the center by 9 ... cxd4 1 0.exd4
dxc4 1 1 .bxc4, since the resulting hanging pawns formation gives White
more space and excellent tactical chances.
1 0.Qe2 Bb7 1 l .Rfd l
The other possibility here was to build up an attacking position with 1 1 .Ne5
followed by f2 -f4. However, I chose the text because I saw that Black's
Queen has no good square. This is in sharp comparison to White's Queen,
which is very comfortable on e2 .
1 1 . .. Rc8 1 2 .Rac 1 Rc7
This is the best way to solve Black's problem with development, since now
his Queen can be posted on a8 where it exerts pressure on the long diago
nal. The position is full of tension. Black doesn't want to initiate an ex
change of pawns because that would merely activate White's centrally placed
Rooks. This means that White is the one with his finger on the trigger -
he's the one that will open central lines when it suits him best.
1 3 .dxc5
Deciding that now is the time ! White starts a battle before Black is fully
mobilized.
1 3 ... Nxc5 1 4.Bc2
Also good was 1 4.Bb 1 , but the text allows the possibility of b4 without
permitting the answer . . . Na4.
14 ... Qa8 1 5 .Ng5 !
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
293
White opts for a direct kingside attack, otherwise his advantage in devel
opment will evaporate. The threat now is 1 6.Bxf6, and any pawn move
would be weakening: 1 5 . . . h6 1 6.Bxf6 gxf6 1 7 .Nh3 , and Black's destroyed
kingside will cause him no end of concern. If 1 5 . . . g6 1 6.cxd5 Bxd5 1 7 .e4,
White gets strong attacking chances. In this line, worse would be 16 . . . Nxd5 ,
because o f 1 7 .Nxh7 ! (stronger than 1 7 . Qh5 Bxg5) .
I S ...Ned7
Because of the many threats, Black decides to play it safe and overlooks
the main one. Black must have considered 1 5 . . . Nce4, when 1 6.Ndxe4 blocks
Black's QB and leaves White with a permanent advantage due to his
queenside pawn majority and kingside attacking chances. If this is all White
had, then Black might have sucked it up and given 1 5 . . . Nce4 a try. Unfor
tunately, White can force the win of a pawn by 1 6.Ngxe4 dxe4 1 7 .Bxf6
Bxf6 1 8 .Qg4, since 1 8 . . . Bb2 1 9.Rb l f5 fails to 2 0 . Qg3 .
1 6.exdS Rfe8
Black clearly placed a lot of stock in this move, which defends the c7-
Rook and threatens my light-squared Bishop. However, he probably should
have tried 1 6 . . . Bxd 5 . Yes, I think this ultimately loses, but the complica
tions that result would have given White more opportunities to make an
error: 1 7 . Bxh7+ (The tempting 1 7 .Nxh7 is met by 1 7 . . . Rfc8 ! , when Black
is still very much in the game.) 1 7 . . .Nxh7 1 8 .Rxc7 Nxg5 1 9.e4 Qd8 20.Rxa7
Bc6 2 1 .Nc4, and White's position is overwhelming. A sample line: 2 1 . . .Qe8
2 2 .Rc7 Nc5 2 3 .Nxb6 Ncxe4 24.Rc8 Qxc8 2 5 .Nxc8 Rxc8 2 6 . Qa6 Rc7
2 7 . Qb6 Rc8 2 8 .Rc 1 , and wins.]
1 7.dxe6! Rxc2 1 8.exd7 Nxd7
Relatively better was 1 8 . . . Rxc 1 1 9.dxc8=Q+ Rxc8, though this would leave
Black a solid pawn down with no compensation.
1 9.Rxe2 Rxc2
Perhaps Black was relying on this position, in which two white pieces are
en prise. But White's next move destroys his illusions.
20.Qd3 BxgS
The only reasonable defense to mate. However, since he's the Exchange
PAL BE N KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES AN D COM POSITI O N S
Yet another piece trade (in fact, the last one of the game !), but it doesn't
ease Black's problems. It's important to note that the logical looking 2 1 . . . Kd6
is powerfully answered by 2 2 . d 5 , when 2 2 . . . exd5 2 3 . e 5 + Ke7 2 4.Rc7+ is
crushing for White. 295
22 .Rxe8 Bxe8
Black would be in serious trouble even
after 2 2 . . . Kxc S : 2 3 . f5 exf5 (perhaps
2 3 . . . Kd7 2 4 . fxe6+ fxe6 2 5 . d 5 Kd6
2 6.Bxe6 Ke5 puts up more resistance)
24.Bxf5 + KdS 2 5 . Bxh7 g6 2 6.h4 Ke7
2 7 . h 5 gxh 5 2 S . d 5 ! Kd6 2 9 . Kd4 f6
3 0. Bg6, and White wins.
2 3 .d5 Ke7 24.e5 ! b5
Black doesn't dare go into a pawn
endgame by 24 . . . exd5 2 5 . BxcS KxcS Donner vs. Portisch, Santa Monica 1 9 66.
2 6.Kd4, because of the dominating po (Photo courtesy USCF.)
White has created a new target on f7 . In fact, in some lines the e6-pawn
also becomes vulnerable to a tactical sacrifice of the Bishop.
3 3" .Bf5 34.Ba4
Another way to win was 3 4.Kc4 as 3 5 .d7 Kc7 3 6.Kb5 Kxd7 3 7 .Kxa5 fol
lowed by 3 S .Kxb4, when the passed a-pawn is too strong.
34 ... Bg6 3 5 .Be8 a6 3 6.a3 !
PAL B E N KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES AN D COM POSITI O N S
This gives the white King access to Black's queenside. The very tempting
3 6,Kc4 a5 3 7 ,d7 Kc7 3 S ,Kb5 isn't as strong, because the Bishop's entombed
position cuts down on White's options considerably: 3 S . . . Bb 1 3 9.Kxa5 Bxa2
296 40.Kxb4 Bd5 4 1 .Kc5 BD 42 .h4 h6 43 .Bxf7 Kxd7 44.Bg6 Bd 1 , when Black
is drawing.
36 ... bxa3 3 7 .Kc3 h6
Black's problem is that his Bishop is stuck on g6 or h5 in order to protect
f7, and his King is unable to advance since that would allow the d-pawn to
promote. This means that Black is completely passive and must wait and
see how White intends to initiate a final breakthrough.
3 S.Kb3 Bh5 3 9.Kxa3 Kb7 40.Bd7 Kb6 4 1 .Kb4 a5+ 42 .Ke4 Be2 + 43 .Kd4
Bh5
Forced, since White was threatening to play Bxe6 ! .
44.Ke3 Kb7 45 .Kf4 KbS 46.Kg3 Kb7 47.Kf2 Bg6 4S.Ke2
My first idea was to force out Black's Bishop by bringing my King to g4
and playing h2 -h4-h5 . The other possibility was B-a4- d 1 followed by h2 -
h4-h 5 , but in both these cases Black's a-pawn might give me some prob
lems. In the end, I decided that I could force Black's Bishop away by mak
ing use of a Zugzwang theme. This plan required very little calculation
and seemed safe and artistically pleasing.
4S ... Kb6 49.Kd2 Bh5 50.Kc3 Bg6 5 1 .Ba4 Bh5 52 .Be2
Now a move like 5 2 . . . BD fails to 5 3 .Bg6 ! .
5 2 . . .Ke6 5 3 .Kb3 Kd7
Black willingly gives up the a-pawn because he saw that he'd have to lose
it anyway after 53 . . .Kb6 54.Ka4. For example: 54 . . . BD 5 5 .Bg6 Bc6+ 5 6.Ka3
BeS 5 7 .Bc2 (threatening 5 S .Ba4) 57 ... Bc6 5 S .Bb3 ! (threatening 5 S .Bxe6)
5S . . . Bd7 59.Ba4, and White wins.
54.Ka4 KdS 5 5 .Kxa5 Kd7 56.Kb6 KeS 5 7.Ke5 Kd7 5S.Kd4
Now that Black's a-pawn is gone, I can safely march back to the kingside.
5S ... KeS 59.Ke3 KdS 60.Kf4 KeS 6 1 .Be4, 1 -0.
After 6 1 . . .KdS 62 .BD Bg6 63 .Kg4 KeS 64.Kh4, Black is in Zugzwang
(64 . . . KdS 6 5 .Bh5 or 64 . . .KfS 65 .d7 or 64 . . . Bf5 6 5 .Kh5).
frees the Queen from having to defend the h-pawn and also takes the c4-
square away from the enemy Knight in case he plays ."Nd6.
22 ... QeS 2 3 .Rfd l Ne7 24.e4!
298
299
After mutual blunders in our frenzy to make the time control, we could
finally relax and adj ourn the game. Black's 44 . . . Kf6 was his sealed move,
though I expected the superior 44 . . . d4+ (when White would retain a con
siderable edge with 45 .Kd2) .
45 .Kd4 h 5 46.a5 h4 47.a6
Black is in Zugzwang and must give way to the White pieces.
47 ... Ke7
Also losing was 47 . . . Nf5 + 48 .Bxf5 Kxf5 49.b6 axb6 50.Rxb6 Ra7 5 1 .Kc 5 .
48.Rc2
Black would have counterchances after 48 .Kc5 Ne4+, but now he must
try to prevent White's Rook from making inroads into his position on the
g-file.
48 ... Kf6 49.Ra2
Threatening 5 0.b6 axb6 5 1 .a 7 .
4 9 ... Nc8 50.Rg2 Rg7
Otherwise 5 1 .Rg6 followed by Rh6 would follow.
5 1 .Rxg7 Kxg7 52 .Kc5
Also winning is 5 2 . Ke 5 Kf7 5 3 . f5 exf5 5 4 . B xf5 Nb6 5 5 . B e 6 + Kg6
5 6.Bxd5 Kg5 .
tra pawns, White would be unable to get the full point. During the game,
this convinced me that the position in the last diagram (after 56 . . . Kg5)
wasn't winning. However, afterwards I realized that White can win if he
300 approaches the a-pawn and simultaneously carries out a time-gaining ma
neuver designed to deflect Black's King from c7: 57.Bb3 Kg6 5S.Kd6 Kf6
59.Ba2 Na4 (59 . . . Kf5 60.Kc6 Ke5 6 1 .Bb3) 60.Bc4 Nb6 (60 . . . Kf5 6 1 .Kc7
Ke5 62.Kc6 Kd4 63 .Bb3 Nb6 64.Kb7 Nd5) 6 1 .Bb3 Kf5 62 .Kc7 Ke5 63 .Kc6
(Black is in Zugzwang-any King move takes him away from c7, while
Knight moves like .. .NaS or . . . NcS allow Kb7 with tempo.) 6 3 . . .Kd4 64.Kb7
Kc5 65.Kxa7 Kxb5 66.Kb7 Nd7 67 .a7 Nc5+ 6S .Kc7.
52 . . . Kf6 5 3 .Kc6 Ke7 54.Kc7 Nb6 5 5 .Be2 d4
If Black avoids . . . d5-d4, then White can win his a7- and e6-pawns after
55 . . . Na4 56.Bg4! Nb6 57 .Kb7 Kd6 5S .Kxa7 Kc7 59.Bxe6 d4 60.f5 d3 6 l .f6
d2 62 .£7 when, although Black queens first, White still wins because of
the mate threat on bS.
56.Kc6 Na4 57.Bdl Nb6 58.Be2 Na4 59.Bfl , 1 -0.
On account of Zugzwang, Black will lose his d-pawn. White's task would
then be a matter of simple technique.
Evaluating this position, it can be stated that Black has a tiny advantage.
White's King can no longer castle, further loss of time seems inevitable
and the Bishop on g2 doesn't have a great future. This position differs
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
from the King's Indian with reversed colors in that Black has not played
. . . c5 , which would grant White a stronghold on d 5 . Of course, Black's vic
tory will depend on further mistakes by White, but I hoped my opponent
wouldn't be able to make 1 00 faultless moves, especially since this was the 30 I
The tournament at Reggio Emilia was a pleasant affair, though I once again
conformed to "tradition" and left a Rook en prise. This relegated me to second
place and left quite a bitter taste in my mouth since I was easily winning the
game.
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
303
49.Qxf6 !
A sound Queen sacrifice that cannot be accepted because of 49 . . . Rxf6
5 0.Rc7+ Kh6 5 1 .RhS mate.
49 ... Qxe4+ 50.Kh2 ? ?
I was still under the spell o f the combination and I reversed two moves in
my mind. After the correct 50.Kg l Qe 3 + 5 1 .Kh2 Black would have to re
sign. Instead, reality came crashing down on my head after . . .
50 ... Qxc2 +, 0- 1 .
It's often hard to recover from a shock like this !
9 ... Nbd7?
Natural and bad. Black should have castled. Now White gains a bit of
time by making threats against Black's unprotected dark-squared Bishop.
304
1 0.Bf4!
Threatening Nxc6.
1 0 ... Qe7
Also 10 . . . Bxe5 1 1 .dxe5 Ng4 1 2 .e4 dxe4 1 3 .Nxe4 Bxe4 1 4.Qxg4 would be
to White's advantage. Black's King is far from safe in the middle of the
board.
1 1 .Nxd7 Qxd7 1 2 . Bxd6 Qxd6 1 3 .f3 !
White didn't trade to simplify the position. Instead, these exchanges were
the only way to maintain the initiative. Now my plan is clear: I intend to
push my e-pawn to e4 and build a strong center. This can't be easily par
ried. For example, 1 3 . . . 0-0-0 1 4.e4 dxe4 1 5.fxe4 Bg4 1 6 .Rxf6 would result
in the loss of material.
13 ... Qb4 1 4.e4 dxe4 I S .fxe4 Bg4 1 6.Qd2 0-0-0
The black King hopes to find refuge on the queenside, but this turns out
to be very unrealistic.
1 7.dS Rhe8
Black wisely avoids 1 7 . . . cxd5? 1 8 .Rac 1 ! Kb8 1 9 . Qf4+ ! Ka8 2 0 .e5 Qxf4
2 1 . Rxf4, when White wins a piece and the game.
1 8 .Rac 1 !
Taking aim at the enemy monarch. A little tactic prevents it from run
ning: 1 8 . . . Kb8 ? 1 9.Rxf6 gxf6 2 0.Qf4+.
18 ... Bd7 1 9.a3
Not as good was 1 9 .Qf4, since 19 . . . Qd4+ followed by 20 . . . Qe5 could be
played.
1 9 ... Qe7 20.NbS a6?
Black could have put up stiffer resistance by 20 . . . Kb8 2 1 . Qf4+ (2 1 .d6 Qe5
n .Nc7 Rf8 2 3 . Qf4 Ng4 holds the center) 2 1 . . . Qe5 n .Nd6 Qxf4 2 3 .Rxf4
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
Rf8 (or 2 3 . . .Re7 24.dxc6 Bxc6 2 S .NfS) 24.dxc6 Bxc6 2 S .e S , when White
wins a pawn, but Black would retain some defensive chances.
2 1 .e5
305
Though 2 1 .dxc6 Bxc6 2 2 .Na7+ Kb8 2 3 .Nxc6+ would destroy the black
King's position, I found the text move aesthetically more attractive.
2 1 . ..Qxe5
In case of 2 1 . . .axbS 2 2 .exf6 gxf6, White could choose between two very
good endgames via 2 3 .Qxh6 Rh8 24. Qxf6 Qe3 + 2 S . Qf2 , or 2 3 .Qf2 Qd6
2 4.Qxf6 Qxf6 2 S .Rxf6 Re2 2 6 . Rxf7 .
2 2 .Rce l
Unlike 2 2 .Rfe l , this doesn't allow the Rooks to be exchanged with check
in some key variations.
22 .•. Qg5
On 22 . . . Qb8, White plays the lethal 2 3 .dxc6 Bxc6 24.Bh3 +.
2 3 .Nd6+ Kb8 24.Qb4
White squeezes the most out of the position.
24 ... Bc8 2 5 .Nxe8 Nxe8 26.dxc6
It's time for Black to resign. He comes to this realization himself in a few
moves.
26 ...Nd6 2 7.cxb7 Be6 2 8.Qb6 Nc4 2 9.h4, 1 -0.
It was actually stronger to play 2 9 . Qxa6, but I was quite happy to force
the exchange of Queens.
had his own ideas about what was going on: 1 1 . . . Qa6 ! (threatening . . . Nc2)
1 2 .Bd2 Bc5 1 3 .Bc3 0-0 1 4.Nf3 Nxe2 ! ! (a strong sacrifice that demolishes
the White position) 1 5 .Kxe2 e4 1 6.Nh4 Bg4+ 1 7 .f3 exd 3 + I S .Kfl RfeS
306 1 9.Qd2 Be3 2 0.Qe l Bd7 2 1 .a4 Bb6 2 2 .Qd2 Re2 2 3 .f4 Rxd2 , 0- 1 .
7.d3
Evidently, my opponent wasn't familiar with this position. After quite a
bit of thought, he finally decides to decline the sacrifice.
7 ... d4 8.Nb l Bb4+ 9.Bd2 as !
Black's superiority is obvious. Of course, 1 0.Bxc6+ bxc6 I I .Bxb4 Be6! (stron
ger than 1 1 . . .axb4 I 1 . Qxb4 Qd5 1 2 .Nf3 ) 1 2 . Qa4 axb4 1 3 . Qxc6+ Nd7
( 1 4.Qd6? Qa5 ! traps the Queen due to the unstoppable threat of . . . Ra6)
would accentuate this advantage.
1 0.a3 Be6 I 1 .Qa4 Be7
Black is willing to give up a pawn in order to eliminate White's light-squared
Bishop, but my opponent was not tempted.
1 2 .Bc1 0-0
I never imagined that I would have such a dream position with the black
pieces after only twelve moves!
1 3 .Nd2 Nd7 1 4.Qd l a4 I S .NgB NeS 1 6.0-0 ReS 1 7.Ne4 f6
308
3 6 ... hS
Stopping White's plan, but creating a new break in point on g5 . Black's
game is no longer tenable.
309
3 7.Qd2 Bf6
This dies a horrible death. If he wanted to continue the fight, he had to
try 3 7 . . . Ke6, when 3 8 .Qg5 Ne7 holds on for a while longer.
3 8.Qh6 Ke6 39.Qxg6 Ne7 40.QxhS Qd8, 1 -0.
Black resigned without waiting to see the devastating 4 1 . Qg4+ . A good
positional game, which was used by Keene (in his book, The Modern De
fense) as an example of how to play White in this line.
A card sent to long-time Fischer friend, A. Liepnieks, from the 1 970 Siegen O lympiad. It
is signed by Evans, Edmondson, Spassky ( i n Cyri l l i c) , Benko, Reshevsky, Lom bardy, Mednis,
Fischer, and Koltanowski.
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
White's play has been simplicity itself: win a pawn and avoid complica
tions. Black is reduced to meaningless moves, such as the next, offering a
pawn that I don't bother taking.
2 5 ... KhS 26.Qc4
There was nothing wrong with 2 6 . Bxf7 , but White is satisfied with his
material advantage.
26 ... f5 2 7.Be6 BeS 2S.Bf7 Bd7 29.Qc5 Bg7
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES AN D COM POSITI O N S
1 5 .Ng4 Qa7
With this move Black gets his Queen off the dangerous f4-b8 diagonal,
thus avoiding future tricks based on Nf6+.
1 6.h5 Rfe8 313
Here 1 6 . . . h6 was to be taken into consideration, but in this case Black has
to reckon with sacrifices on h6, or White may be able to carry out a break
through with f4-f5 , as in a game Benko-Bisguier, Stockholm Interzonal
1 962 . Interested readers may consult R. Keene's Flank Openings, where
that game is an instructive example.
1 7.h6 g6
The h2 -h4-h5 -h6 plan created both middlegame and endgame chances.
In an endgame, Black's King will find it difficult to participate. Also, his
h7-pawn can easily turn out to be a target. In a middlegame, White wants
to exchange dark squared Bishops and penetrate into Black's kingside on
the weakened dark-squares.
1 8.c3 bxc3 1 9.bxc3 Nd7 20.Bg5 NfS
It is generally recommended that the exchange of dark-squared Bishops
be avoided by Black since, if they do get traded, the squares f6 and g7 can
easily fall into White's hands.
2 1 .Bxe7
In his joy, White exchanges the Bishops quickly, though Black would be
unable to avoid the exchange anyway. Better was 2 1 . Qd2 , since this would
have made it more difficult for Black's Queen to protect the kingside.
2 1 . ..Qxe7 22 .Qd2
Preparing to swing my Queen to the kingside via Qf4.
22 ... Rab8 2 3 .Rab l Nd7 24.Bfl
Having defended d3 and stopped Black from taking over the b-file, I'm
finally ready to give my full attention to the kingside.
24 ... QfS 2 5 .Qf4 Rxb l 26.Rxb l Rb8 2 7.Rxb8 Qxb8 28.Ng5 QfS 29.Nf6+
Nxf6 30.Qxf6
Threatening 3 1 .Nxe6.
30 ... Be8
PAL B E N KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES AN D C O M POSIT I O N S
314
For the second time, White has the opportunity to make this move . How
ever, it is possible that 3 7 . Qc7 was even stronger: 3 7 . . . Qxg5 3 8 . Qxc8+ Nf8
3 9 . Qc7 Qxh6 40.Qxa 5 , when the passed a-pawn is very powerful.
3 7 ... Qxf4 315
317
White to Move
In this position any normal human would play 4 1 .BxB RxB 42 .Rfl , when
Black does best to resign (42 . . . Rxd3 43 .Rf7). For reasons I can't compre
hend, I uncorked the ludicrous
4 l .Rh7+ ? ?
I recall my shocked opponent's eyes bugging out o f their sockets !
4 1 . . .Kxh7 42 .Re2
and after
42 .. .Rxg2 +
I was forced to resign. Such displays of insanity have often left me won
dering why I was never invited to play on the U. S . Olympiad team for the
blind.
less, this Rook move turns out to be slightly inaccurate since it weakens
f2 . Preferable was 1 2 .Rac l .
1 2 ...Ndf6 1 3 .Ne5
319
Now Black will be able to drive White's Queen from the c-file. I had in
tended to play 1 3 .Qc7, but then I noticed that Black would get some
counterplay with 1 3 . . . Ng4 (this attack against f2 was made possible by my
inaccurate 1 2 th move). Therefore, White tries to occupy the permanent
weakness in the Dutch-the eS -square. This square is always weak com
pared to White's e4, which can still be controlled by a pawn. In retro
spect, it turns out that 1 3 .Qc7 does indeed pose Black some serious prob-
lems: 1 3 . . .Ng4 1 4.Nxe4 fxe4 ( 1 4 . . . Qxc7 I S .Nf6+) I S . Qxd8 Rxd8 1 6.NeS
Rf8 ( 1 6 . . . NxeS 1 7 .dxeS is unpleasant for Black) 1 7 .f4 ( 1 7 . f3 is also good)
1 7 . . . NxeS 1 8 . dxeS Bg4 1 9.Rc7 Bxe2 2 0.Bh3 , with a considerable advan
tage for White.
1 3 ... Be6 1 4.£3 Re8 1 5 .Qd l Nxd2
Superior was I S . . . Nd6 to be followed by 2 6 . . . Nf7 . The exchange of White's
inactive Knight is not a good idea.
1 6.Qxd2 Qh6 1 7.Nd3
The Knight is headed for cS to prevent Black from exchanging all the
heavy pieces on the c-file.
17 ... Nd7 1 8.e3 g5 19.Ba3 Bf6 20.f4 g4 2 1 .Ne5
After only a few inaccuracies by Black, he has incurred a difficult position.
White is threatening 2 2 .Nxd7 followed by 2 3 .BxdS+. The annoying Knight
cannot be exchanged because of the loss of Black's a-pawn: 2 1 . . . NxcS
2 2 .BxcS Qa6 2 3 .Bfl bS 24.a4.
2 1 . ..Rfd8
Now I'm winning material by force. The question is, what's the best way
to do this? In general, a player wants to choose a line that gives his oppo
nent the least amount of counterplay, and with this in mind, the decision I
make becomes much easier to understand.
22 .Bh4!
Very tempting was 2 2 .Nxd7 Bxd7 (2 2 . . . Rxc l + is also possible when 2 3 .Rxc l
Rxd7 2 4.BcS Qd8 2 S .Bxa7 picks up a pawn but allows Black to create Bishops
PAL B E N KO: MY LI FE, GAM ES AN D C O M POSITI O N S
The game was adjourned here. I probably could have played better during
the last several moves, but such is life when you're addicted to time pres
sure. For this reason I was not aiming to win more material, but only to
preserve my extra pawn. It is not easy to win this ending as the position is
closed; without the penetration of White's King into Black's position, no
winning plan can be imagined.
43 .Kf2
My King starts its journey to the queenside. Note that, as outlined by my
earlier plan, Black is still completely passive.
43 . . .KeS 44.Ke l Kd7 45.Kd2 Ke6 46.b4 BeS 47.Kc3 Kb7 4S.b5 Bf6
49.Kb3
Capturing the Black a-pawn doesn't help my King penetrate.
49 ... axb5 50.Bxb5
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
Taking with the pawn would be an irreparable mistake, eliminating all win
ning chances. This is a critical moment. White's Bishop stands very well
on b 5 . The opponent's Bishop cannot move because Bd7 is always threat-
ened. However, White always has to watch out for Black tricks based on 32 1
. . . Bh4! .
50 ... Be7 5 1 .Bb4 Bf6 52 .a5 Ke7 5 3 .Ka4 Bb7 54.a6 BaS 5 5 .Ba5+ Kd6
Somewhat longer resistance was possible by 5 5 . . . Kc8, but there would have
followed 5 6 .Be8 and White's King would finally have been able to pen
etrate.
56.Bb6 Bg7 57.BdS ! , 1 -0.
Freezing his King and ending his tactical ... Bh4 hopes. Now it's no longer
possible to keep White's King from entering via as and b6.
l .e4 Nf6 2 .Nf3 e6 3 .g3 d5 4.Bg2 e5 5.0-0 Ne6 6.exd5 exd5 7.d4
After skirting through several possible openings, a Tarrasch Defense fi
nally appears on the board.
7 ... Be6
A rare move. Usual is 7 . . . Be7.
S.b3 B e 7 9.Bb2 0 - 0 1O.Nc3 Ne4
A known maneuver, usual when White has fianchettoed his dark-squared
Bishop. The idea is to play . . . Bf6, neutralizing the long black diagonal.
1 1 .dxe5 Bxe5 1 2 .e3 Be7 1 3 .Ne2 ReS 1 4.Nf4
White's control over d4 and his pressure against d5 and e6 give him a
comfortable edge.
14 ... Qd6 1 5 .Qe2 Nb4
Black tries to exploit the illusory weak points on the c-file, which he occu
pies. But this is a premature attacking attempt.
1 6.Nd4 Bf6 1 7 .Rad l !
After long thought, I decided this was the only move to prevent Black from
obtaining a satisfactory game. Now White threatens 1 8 . Bxe4 dxe4
PAL B E N KO : MY LIFE, GAM ES AND C O M POSITI O N S
White, by sticking his Queen on the side of the board, breaks one of the
most useful rules in chess: When you have a decisive positional or mate
rial advantage, make sure your opponent's counterplay is kept to a mini
mum (When he's already dead, why allow him to reanimate and crawl out
of his grave?). Correct was 3 6. Qd4, when 3 6 . . . eS 3 7 .QdS would centralize
the Queen and end Black's hopes.
3 6 ... gS !
Not what I wanted to see in time pressure ! Suddenly my easy path to vic
tory has a few thorns on it.
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
3 7.hxgS h4 3 8.e4!
The only counter, eliminating Black's dangerous kingside play.
3 8 ... Qxe4 3 9.Rd l h3
323
In view of his opponent's time shortage, Black should have considered
39 . . . Kg6 or . . . Kg7 or even 39 . . . Rc4, though White must win anyway be
cause of the exposed position of the black King.
40.Qd3 h2 + 41 .Kxh2 Rxf2+ 42 .Kh3 Qf5+
On 42 . . . Qxd3 43 .Rxd3 Rb2 44.Rd4 Kg6 45 .Kg4 and Kf4 wins easily (i. e . ,
4 5 . . . e5 46.Rd6+).
43.Qxf5 + Rxf5 44.Rb l Rb5 45.Kg4 Kg6 46.Kf4 Kf7 47.Rb3 Ke7
If 47 . . . Kg6, White wins by 4S .Ke4 Kxg5 49.Kd4 Kf5 50.Kc4 RbS 5 1 .b5
RcS+ 5 2 .Kd 3 RgS 5 3 .Ke2 RbS 54.b6 Rb7 5 5 .Ke3 Ke5 5 6.Rb5+.
48.g6 Rf5 +
Or 4S . . . Kf6 49.Ke4, and the white King will penetrate Black's queenside.
49.Kg4 Rb5 50.RB Rxb4+ 5 1 .Kg5 Rb8 52 .g7 e5 5 3 .Kg6, 1-0 .
Black has succeeded i n preventing White's a4-a5, but White has been able
to plant an annoying Knight on b5 which Black will be unable to drive
away for another seventeen moves, and even then without satisfactory re
324 sults. Therefore, Black should have considered . . . c7 -c6 at some earlier point
to prevent this Knight move, but then it would have come into play via c4.
9 ... e5
My opponent has decided not to fianchetto his light-squared Bishop by
. . . b7-b6, on which I intended 1 0.Bg5 Re8 I l .Qd2 . The text means a loss
of a tempo, while at the same time White's setup with a4 and Nb5 is well
suited to Black's pawn position.
1 0.dxe5 dxe5
Black now gets into a very cramped position, but he hardly had a choice
since after 1 O . . . Nxe5 I l .Nxe5 Bxe 5 , there would come 1 2 .Bh6, 1 2 .Bg5 , or
the immediate 1 2 .f4 followed by 1 3 .f5 . In every case White would have
excellent prospects.
I 1 .Be3 h6 1 2 .Qb3 b6 1 3 .Rfd l Rb8 1 4.Qc4 Rb7
Black's game is very passive, and he can hold his position together only
through the most cumbersome maneuvers. Naturally, 14 . . . c6 would have
been strongly met by 1 5 .Nd6.
1 5 .b4
I decided to open files on the queenside, but doubling Rooks on the d-file
via 1 5 .Rd2 was also very tempting.
1 5 ... Nb8 1 6.Be2 Bd7 1 7.bxa5 bxa5 1 8 .Bc5 Kh7 1 9.Rd2 Qe8 20.Qa2
Directed against . . . B e 6 . Now Black seizes his only opportunity for
counterplay.
20 ... f5 2 1 .Bd3 Nbc6 2 2 .Re 1 f4 2 3 .Bc4 g5 24.Be6 Bxe6 2 5 . Qxe6
2 6 . . . RxcS 2 7 .Bxe7 Nxe7 2 S .Rd7 Ng6 2 9.Nd6 cxd6 3 0.Rxb7 Rxc3 3 1 .Rb S .
Also hopeless i s 2 S . . . Rf6, because o f 2 6.Qd7 .
26.Qh3 ! Rf6 2 7.NxgS + KgS 2S .Nf3
325
White has not only won a pawn, he's won the g-pawn, the lack of which
upsets all of Black's plans for a kingside attack.
2S ...NfS 29.Bxf8 BxfS 30.Qg4+ KhS
I would have met 3 0 . . . Rg6 with 3 1 .Qd7.
3 1 .Nh4 Ne7 3 2 .Red l Qf7 H .RdS hS
The active-looking B . . . Qc4 suffers a meltdown after 3 4.R l d7 Qxe4 3 S .h3
Qh7 3 6.RxfS+ RxfS 3 7 .Rxe7 .
34.QgS Kh7
Black might have quietly resigned, but he's hoping
that the mutual time shortage will lead to a White
blunder. For example, 3 S . QxeS would give Black
counterplay that he doesn't deserve after 3 S . . . Nc6
3 6.QeS NxdS 3 7 .Rd7 c6 3 S .Rxf7+ Rfxf7 3 9.h3 cxbS
40. QxdS bxa4.
3 S .Nfl Bh6 36.Qh4 c6
Too late ! My Knight jumps from one fine square
to an even better one.
3 7.Nd6 Ng6 3 S.Qh3
Of course, 3 S .QxhS was extremely strong, but. . . time
trouble !
3 S ... Rxd6 3 9.RSxd6 Re7 40.QxhS Kg7 4 1 .QfS (Photo courtesy USCF.)
326
Instead o f this, I played 7 .Nd5 twice against Hort, but I did not succeed
in reaching an opening advantage after 7 . . . Nce7 ! . This is actually a pawn
sacrifice, though its acceptance seems to be dangerous: 8 .Nxe7 Nxe7 9.Bxb7
Rb8 1 O.Bg2 (Not 1 O. Qa4+ ? ? Bd7 I 1 .Qxa7 Rxb7 1 2 . Qxb7 Bc6) 1 O . . . Bxc4
I 1 . Qa4+ Bb5 1 2 . Qxa7 c5 1 3 .Qa3 ( 1 3 .Nd Nc6 1 4.Qa3 Nb4 is just as de
pressing) 1 3 . . . Nc6 and White's position is awful.
7 ... exd4
Also possible is 7 . . . Bxc4? ! . The line is given by Pachman up to 8.d5 Bxe2
9.Qxe2 Nb8 1 O.Qb5+ Nd7 I 1 . Qxb7, when he claims White is better. But
this judgment was not confirmed by the game Larsen-Suttles, Palma de
Mallorca 1 970, which continued 1 1 . . . Rb8 (White's better pawn structure
and two Bishops give him the edge after 1 1 . . .a6 1 2 . Qc6 Ne7 1 3 . Qc4, Suba
Karlsson, Las Palm as 1 982) 1 2 . Qa6 Nc5 1 3 . Qe2 f5 1 4.e4 Nf6 1 5 .exf5 gxf5
1 6.Bh3 0-0 1 7 .0-0 Nfd7, with a complicated battle that was eventually
drawn. The flaw with this whole line was only demonstrated some years
later: 1 2 . Qxa7 ! Nc5 1 3 . Qa5 f5 (or 1 3 . . . Nd3 + 1 4.Ke2 [ 1 4.Kd2 ! ? might be
even stronger] 1 4 . . . Nxc 1 + 1 5 . Rhxc 1 Rxb2 + 1 6.Kfl Nf6 1 7 .Rab l Rxb l
1 8 .Rxb l 0-0 1 9.Rb7 Ne8 2 0.Nb 5 , with White owning an obvious superi
ority in Rind-Morrison, Manchester 1 980) 1 4.0-0 e4 1 5 .Nb5 Ne7 1 6.Rd l
0-0 1 7 .Bft Rb7 1 8 .Rb l Qb8 1 9. a4 Kh8 2 0.b3 Ng8 2 1 .Ba3 Nf6 2 2 .Bxc5
dxc5 2 3 .Bc4 Ng4 2 4.d6, and White won in a few more moves, King-Wolff,
NY 1 990.
8.Nxd4
Pachman gives this move an exclamation mark. However, it is interesting
to mention that in his earlier theoretical works he had recommended 8.exd4
as a good continuation, but after my present opponent defeated him in
Mar del Plata 1 959, playing 8 . . . Bxc4 ! , Pachman was forced to change his
mind.
8 ...Nxd4
In the game Mikenas-Podgaets, USSR Championship 1 970, White got a
nice edge after 8 . . . Bd7 9.0-0 Nge7 1 O.Nde2 ! 0-0 l 1 .b3 a6 1 2 .Bb2 b5 1 3 .cxb5
axb5 1 4.Qd2 b4 1 5 .Ne4.
9.exd4 Ne7 ! ?
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
Perhaps the best move under the circumstances, preventing the Queen
attack by Qh5 . The position is very complicated and, at the time, it was
not easy to judge whether Black's activity justified his pawn sacrifice. Choos
ing between the capture of the second pawn by 1 9. Qxg4 Ne3 2 0 . Qg6 Rf6
2 1 .Qh5 Nxfl n .Rxfl (which has to be good for White), and the move I
actually played, was difficult. My opponent, seeing me lost in thought,
took the opportunity to offer a draw. I communicated the offer to my team
captain in accordance with the correct procedure in team competition,
adding that I was not sure if ! had the better game. He replied, "You should
continue playing because you're the better player. " But in so doing I strove
to simplify the game so I could play for the win while retaining a draw in
hand.
1 9.Nxf5 Bxf5 20.Bc3 Rf7? !
I must admit I was afraid o f the exchange o n c3 , a s i n that case i t would be
very difficult to exploit the extra pawn because of the weakness on c4. But
Black wanted to gain a tempo for the kingside attack.
2 1 .Bxg7 Rxg7 22 .Rel Qh4 n.Qb3 Rf8 24.Qg3 Qf6 2 5 .Re2 Qd4 26.Rc 1
White has repulsed Black's attacking attempts. O n 2 6 . . . Bd3 I was plan
ning 2 7 . Qe3 ! , avoiding unnecessary complications that could arise after
2 7 . Rd2 Rf3 (though even here, 2 S . Qh4 favors White).
26 ... Bd7 27.Qe3 Qf6 2 8.c5 !
Instead of snatching pawns, White prefers counterplay. On 2 S . . . ReS, White's
plan was 2 9.Qc3 ! when Black's attack would have come to a standstill.
2 8 ... Bb5 ? ! 29.Qe6+ Qxe6 30.Rxe6 Bd7 3 1 .Re2 Bb5 3 2 .Re4 Bd3 3 3 .Re3
Bf5 34.cxd6 cxd6 3 5 .Be4 Kh7
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
On 3 S . . . Bxe4 3 6.Rxe4 RfS 3 7 . Rcc4 RxdS 3 8 .Rxg4, White wins the Rook
endgame thanks to his two passed pawns .
3 6.Rc8
329
A little trick in mutual time trouble.
3 6 ... Rf6 3 7.Rc4
Also strong was 3 7 .Re8.
3 7 ... Kg6 3 8.Kg2 Kg5 3 9.Kg3 Bd7?
A mistake in a lost position.
40.Rc7! Rgf7 41 .Rxb7, 1 -0.
White had sealed his 4 1 st move but Black later resigned. Of course, 41 ... Rxf2
is not playable because of 42 . Rxd7 .
This protects c7, thus freeing the Queen for attack by . . . QfS . But 1 7 . . . Bb6
was more suitable for this purpose. My opponent offered me a draw at
this point. I was later told that the half-point he might have gained would
have given Malich the grandmaster title. When asked if ! would have agreed
to the draw if I had known this at the time, I replied that this was a team
event and I was therefore fighting not only for myself but for my team. In
any case, I am convinced that such titles must be earned and should not
depend on the good will of one's opponents. There was already far too
much wheeling and dealing in connection with international titles in those
days. Unfortunately, such practices are still common at the present time.
1 8.h4!
Necessary so as to provide a place for the KN on h2 .
1 8 ...NfS 1 9.d4 f6
This is passive. Black should probably have tried 1 9 . . . e4 2 0.Nh2 BfS , al
though in this case White would have various possibilities such as Nc3 -
d S , or the advance of the d-pawn.
20.d5 Nd8 2 1 .Nh2 g5 ?
White already has the better game, but not to the extent that such desper
ate aggression is necessary. The planned kingside attack fails because of
the weakening of the light-squares. Black was obliged to play 2 1 . . .BfS n . e4
Bh7 2 3 .Nxa7 Rxa7 H.cS , with a bad but tolerable position.
2 2 .hxg5 hxg5
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
I think 2 2 . . . fxg5 was a little better, but Black was unaware of the danger.
2 3 .Nxg4
This is even stronger than the more flashy 2 3 .Nxc7 Bf5 24.e4 Bxe4 2 5 .Qxe4
33 1
Qxc7 2 6.Ng4 Kg7 2 7 . Qf5 Rf7 .
2 3 ... Qxg4 24.Be4! Nfl 2 S .Kg2 Qd7
There is no better reply, since I threatened to win Black's Queen by Bf5 ,
and 2 5 . . . Nh6 lost to 26.Rh l Kg7 2 7 .Rxh6.
26.Rh l Nh8
This is a further loss of time, but Black's game was untenable in any case.
2 7.Rh6 Kg7 2 8.Rah l Nfl 29.R6hS Bb6 30.BfS Qe8 3 1 .Qe4 BcS
Black is in the throes of death. Mercifully, I now put him out of his misery.
3 2 .Be6! c6
Black suffers an apocalypse after 3 2 . . . Nxe6 3 3 . Rh7+ Kf8 34. Qg6.
3 3 .Rh7+ Nxh7 34.Rxh7+ Kf8 3 5 .Qg6 Rxe6 3 6.Nc7, 1 -0.
l .b4
A seldom-played but enterprising move, the name of which is not entirely
clear. The story goes that, during a free day at the New York 1 92 4 tourna
ment, Tartakower paid a visit to the world famous Bronx Zoo. There he
had a lengthy consultation with their prize orangutan, Susan, following
which he dedicated his next game to her. That game opened with this
same move, and Tartakower called it the Orangutan Opening. In the years
that followed, the American master Anthony Santasiere played and ana
lyzed it and, for a while, the opening was called Santasiere's Folly. Mean
while, Russian chess experts, who are fond of naming all opening systems
after a Russian, call it Sokolsky's Opening. In my opinion, it is better to
name it after the ape, adopting a certain neutrality. This is the name, inci
dentally, which is becoming more and more popular. It is true that books
have recently been published about this strange opening; Andrew Soltis
has written one, for instance. At the end of his work, he mentions that this
move could be a dangerous weapon in the hands of an expert against an
opponent who is not quite prepared for it. I confess that I have studied
none of the existing literature on this opening. In adopting the move, I
was encouraged by the sense of discovering unknown territory, a sense of
adventure. I consider myself one of those masters who lean toward ro
manticism in chess, rather than following only the beaten path. On the
other hand, I chose this move also for the sake of a joke, since my oppo
nent always adopts the first move 1 . b3 . In fact, l .b3 was sometimes shown
on the large demonstration board for Bellon's games, even before he sat
down to play, and that is how he actually opened his games with the White
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES AN D COM POSITI O N S
b8-h2 diagonal is more illusory than real. The advance 1 6 . . . eS is weak due
to 1 7 .cxdS, revealing the drawback of the black Queen's new position along
the c-file.
1 7.Nxc4 axb4 1 8.axb4 Nd5 1 9.b5 !
336
I did not like the more active I S .Be3 , because after ... Nd4 there is no e2 -
e3 available to drive the Knight back. White's game is obviously better
here: Black's queenside pawns may prove to be weak and it will be pos
sible for White to post a piece advantageously in front of Black's isolated
e-pawn. Therefore, my opponent begins a trading policy which, to a point,
can't be criticized.
1S ... NxdS 1 6.NxdS Rxf1+ 1 7.Qxf1 BgS ?
Too much is as bad as nothing at all. This attempt at further trades makes
Black's situation rather difficult. Correct was 1 7 . . . Bd6 followed by l S . . . Ne7 ,
ousting White's dominating Knight from dS .
18.BxgS QxgS 19.Qf2 !
It is probable that my opponent expected me to offer the trade of queens
with 1 9. Qc 1 , when 1 9 . . . Qxc 1 + 2 0 . Rxc 1 c4 2 1 . dxc4 bxc4 2 2 .Rxc4 Rxb2
2 3 .Rxc6 Bxc6 2 4.Ne7+ KfS 2 S .Nxc6 Rxa2 would give Black the better
chances despite White's two pieces for the Rook. The text move ( 1 9. Qf2)
wins an important tempo for the attack on the f-file.
1 9 . . .Nd4
Trying for a counterattack by 1 9 . . .RfS fails: 1 9 . . . RfS 20.QxcS Qd2 (2 0 . . . Nd4
loses instantly to 2 1 .Ne7+ KhS 2 2 .Ng6+) 2 1 .Nc7 ! (A surprise that stops
B lack from defending with . . . B e S , and simultaneously threatens both
2 2 .BdS+ and 2 2 .Bxc6. Not as good is 2 1 .Ne7+ Nxe7 2 2 .Qxe7 Qe3 + 2 3 .Kh l
BeS 24.BdS+ B f7 2 S .Be4 Qxe2 2 6 . QxeS , when White i s much better, but
Black can still resist.) 2 1 . . .Nb4 2 2 .a3 Qxb2 2 3 .Rc 1 , and White wins.
20.Rf1 Qd8
Black could find nothing better than this retreat, by which he defends against
the threat of 2 1 . Qf7 + followed by QfS+ or Qxd 7 . The alternative 2 0 . . . Be6
would have been met by 2 1 . e3 NfS (or 2 1 . . .Nc6 2 2 .Nc7 Qe7 2 3 .Nxe6
Qxe6 24.Bxc6, and wins.) 2 2 .Nc7 Bd7 2 3 .BdS+ KhS 24. e4, and Black has
to give up.
2 1.Qe3 !
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
337
Stronger than 2 1 . Qf7+ KhS 2 2 .e3 ! (and not 2 2 .Be4 Nxe2 + 2 3 .Kh l QeS,
when Black is okay.) 2 2 ... Ne6 (2 2 ... Be6 2 3 .Qxa7) 2 3 .RfS which, of course,
would also have been in my favor.
2 1 . . .Qe8 22 .QgS h6?
A serious blunder, but Black is not to be blamed because the game is lost
in any case. On 22 . . . KhS (2 2 .. .Nxe2 + 2 3 .Kh l KhS 2 4.Nc7 transposes)
2 3 .Nc7 QdS 24.QxeS Nxe2+ 2 S .Kh I Nd4 26.Rf7 NfS 2 7 .Be4 QgS 2 S .Rxd7
Qc 1 + 29.Kg2 , Black's checks will eventually run out and White will win.
2 3 .Nf6+ Kh8 24.Nxe8 hxgS 2 S .Rf8+ Kh7 26.Be4+ g6 2 7.Nf6+
Black had obviously failed to realize that his Rook was undefended. The
win is now only a matter of technique.
27 ... Kg7 28.Rxb8 Kx:f6 29.e3 Nc2 30.m BfS 3 1 .RxbS Nb4 3 2 .Ke2 Nxa2
3 3 .RxcS Nb4 34.Rc4 as 3 S.RcS Bg4+ 3 6.Kd2 BfS 3 7.RxaS g4 38.RbS, 1 -0.
6 ... ReS
It's still possible to play 6 . . . d5 , perhaps answering 7 .cxdS with 7 . . . Qxd 5 ,
though the loss o f time doesn't promise Black much here. Mter the text,
338 Black is threatening . . . e4 or . . . Nd4.
7.Bd2 d6
Many years later, Kasparov (against Ehlvest, Reykj avik 1 988) played
7 . . . Bxc3 and got a very comfortable position after 8.Bxc3 d5 9.cxdS NxdS
1 0.Be2 Bf5 1 1 .Rd 1 (Kasparov claims adequate compensation for Black af
ter 1 1 .e4 Nf4 1 2 .exf5 Nd4 1 3 .Bxd4 exd4 1 4.Ng l Q d 5 , but I don't know if
this has been proven in over the board play) 1 1 . . .a5 1 2 .0-0 Qe7 1 3 .a3 a4.
S.Be2 Bf5
Preparing . . . e S -e4 and grabbing the initiative. Of course, White can pre
vent this advance by 9 .e4, but then 9 . . . Bg4 would leave the d4-square weak.
9.0-0
This is obviously the most natural move, but White has also tried a couple
other ideas. The first was 9.Nd S , but in Smejkal-Portisch, Ljublj ana 1 97 3
White got nothing a t all after 9 . . . a5 1 O.Bxb4 Nxb4 1 1 .Nxb4 axb4 1 2 . 0-0
Qd7 1 3 .Nd2 Ra6 1 4.BB c5 , and a quick draw resulted. Two years later,
the game Ribli-Portisch, Ljubljana 1 97 5 saw White give 9 .Ne4 a shot.
However, this also proved unsuccessful: 9 . . . Bxe4 1 O. dxe4 Bxd2+ 1 1 . Nxd2
Qe7 1 2 . 0-0 a5 1 3 .b3 Nd8 1 4.Nb 1 Ne6 1 5 .Nc3 c6 1 6 .Rfd 1 , 112_ 112 .
9 ... e4 1O.Nd4? !
No better is 1 O . dxe4 Nxe4 1 1 .Nxe4 Bxe4 1 2 .Bd3 BxB 1 3 .gxB Qh4, when
White's King is far from happy. The safest reply seems to be 1 0 .Ne 1 , a
move that Martz used against Chellstorp (in Norristown) later that same
year: 1 0 . . . aS (or 1O . . . Bg6 1 1 .Rd l as 1 2 .Nd5 exd3 1 3 .Bxd3 Ne4 1 4.NB
Bxd2 1 5 .Nxd2 Nf6 1 6.Bxg6 hxg6 1 7 .Qb3 b6 =, Panno-Portisch, Petropolis
1 97 3 ) 1 1 .a3 Bxc3 1 2 .Bxc3 Ne5 1 3 .Bxe5 dxe 5 1 4.dxe4 Bxe4 1 5 .Nd3 c5
1 6. Qc3 , 1fz- 1h ,
1 O . . .Nxd4 1 1 .exd4 Bxc3 1 2 .Bxc3 d5
After trading Bishop for Knight, Black has seized the advantage since
White's dark-squared Bishop will be without any prospects. Black now has
a huge positional threat: 1 3" . exd3 1 4.Bxd3 Bxd3 l S .Qxd3 dxc4, leaving
E U RO P E AT MY FEET
White with an isolated d-pawn. When Black places his Knight on d 5 , the
difference between the Bishop and the Knight will be striking. Therefore,
White prevents this possibility with his next move.
339
n.b3 Qd7 1 4.dxe4 Nxe4 1 5 .Bd3 Nd6
Of course, Black prefers to keep his strong Knight and avoids the possi
bility of opposite-colored Bishops.
1 6.Bb4?
This is too na'ive -I had no intention of letting Martz exchange his Bishop
for the Knight. To make matters worse, the Bishop no longer defends the
d4-pawn and this will cause White to lose valuable time. He should have
tried 1 6.cxd5 Bxd3 1 7 . Qxd3 Nf5 1 8 . Qc4, when it would not be so easy to
regain the pawn under ideal circumstances, e.g. 1 8 . . . Ne7 1 9 .d6 Qxd6
2 0 . Bb4, and White gets to exchange his Bishop for Black's Knight when
the isolated pawn wouldn't be as bad as it is in the actual game (though I
would still retain a small but comfortable edge). For this reason, 1 9.d6
cxd6 (instead of 19 ... Qxd6), deserves serious consideration. Here's a rather
fanciful example of the kind of play that might result: 2 0.d5 Qf5 2 1 . Qd4
f6 2 2 . Rad l Ng6 (White's game is very unpleasant. The Knight is ready to
leap into f4, the d5 -pawn is weak, and Rook moves like . . . Re4 are loom
ing.) 2 3 . Qb4 Rac8 24.Ba l Nf4 2 5 .Qxd6 Rc2 2 6. Rde 1 Nh3 + 2 7 .Khl Nxf2 +
2 8 .Kg l Nh3 + 2 9 .Kh l Rce2 3 0. Rc 1 Rf2 3 1 . Rfd i Rxg2 , and Black wins.
16 ... Bxd3 1 7.Qxd3 Nf5 1 8 .Rad l Re4 1 9.Bc3
Admitting that his 1 6th move was a mistake.
1 9 ... Rae8 20.c5 c6
It was obvious that White's last move was a preparation for 2 1 . Rfe l . I could
have prevented this by 20 . . . Qe6, which may have been better, but I was
afraid of 2 1 .Qb5 . Anyway, I thought that White could also answer 20 . . . Qe6
with 2 1 .h3 , continuing his preparations for Rfe 1 . In the end, I judged the
position to be in my favor after 20 . . . c6, especially the coming endgame.
2 1 .Rfe l Rxe l + 22 .Rxe l Rxe 1 + 2 3 .Bxe l Qe6 24.Bc3 Qe4
White is forced to trade Queens since after 2 5 .Qd l (2 5 .Qd2 allows a check
on b l ) he would lose a pawn to 2 5 . . . Ne3 ! .
2 5 . Qxe4 dxe4
PAL B E N KO: MY L I F E , GAM ES A N D C O M POSITI O N S
This i s the position I was playing for. Black's advantage i s obvious thanks
to White's backward d-pawn, his poor Bishop and the hole on dS (which
can be used by Black's King and Knight). Because White's d-pawn is fro
340 zen, Black is, in effect, a pawn up on the kingside. Thanks to my four
versus-three pawn majority, I felt that White's King would be forced to
stay in that sector and perform damage control. This would allow my own
King to penetrate decisively, via the dS -square, into White's queenside.
26.g4 Ne7 2 7 .£3 NdS 28.Bd2 exfl
Better than 2 S . . . e3 29.Bc1 g6 3 0 .KfI fS 3 1 .gxfS gxfS 3 2 .f4 (of course, Black
can't be allowed to play 3 2 .. .f4) 32 . . . Kf7 3 3 .Ke2 Nxf4+ 3 4.Kxe3 .
2 9.Kf2 Kf8
It might seem more natural to bring the King up by 2 9 . . .f6 and 3 0 . . . Kf7 .
However, I wanted to keep the f6-square open for my Knight s o i t could
drive the White King off of e4 via . . . Nf6+.
3 0.Kxf3 Ke7 3 1 .Ke4 Ke6 3 2 .Bel
White must also have considered both 3 2 .gS and 3 2 .BgS . On 3 2 .gS , I in
tended to play 3 2 .. .fS+, while on 3 2 .BgS I would have avoided 32 .. .Nc 3 +
3 3 .Kd 3 Nxa2 , because 3 4.Bd2 traps my Knight (later I realized that Black
wins this position after 34 . . . KdS 3 S .Kc3 Kxd4 3 6.Kb2 Kd3 3 7 .Be l Ke2
3 S .BaS b6 3 9.cxb6 axb6 40.Bxb6 Nb4, but at that time I had no interest in
going on any risky adventures). Instead, I would have answered 3 2 .BgS
with 32 ... h6, since 3 3 .Bh4 really does allow 33 ... Nc3 +. For example, 3 4.Kd3
Nxa2 3 S .B e l Nc 1 + would be winning for Black.
32 ...Nf6+ H .Kf4 KdS
The Knight and King have changed places on d S , and this lets me put
enormous pressure on White's d-pawn since my pieces can now blockade
it and attack it.
3 4.Bc3 Nd7
Intending to turn up the heat by . . . NfS-e6.
3 S .Bb2 f6 3 6.gS fxgS + 3 7.KxgS Nf8 3 8.KfS
White could have protected his d-pawn by 3 S .Kf4 Ne6+ 3 9.Ke3 . No doubt,
White considered this position to be lost. Black's plan would be pretty
straightforward: he would advance his kings ide pawns to hS and gS and
then improve the position of his Knight via . . . Ng7 -fS . A further advance
of the kingside pawns would eventually force White's King away from the
d-pawn and the feast would begin (with d4 and cS being the starters) ! There
fore, White decides to sacrifice a pawn, relying on the active position of
his King to give him some chances for salvation.
38 ... Ne6 3 9.h4 Nxd4+ 40.Bxd4
There is no other way, since 40.Kf4 g6 4 1 .KgS (4 1 .Bxd4 is like the game)
4 1 . . .Nfh 42 .Kh6 (42 .Kg4 Ke4!) 42 . . .Nxh4 43 .Kxh7 gS wins for Black.
40 ... Kxd4 4 1 .Ke6
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
Here the game was adjourned and I had to seal my move. A quick calcula
tion convinced me that 4 1 . . .KxcS would be a blunder: 42 .Kf7 bS 43 .Kxg7
hS 44.Kg6 Kb4 4S.KxhS cS 46.Kg6 c4 47 .bxc4 bxc4 48.hS , with a draw. I
must admit that, in the little time I had left, my first plan was 4 1 . . . Ke4,
when 42 .Kf7 KfS 43 .Kxg7 hS would be an easy win. Also winning for me
is 4 1 . .. Ke4 42 .Kd6 as (or 42 . . . hS 43 .a3 Kd4) 43 .Kc7 KdS 44.Kb6 g6 4S.a3
h6 46.b4 axb4 47 . axb4 Kc4 48.Kxb7 KbS ! . Then I noticed that 4 1 . . .Ke4
42 .h4! created some difficulties for me: 42 . . . hS ! 43 .a4! and now:
343
Seventeen-year-old Walter
Browne wins the U.S. Junior
Championsh i p. He went on to win
the U.s. Championsh i p six times!
(Photo courtesy USCF.)
White to Move
Despite the Bishops of opposite colors, my position looks bad. I'm a pawn
down and my only remaining pawn is in danger. Can I save this game? Yes! I
had intentionally played for this position because I knew the saving solution.
46.Kg2 ! Bg1 +
This looks very good for Black since he wins quickly after 47 .KB Rf2 + or
47 .Kfl ? e2 + 48.Ke 1 Bd4 49.Rc7 Be5 . However, I had something else in mind!
47.Kxgl ! Rb 1 + 48.Kg2 e2 49.Re7 e l =Q 50.Rxe l Rxe l 5 1 .BfJ
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , G A M E S AN D COM POSITI O N S
Black struggling for equality) 1 O.Qd3 . The white Queen comes into action
effectively on the h-file. Many attempts to improve this line for Black had
been seen in international tournaments prior to this game, but they all ended
disastrously. Therefore I decided to try delaying castling so my King 345
9.Ne2 Nc6 1 O.h4 (Of course, this isn't necessary. White can try Dolmatov's
1 O.BgS , or standard moves like i O.Be3 or 10.0-0.) i O ... NaS I l .Bd3 eS 1 2 .Ba3
Re8 1 3 .h S Qd7 1 4. Rd l Qa4 I S . B e l c S (The most testing move was
346 I S . . . Qxa2 , when White still has to prove that his attack is worth the sacri
ficed pawn.) 1 6.dS Qxa2 1 7 .Bh6 Bh8? (His game falls apart after this. He
still could have defended by 1 7 . . . Bxh6, when 1 8 .hxg6 fxg6 1 9.Rxh6 Bd7
2 0 .Qf6 followed by Rxg6+ is a perpetual check.) 1 8 .BbS Rd8 1 9.BgS Qb3
2 0.hxg6 fxg6 2 1 .Rxh7 Kxh7 2 2 .Qf7+ Bg7 2 3 .Bf6 Rg8 24.Be8, 1 -0.
9 ... Ba6!
Kxf8 favors Black) 1 1 . . .Nc6, gives Black excellent counterplay since 1 2 .BdS
Bb7 threatens both 1 3 ... NxeS and 13 ... Nxd4.
10 . . . Bxc4 1 1 .Qf3
This was White's "safe" plan, preparing Ne2 and 0-0, and getting away 347
with the Exchange with minimal damage. But it turns out to be not so safe
after all. No matter how White attempts to secure his King, Black's strong
QB is more than enough compensation for the Exchange.
1 1 ...f6
This looks like a logical continuation of the attack, opening more lines. But
here 1 1 . . .cS was tempting. If 1 2 .Ne2 ( 1 2 .Be3 Qd7 1 3 .Ne2 QbS) 1 2 . . . cxd4
1 3 .cxd4 Bxe2 1 4.Qxe2 Qxd4 1 5 .Bb2 Qb4+ keeps tormenting the white King.
However, I would have hated to give up my dominating light-squared Bishop,
even in order to win a pawn with a favorable position.
1 2 .e6 ? !
White tries t o pacify his opponent and keep the lines closed b y giving up
a pawn. But, after winning the guy on e6, Black has material equality while
White still has trouble finding a safe place for his King. Like it or not,
1 2 . exf6 was a must.
12 . . . Qd6
Of course, there is no need to play . . . Bxe6, as the Queen can take the
pawn and activate herself at the same time.
1 3 .Ne2 Qxe6 1 4.Be3 f5
Making it problematic whether White will succeed in castling or not.
1 5 .0-0?
Anyway! But now it looks as though White will lose a piece. I S .Nf4 Qd7
favors Black since White can't stop both ... e7-eS and ... g6-gS . Perhaps White
should have tried I S .h4! ?
1 5 ... Bxe2 1 6.Qxe2 f4 1 7.d5
This little Zwisch enzug is White's last hope.
17 . . . Qe5 1 8.Qc4 b5
Black returns the Zwisch enzug. If 18 ... fxe3 ? 1 9. d6+ Kh8 2 0 . dxc7 , White
wins back the piece.
PAL B E N KO: MY LI FE, GAM ES AN D COM POSITI O N S
349
Black has been able to develop all his pieces freely, without any interfer
ence from White. Probably the more direct l S . . . Qb8 followed by . . . Qa8
was better here, exerting pressure on the long diagonal- indeed, this setup
eventually occurs in the actual game. Another possibility, 1 5 . . . d S , looks
premature if Black wants more than mere equality. Mter 1 6. exdS Nb4
1 7 .Qe2 followed by a series of trades on d S , a position is reached that
offers little exercise for the imagination.
1 6.Qe l Ne5 1 7.Nd3 Ned7
Black has improve d his position- the Knight no longer blocks the
diagonal of his QB.
I S.Kh I Rc7 1 9.Nb l RdcS 20.c3
Not a good looking move, but it nullifies any immediate pressure on
the c-file.
20 ... Qa7 2 1 .Nd2 QaS 2 2 .£3
Another ugly move, but this time White is trying to resist the pressure on
the long diagonal. I've obtained a dream setup for the Black side of the
Sicilian, but I still haven't achieved any tangible, specific success against
White's wait-and-see policy. If 22 . . . dS 2 3 . e S , the position would remain
closed. If 22 . . . e S , then 23 .c4 restricts any further Black advance in the center.
2 2 . . .h6 2 3 .Qe2 a5
Black tries to start some action on the queenside to "keep the ball in play. "
24.Nfl NeS 2 5 .Ne3 Bf6 26.c4
White finally decides to open the position, but this meets with no
obj ection from Black, who is ready for it.
26 ... bxc4 27.Rxc4 Rxc4 2 S.Nxc4 d5 !
This thematic shot, which aims to create a dominating Bishop on d S , gives
Black the initiative.
29.exd5 Bxd5 30.Nde5 Bxe5
A miscalculation. During the game I felt that 3 0 . . . NxeS failed to 3 1 .Nb6,
but ! overlooked that after 3 l . . .BxB ! 32 .BxB QxB + 3 3 .QxB NxB 3 4.Nxc8
Bxb2 3 S . Rd8 Kf8 3 6 .Nd6, Black has 36 . . . Ke7 winning the game. Instead
PAL B E N KO: MY L I F E , GAM ES AN D CO M PO S ITI O N S
of 3 1 .Nb6, better are both 3 1 .Nxe5 a4 and 3 1 .Bxe5 Bxc4, though Black
has an edge in either case.
3 1 .Nxe5 Nxe5 32.Bxe5 a4
350
Now it's clear that Black has all the trumps on the queenside, while White's
Bishop pair has no significance, considering the passive situation of the poor
King Bishop. Perhaps White's best chance here is to trade down to an end
ing with 3 2 .f4 Bxg2 + B . Qxg2 Qxg2 + 3 5 .Kxg2 Rc2 + (and not 3 5 .. .f6?
3 6.Bd4 ! , when the game is equal: 36 ... Rc2 + 3 7 .Bf2 Rxa2 [Black doesn't
achieve anything with 3 7 . . . a3 3 S .RdS Kf7 3 9.Rd7+ Kg6 40. RdS =] 3 S .bxa4
Rxa4 3 9.RdS KfS 40.Bc5+ Kf7 4 1 .Rd7+ Kg6 42 .Re7 Rc4 43 .RxeS Rxc5
44.Rxe6, with a draw) 3 6 .Kh3 f6 3 7 .BbS Rxa2 3 S .RdS Kf7 3 9.Rd7+ KfS
40.bxa4 Rxa4 4 1 .Ba7 Rc4, when Black has won a pawn, but the four-against
three pawn position (all pawns on the same side) requires a lot of hard work
on Black's part, with no guarantee of a win. Of course, it is never an easy
decision to give up material instead of defending stubbornly; the more so in
this case as my opponent had had a bad experience in the same type of
endgame against Browne in an earlier round.
H .Rb l f6 34.Bd4 e5 3 5 .Be3 axb3 3 6.axb3 Rc3 3 7.b4 Qa3
Black's pieces are surrounding the White position and it's becoming in
creasingly difficult for the first player to hold onto his pawns on b4 and
B.
3 8.Re l Qb3 3 9.b5 Bc4
Even in time pressure, Black has been able to push back the opponent
completely. But here, much stronger was 3 9 . . . Nd6 (Once this Knight joins
the rest of Black's army, White's game should fall apart.) 40.b6 Nc4. How
ever, I had no time to figure out how dangerous the white b-pawn would
be and if it was safe to go after the f-pawn. Analysis later showed that the
b-pawn was not something to be feared.
40.Qd2 Rd3 4 1 .Qf2 Qxb5
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
35 1
Black has won the b-pawn in better circumstances than those possible af
ter my recommendation for White at his 3 3 rd move. At this point some
thing interesting occurred. My opponent raised his hand with the obvious
intention of pushing his f-pawn, but just then the tournament director
stopped him and instructed him to seal his next move. Martz protested,
claiming that he had already indicated what his move was going to be (an
interesting legal question, and don't forget that Martz was a lawyer) . The
director insisted, saying that the playing time was over, and that since it
was White's move, it was his duty to seal it. I told Martz that I could not
know what move he would actually place in the envelope, and that I would
have to analyze every possibility anyway. Of course, in all honesty, I have
to admit that I expected him to play 42 .f4. After considerable thought,
Martz decided on his move, wrote it down, and placed it in the envelope.
Later, while analyzing alone in my room, I regretted not letting him play
42 .f4 on the board, because I found out that it was one of his feeblest
possibilities. I became convinced that, in view of the circumstances, he
had changed his mind and played something else. Nevertheless, my analysis
showed that Black would also win against other moves since he had an
extra pawn and the better position, but it was possible for White to put up
a long struggle. When the game resumed and the envelope was opened, I
received some pleasant news.
42 .f4?
This makes it easier for Black to gain access to the white King by trading
Bishops and using the Knight to attack the weakened light-squares. After
42 .f4 appeared on the board, Martz commented, with a smile on his face,
that his move was probably not best.
42 ...Bd5 43 .g4 ! ?
An interesting idea, trying t o break u p the enemy kingside and trade off as
many pawns as possible.
43 .. .Nd6 44.fxe5 fxe5 45 .g5 Ne4!
I didn't see a better move, because 45 . . . h5 46 . g6 might give White
counterchances against my King.
PAL B E N KO: MY L I F E , GAM ES AN D C O M POSITI O t:J S
46.Qh4?
The obvious 46.Bxe4 Bxe4+ 47 .Kg 1 h5 creates opposite-colored Bishops,
but this does not make the game a draw. In fact, because of these Bishops,
352 Black has a strong attack against the exposed enemy King. At the same
time, the black King enjoys complete safety after . . . Kh7. Nevertheless,
that was White's only good try. The Queen move brings immediate disas
ter. The alternative 46. Qf5 was strongly met by 46 . . . Rxe3 ! 47 . Qc8+ (47 .Rxe3
Qb 1 + 48 .Bfl Ng3 +) 2 7 . . . Kh7 48 .Qf5+ (48.g6+ Kxg6 49.Qg4+ Kh7) 48 . . . g6
when Black has no problems bringing home the full point. After the text,
a few fireworks finish the long strategic fight.
46 ... Rxe3 ! 47.Rxe3 Ng3 +
The Knight is taboo because of 48 . . . Qfl + and mate.
48.Kgl Qb l +, 0- 1 .
White resigned rather than face the forced mate after 49.Kf2 Qc2 + 50.Ke l
Qc l + 5 1 .Kf2 Qd2 +.
l .c4 Nf6 2 .Nc3 g6 3 .d4 c5 4.NB Bg7 5 .e4 0-0 6.Be2 d6 7.0-0 Bg4
A logical move, striving to get rid of the ineffective light-squared Bishop.
Furthermore, by trading it for White's B -Knight, he intends to weaken
the dark-squares in White's position.
8.d5
White decides to advance the d-pawn and turn the game into a Benoni.
Far less promising is 8.Be3 BxB 9.BxB cxd4 1 O.Bxd4 Nc6, with a com
fortable version of the Maroczy Bind for Black (the B -Bishop doesn't have
any prospects) .
8 ... Na6
Over the years, I've noticed that many amateurs play . . . Nbd7 in this type
of position, apparently not realizing that Black's plan is queenside expan
sion via . . . b7-b 5 . Naturally, 8 . . . Na6 is superior because this Knight can
help support that pawn advance by . . . Na6-c7 .
9.Bf4
Since I have a space advantage in the center, my correct plan is e4-e5 .
This Bishop move helps make this pawn push a reality.
9 ... Nc7 1 0.h3 Bxf3 l 1 .Bxf3 a6 1 2 .a4 Rb8 1 3 .Be2 Nfe8
Black's counterplay on the queenside has been stopped, thus he tries to
free himself in the center with . . . e 7 -e6 or . . . e 7 -e5 . Also to be considered
was 1 3 . . . b6, after which the immediate 1 4.e5 is not promising due to
14 . . . Nfe8, when White is forced to trade on d6.
1 4.a5 b6 1 5 .axb6 Rxb6 16.Ra2
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
353
More natural looking is 1 6 .Na4, and on 1 6 . . . Rb8 White has 1 7 .Rb l fol
lowed by Bd2 and b4. However, Black could prevent this by 1 7 . . . a5 and
. . . Nc7 -a6-b4, when he might eventually be able to exploit the weakness of
the b-pawn. Therefore, I decided to keep this Rook on the a-file (which
stops Black from advancing his a-pawn) and place the other Rook on b l
for the purpose of carrying out b 2 -b4. It's important to point out that Black's
usual strategy in this kind of position (where White is about to overwhelm
the queenside with his b2 -b4 plan), . . . e7-e5 followed by . . . f7-f5 -f4 with
kingside chances , is not dangerous here because he has traded his
light-squared Bishop -a piece that is needed for the attack. White, how
ever, still has his light-squared Bishop, and it can be utilized effectively in
both attack and defense. Having realized all of this, Black decided on a
surpnsmg move.
1 6 . . . Bxc3 ? !
This trade, which seriously weakens the dark squares around Black's King,
would be fitting if he was able to successfully close the position by . . . e 7 -e5
or to prevent White from cracking open the center with e4-e5 . As it turns
out, Black isn't able to achieve either of these important goals.
1 7.bxc3 e5 1 8.dxe6
White has to make sure the center is open so that his two Bishops remain
active and Black's d-pawn remains weak. Instead of 1 7 . . . e 5 , Black must
have considered 1 7 .. .f6, but White's obvious response would consist of Bh2 ,
f4 and e 5 .
1 8 . . . Nxe6
White also retains all the chances after 1 8 . . . fxe6 1 9.Qd2 Qh4 2 0 .Bg4, when
the Bishops start to show their stuff.
1 9.Bh2 N8g7?
A blunder, after which Black's position becomes critical. More tenacious
was 1 9 . . . Qa8 2 0.f3 Qc6 followed by . . . N8c7 and . . . Rfb8 . Of course, White
would stand better in this case, too, due to his plan of e4-e5 or f2 -f4-f5 ,
with a kingside attack.
20.Rd2 Qh4
PAL B E N KO: MY LIFE, G A M E S AND CO M PO S ITI O N S
After 2 0 . . . N eS, there would follow the obvious and very strong 2 1 .e S . For
this reason, Black tries to create some tactical chances on the kingside.
2 1 .Bxd6 ReS 2 2 .Bg4 Qf6
354
2 2 . . . hS would be met by 2 3 .g3 QgS 2 4.f4, with an easy game for White .
2 3 .e5 Qf4 24.Qe2 h5 2 5 .g3 Qh6 26.Bxe6 Nxe6 2 7.h4 g5
Due to his material and positional disadvantages, Black launches a desper
ate last-chance attack.
2 S.Qe3 Qg6 29.hxg5 Nxg5 3 0.Bxc5 Rxe5
355
This position is quite drawish. As a matter of fact, this was exactly what
my opponent wanted since he only needed half a point to get his interna
tional master title. Due to this peaceful goal, he changed his style and re
fused to play any of the wild openings that he's become famous for (as
Black, he likes l .e4 g5 , while as White he plays 1 .£4 and l .Nc3 , though
his favorite is the outrageous l .h3).
1 5 . R e 3 Rfe8 1 6 .Rc3 Q d 7 1 7 . Rac 1 N e 7 1 8 . h 3 h6 1 9 . Q b 3 Rxc 3
20.Rxc3 Re8 2 1 .Qe2 Rxc3 2 2 . Qxc3 Qe6
Black is already somewhat better. If 2 3 .Qa3 Qc 1 + 2 4.Kh2 , then 24 . . . Nc6
is strong.
2 3 .Qe5
This Queen trade is a bad idea. He should have retained the Queens by
2 3 . Qd2 or 2 3 . Qb4.
23 ... Qxe5 24.dxe5 Ne6
Suddenly White is in trouble. His Knight is nailed to f3 to protect
his e-pawn.
2 5 .a3
Trying to get the queenside majority rolling with b2 -b4. Of course, I don't
allow this.
2 5 ... a5 2 6.b3
White didn't want to let Black play . . . a5-a4, when White's majority would
be permanently crippled.
2 6 . . . Kf8 2 7.Kfl
Maybe White should play Kh2 and try to protect e5 with his King.
27 ... Ke7 28.Ke2 Kd7 29.Kd3 Ke7 3 0.g4
This doesn't help. Even 3 0.h4 makes more sense.
30 ... g5
Now White can't move any of his kingside pawns, and his Knight is also
stuck on f3 guarding e 5 .
PAL B E N KO : M Y LI FE, GAM ES AN D COM POSITI O N S
3 1 .Kc3 b 6 3 2 . cxb6+
Probably played with a heavy heart, but 3 2 .b4 bxcS 3 3 .bxcS loses to 3 3 . . .a4,
when the black King is ready to march to bS and pick up the c-pawn.
356
32 ... Kxb6 H .Kd3 Kc5
Things have gotten worse for White. Now, on top of the immobilized
white army on the kingside and my protected passed d-pawn, Black can
also claim a more active King. All I have to do now is find a way to
penetrate into the white position with my King.
34.Ke3
Not what he wanted to do, but 3 4.Kc3 loses to 3 4 ... d4+ 3 S .Kd3 KdS , and
the eS -pawn drops off the board.
34 ... a4!
This pawn sacrifice clears the way for the black King.
3 5 .bxa4 Kc4 3 6.a5 Nxa5 3 7.Nd4 Kc5 3 8.Kd3 Nc4 3 9.f4
The last try. Now 3 9 . . . gxf4 40.Nf3 allows White to create a passed pawn
by h4-hS followed by g4-gS .
3 9 ... Nh2 + ! 40.Kc2
Black also wins after 40 .Kc3 Nd l + 4 1 .Kd3 Nf2 +.
40 ... Kxd4 4 1 .fxg5 hxg5, 0- 1 .
After 42 .Kxb2 KxeS , my King easily stops White's a-pawn, when my two
connected passers will march to glory. Though he failed here, Basman
later got his 1M title anyway.
different idea than mine in this game -Capa probably used the move when
he was in a peaceful mood. The advantage of S .Be2 is that it is little ana
lyzed and, despite its innocuous appearance, has many subtle points. If
Black intends, for example, to answer with an early . . . cS, he gets into trouble: 357
S ... b4 (one of Black's best replies) 9.Na4 cS ? (correct is 9 ... Bb7) 1 0.dxcS
NxcS I 1 .QxdS+ KxdS 1 2 .NxcS BxcS 1 3 .NeS Ke7 1 4.BD ! NdS I S . Bd2 ,
and White stands better.
8 ... a6
More common is S . . . Bb7 , which, in my opinion, is also better. Pachman
(and modem theory corroborates his view) then recommends 9.0-0 ! , though
without offering any explanation. The reason is that on 9.e4 (Black doesn't
have any difficulties after 9.a3 b4!), Black equalizes the game by 9 . . . b4 !
1 0 .eS bxc3 l 1 .exf6 Nxf6.
Poor is S . . . Be?? 9.a3 ! , when White is just better. Benko-Kaufman, New
York 1 972 continued: 9 . . . a6 l O.b4? ! ( 1 0.e4! was strong at once, when l O . . . cS
could be met by l 1 .eS Ng4 1 2 .h3 cxd4 1 3 . Qxd4. The text ( l O.b4) is a new
plan that prevents Black's liberating . . . c6-cS and thus entombs his light
squared Bishop. Its disadvantage is that White will be compelled to yield
the a-file, while his b-pawn may become weak) lO . . . aS I 1 . Rb l O-O? (Pref
erable was 1 1 . . .axb4 1 2 .axb4 NdS 1 3 .NxdS exdS, in connection with . . . Nd7-
b6-c4, reducing White's pressure on the half-open c-file [as is commonly
seen in some lines of the Queen's Gambit Declined] . After 1 1 . . . 0-0,
White stands better.) The rest of the game, without notes, was: 1 2 .e4 axb4
1 3 .axb4 Nb6 1 4. Qc2 Bb7 I S .Bd3 h6 1 6 .0-0 ReS 1 7 .Rd l BfS I S .h3 Nfd7
1 9 . B f4 Q e 7 2 0 . Rb 3 R e c S 2 1 . Q e 2 R a 7 2 2 . B e 3 R c a S 2 3 . d S cxd S
2 4. exdS Ra l 2 S . dxe6 BxD 2 6 . Qxf3 Qxe6 2 7 . Rbb l Rxb l 2 S .Bxb l RbS
2 9 .Nxb S Nf6 3 0 .Nd4 Q d S 3 1 .Nc6 Qxf3 3 2 . gxD Rb7 3 3 . Rd S Nbd7
3 4.Be4 RbS 3 S .Bd3 RhS 3 6.bS g6 3 7 .b6 NeS 3 S .Nxe S RxeS 3 9.b7, 1 -0.
9.e4! b4 1 0.e5 bxc3 1 1 .exf6 cxb2
Black's best move is probably 1 1 . . .Nxf6, as suggested by Euwe, when the
continuation 1 2 .cxd4 Bd6 1 3 .Nd2 ! (heading for c4) only gives White a
slight pull. The text move, which takes the game into an almost comical
situation, resulted in some audible snickering by the spectators.
1 2 .fxg7 bxa l =Q
Black should probably try 1 2 . . . Bxg7 , though White retains some advan
tage after 1 3 .Bxb2 QaS+ 1 4.Nd2 RbS ( 1 4 . . . Qb4! ? hasn't been tested, but
Korchnoi's recommendation of I S . Rb 1 makes sense: I S . . . Bxd4 1 6.Ba 1 QcS
1 7 .Rc l Qb6 I S.Bxd4 Qxd4 1 9.Rxc6 Bb7 20.Rc4, and White's superior pawn
structure gives him a slight edge.) I S . Qcl QgS 1 6 .0-0 cS 1 7 .Nb 3 Qxc l
I S .Raxc l Bb7 1 9 .Ba3 cxd4 2 0.Bd6, when Black was under pressure in
Schneider-Kishnev, USSR 1 993 .
1 3 .gxh8=Q
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM ES AN D C O M POSITI O N S
358
I t i s indeed a rarity t o have four Queens o n the board a t the same time.
This is one of the peculiarities of the line with 8 .Be2 . One can also go into
this type of thing after 8.Bd3 , though then Black's chances are better than
they are here. An evaluation of the diagramed position leads to the opin
ion that White seems to stand better because his Queen, deep in Black's
kingside, is more threatening than Black's Queen on the queenside.
13 ... QaS +
After the text, I imagined both sides capturing the a2 and h7-pawns and
then making new Queens on those files. Then we would have six Queens !
Unfortunately, reality dictates that we'll soon have to go back to just two.
1 4.Bd2
This forces the exchange of one pair of Queens, which seemed to disap
point the spectators, judging by their murmuring. I considered 1 4.Nd2 ,
but after 1 4 . . . Q 5 c3 followed by . . . Qxa2 my Queen on d 1 would have stood
passively. It would have been interesting to try it anyway, but only in a
game where the point was not so important.
14 ... Qxd l + I S .Bxd l QfS 1 6.0-0 Bb7
Black prepares for queenside castling. White's next move was played to
discourage my opponent from doing this, but 1 7 .NgS was also taken into
account. Here I chose the more beautiful solution, a winning attempt be
ginning with a pawn sacrifice.
1 7.dS !
A very satisfying line-opening sacrifice.
1 7 . . . QxdS
The only good move. Now 1 7 . . . exdS 1 8 .Re 1 + is crushing, while 1 7 . . . cxdS
1 8 .Ba4! 0-0-0 1 9.BaS gives White a winning attack since 19 ... Re8 2 0 . Rc 1 +
I S game over.
1 8.Qxh7 cS
Of course, 1 8 . . . 0-0-0 would have been met by 1 9. Qxf7 . With 1 8 . . . cS, Black
tries to get counterplay on the long diagonal. My opponent offered a draw
here, but after such an exciting opening I was not ready to make peace.
1 9.Ba4 0-0-0
E U RO P E AT MY F E ET
Other moves also fail to hold the game: 1 9 . . . Rc8 20.Rd l Bc6 2 1 .BgS Qxa2
(Black is also completely lost after 2 1 . . .Bxa4 2 2 .RxdS exdS 2 3 .QfS) 2 2 .Bxc6
Rxc6 2 3 . N e S and m a t e s ; 1 9 . . . B c 6 2 0 . B xc6 Qxc6 2 1 . N g S 0-0-0
2 2 .Nxf7 Re8 2 3 . Qg6, and Black's position is hopeless. 359
20.Ba5 Ne5
Trying to mix things up a bit. Black dies without a fight after 2 0 . . . Qxa2
2 1 . Qh4.
2 1 .Ne l !
The climax of the game. White must retreat for the time being. 2 1 .Rd l
was incorrect because of 2 1 . . .Nxf3 + 2 2 . gxf3 QgS +.
2 1 .. .c4
On the possible 2 1 . . .Nd3 2 2 .Qxf7 Bd6 2 3 .Bxd8 Nxe l , White can force
a winning endgame by 2 4 . Qg8 Qxg2 + 2 S . Qxg2 Nxg2 2 6 . Rd l B d S
2 7 .Bf6 Nf4 2 8 .h4.
22.Bxd8 Qxd8
White's advantage of the Exchange is entirely sufficient to win the game,
since the active white Queen pins down the opponent's forces.
2 3 .Qh8 f6 24.Qg8 Qd6 2 5 .Nc2
White needs to get all his pieces to active squares. This move prepares to
bring my Knight to e3 , and also frees my Rook.
25 ... Kc7 26.Ne3 Be7 27.Rd l Qb6 28.Qe8
This leads to a simple and safe win. Also good was 2 8 .Nxc4 Qb4 (2 8 ... Nxc4
isn't possible due to 2 9.Rd7 mate) 2 9.NxeS fxeS (2 9 . . . Qxa4 3 0.Rc 1 + is easy)
3 0 .Qxe6 when Black should resign.
28 ... Bc5
Black overlooks mate, but his game was hopeless anyway. The best de
fense was 28 . . . Qb4 (2 8 . . . QcS falls victim to 2 9 .Nxc4!) 2 9 .Nc2 (2 9.h4 is
also good, ending back-rank threats and intending to turn the pawn into a
Queen) 2 9 . . . QcS 3 0.Nd4 BdS (3 0 . . . Bc8 lets Black play on for a while)
3 1 .Rb l , and the game would be more or less over.
29.Qd8 mate !
My son, David, and I play an unusual form of chess, 1 9 80.
� eoPle ;n the wodcing ,ectoc ",",I1y m,ke , coo<c;o", effon to
retire, I don't think chessplayers fade away in quite this manner. Instead, we qui
etly play less and less (almost without noticing it!) until all tournament activity
simply ceases.
In my case, 1 974 hit me hard with the death of my father. We were very close,
I was with him throughout his illness, and I had enormous trouble getting over
his loss. Perhaps this caused me to look around a bit, or to become more intro
spective . Whatever the catalyst was, I realized that the constant globetrotting
was wearing me down, that the mass of opening analysis was taking the fun out
of the game, and that the enormous number of "newly minted" grandmasters
(now a horribly watered-down title) made tournaments unpleasant and unim
portant.
My daughter Palma was born late in 1 969, and my son David joined us in
1 97 1 . With a wife and two children in Budapest and responsibilities in the United
States, the need to play in tournaments began to fade - my time was better spent
away from the board.
Of course, I didn't stop right away. It was a long process to wean myself from
the battle cry of competitive chess. At first I played in the U. S . Championship
(out of habit), Lone Pine (the location was wonderful), and the odd interna
tional event from time to time, but every year saw me compete in fewer and
fewer tournaments.
Though I played in a few team tournaments and special events right up to 1 998,
my final tournament was the World Senior Championship, Bad Worishofen, Ger
many, in 1 992 . Here I was doing quite well, and the last-round computer pairing
was placed up the night before for all to see: Benko as White versus Krogius (an
old commie guy from way back). A win would give me a piece of first, and I en-
36 1
P roud father with
G izella and newly
born daughter
Palma. 1 9 69.
tered the tournament hall ready for battle. Imagine my surprise when I got to my
board and saw Krogius sitting in front of the white pieces! The director had
changed colors for reasons that were never made clear and, in disgust, I offered a
draw rather than make a scene. Krogius refused, so I had no choice but to protest.
A huge argument ensued, insults and accusations were hurled in all directions,
and when the smoke cleared I had the white pieces after all.
By now I was so upset I couldn't think; I wanted to be done with the whole
distasteful affair. We both played a few meaningless moves, he offered a draw,
and I accepted. This left me in a tie for second with Lein, Geller taking first
with half a point more. Later I wished that I had played to win- nobody wants
to end his career on such a sour note. I take some solace in winning my last
serious game (a team event) against Grandmaster Barbero, but I was no longer
the player I once was, and it was with a breath of relief that I officially stopped
all competitive play.
the same tournament! In both, Black tried 12 ... NeS , but White came out
on top in both instan c e s : 1 3 . Nbd2 B b 7 1 4 . N b 3 Rc6 1 S . Q d 2 b4
1 6 . Rac 1 Qb6 1 7 .Ne l [Or 1 7 .Ne 5 Nxe S I S . dxe 5 Qa6 1 9 . B e 3 Qxa2
2 0.NcS BcS 2 1 .Nd3 Qa4 n .Ra l QbS 2 3 .Rxa7 Rc7 24.Rda l Rxa7 2 S . Rxa7 ,
and White went on to win in Petursson-H. Olafsson, Reykjavik 1 97 5 .]
1 7 . . . Nef6 I S .Nd3 Ne4 1 9.Bxe4 dxe4 2 0.NdcS BcS 2 1 .Nxe4 RdS n .dS exd5
2 3 . Rxc6 Qxc6 24.Qxd 5 Qc2 2 S .Rc 1 Qxe2 2 6 .Nd4 Qxb2 2 7 .Nc6, 1 -0,
Petursson-Larsen, Reykjavik 1 97 5) 1 3 .Nbd2 ! Bb7 1 4.Nb3 (This Knight
move, taking aim at c S , would not be possible if White had played S .b3 .)
14 . . . Rc6 I S .Qd2 Qb6 1 6 .NeS RccS 1 7 .Rac 1 b4 1 S. RxcS RxcS 1 9.Rc 1 Rxc 1 +
2 0 . Qxc 1 Nxe S 2 1 . Bxe S , and the game was agreed drawn, (the team
captains decided that this was best for both teams), even though White
stands a bit better due to Black's weak queenside pawns.
8 . . . b6 9.b3
Zagoriansky's interesting plan, devised in the 1 940s, is: 9.a4 Ba6 (9 . . . Bb7
1 0.aS bxaS I I .cS) 1 0.b3 RcS I I .aS, with better chances for White. Of course,
the move I chose is also quite good.
9 . . . Ba6
Black's light-squared Bishop is usually a problem in the Catalan, and the
text is a way of trying to find a useful diagonal. If 9 . . . Bb 7, the game could
continue, as suggested by Commons, 1 O.Nc3 RcS I l .e4 c5 1 2 .exd 5 exd S
1 3 .Bb2 dxc4? (Better is l L .ReS, when White would only obtain a slight
advantage .) 1 4 . d S ! cxb 3 (Though Commons noticed 1 4. d S in 1 9 74,
Kasparov was the fi rst to use it in actual play: 14 . . . N e S I S .Nb5 a6
1 6.Na7 Rc7 1 7 .Nc6 Bxc6 1 S .dxc6 Rxc6 1 9 .NeS Rd6 2 0.Nc6, Kasparov
Kamsky, New York 1 9S9.) 1 S .axb 3 , and White's Rook is very useful on d l .
1 0.Nbd2 b5
Another plan is 10 . . . RcS intending . . . c6-cS .
1 1 .c5
I d e c i d e d to close the queenside for the time being. Possible is
I l .Bb2 bxc4 1 2 .bxc4, but Black gets active play on the b-file with 12 . . . RbS .
I played Black against Pytel in a similar position a t Skopj e 1 97 2 , and I had
the feeling that cS would have given White the better of it. This game
allowed me to see if this assessment was correct.
1 1 . . .b4 1 2 .e3
The seemingly active 1 2 .e4 isn't good due to 12 . . . dxe4 1 3 .Nxe4 Nxe4
1 4.Qxe4 NxcS I S .Qc2 Nd7 1 6 . Qxc6 NcS ! .
1 2 . . . Qc7 1 3 .a3
White tries to open the a-file and label a7 as a weakness.
PAL B E N KO : MY L I F E , GAM E AN D COM POSITI O N S
Black is still trying to bring his Knight to e 5 . I thought about 2 2 .e4! ? for a
long time here. It looks pretty good: 2 2 . . . dxe4 2 3 .Nxe4, opening the g2 -
Bishop's diagonal and eyeing the d6-square with the Knight. Now I had to
make a difficult decision: should I enter the complicated lines that follow
2 2 .e4, or should I retain a firm grip on the position with the safer 2 2 .Bxf6?
2 2 .Bxf6
I decided to be conservative and not allow my young opponent tactical
opportunities, especially since I was already getting short of time. Despite
these mature considerations, during the game I felt that I was missing the
sharpest continuation. Here's a taste of what I had to look at when decid
ing upon my 2 2 nd move: 2 2 .e4 Ne5 2 3 . exd5 Nd3 2 4. Qc2 cxd5 (The crazy
positions resulting from 24 . . . Nxf2 2 5 .d6 Nxd l 2 6. dxc7 Nxc3 aren't quite
sound, but they are fun to analyze.) 2 5 .Bxf6 (Tempting is 2 5 .Bxd 5 , but the
surprising 2 5 . . . Re2 ! suddenly gives Black a nasty attack.) 2 5 . . . gxf6 2 6 . Qc3 !
(Stronger than 2 6.Qb3 Re2 ! 2 7 . Qxd5 Rd8 2 8 .Rxa7 Rxd5 2 9.Rxc7 Nxf2 )
2 6 . . . Re2 , and though White must be considerably better, there are tricks
all over the place. For example: 2 7 . Qxf6 (Black also puts up a fight after
2 7 .Nfl Nxf2 2 8 .Rxd5 Bc6 2 9 . Rd2 Rae8) 2 7 . . . Rxf2 2 8 .Qg5+ (2 8.Qd6 ! ?)
2 8 . . . Kh8 2 9 . Qxd5 (Too greedy, but Black can resist even after 2 9.Nfl Re8
3 0. Qxd5 Ree2 3 1 .Bf3 Rxfl + 3 2 .Rxfl Qxg3 + 3 3 .Bg2 Nf4 3 4.Rxf4 Qxf4)
2 9 . . . Rd8 3 0 .Rxa7 Qb8 3 1 .Rb7 Qc8 . I think the reader can understand why
I decided on the practical 2 2 .Bxf6.
RETI R E M E N T
I found that things were not so easy. One reason is that 45 . Qd6 can be an
swered by 45 . . . Qe8, threatening perpetual check and other unpleasant things.
So, the first thing I had to do was stop this potential check on e4.
366 45.Kgl ! Qa8
Black tries to activate his Queen. If 45 . . . Qd7, White wins by 46.Qd6. Now
46.Qd6 or Qe7 are possible and would probably win, but Black could still
find ways to make trouble. Mter some searching, I found the most effi
cient way to finish the game.
46.g4!
This kingside breakthrough works despite the limited material.
46 ... hxg4 47.h5
Now White threatens 48.h6+ or 48.hxg6, winning the Knight. Of course,
47 ... gxh5 loses to 48 .Qg5+.
47 ... Qd8
Black tries to confuse matters, speculating on (what else?) my shortage of
time. If 47 . . . Qh8 48.hxg6 Kxg6 (48 . . . fxg6 49.Ne6+ Kh6 5 0 . Qf4+ Kh7
5 1 .Ng5 + Kg8 5 2 . Q b 8 + Kg7 5 3 . Q c 7 + mates or wins the Queen.)
49.Qf5 + Kg7 (49 . . . Kh6 50.Qf4+ Kg6 5 1 .Nxc6) 50.Qg5+ Kf8 5 1 .Nf5 , and
Black is in Zugzwang: 5 1 . . . Ke8 ( 5 1 . . . Ne8 5 2 . Q e 7 +) 5 2 .Ng7 + Kf8
5 3 .Qxf6 Qxg7 54.Qd8 mate.
48.hxg6 Kxg6 49.Nxc6 Qh8 50.Ne7+ Kh7
If 5 0 . . . Kh6, even 5 1 . Qxf6+ wins.
5 1 .Qf5 + Kg7 52 .Qg5 + Kf8 5 3 .Nf5
Arriving at the same Zugzwang position seen in the note to Black's 47th
move, but this time without Black's c-pawn. The rest needs no comment.
5 3 . . . g3 5 4 . fxg3 Ke 8 5 5 .Ng7 + Kd 7 5 6 . Qxf6 Qh3 5 7 . Qxf7 + Kc6
58.Qe6+ Qxe6 59.Nxe6 Kd7 60.Nd4, 1 -0.
White to Move
RETI R E M E N T
Of course, after 42 . Rd4 White can trade down into a King and pawn
endgame, but that would leave the black King in an active position. White's
plan is to make his two pieces as active as possible, tie Black down to the
defense of a7 and f7 , and then to centralize his King (always a major idea
in any endgame) .
42 ... Kc7 43 .Re8 Re7 ! 44.Ra8 !
On 44.Rxe7+ Nxe7 45 .Ne5 Nf5 (much better than 45 . . . Kd6 46.Nxf7+ Ke6
47.Nh8, when White should win) 46.e4 Nd6 Black's f-pawn is defended,
but White is still better. However, would I be able to win this position? I
felt my chances were much greater if ! retained the Rooks - after all, my
Rook is more active than Black's, so it doesn't make a lot of sense to swap it.
44 ... Kc6
This looks like a good centralizing move, but actually 44 . . . Kb7 was better,
after which I'd play 45.Rf8 , with some advantage.
45 .e4 Nc3 ?
Black's last chance was 45 . . . Kb7 , when Evans was worried about 46.Rf8
Nc3 47 .Nd6+ Kc6 48.Nxf7 Nxe4 49.Nh8, when White would win. How
ever, I think he would have had drawing chances in this line if he played
his King to c7 instead: 47 . . . Kc7 ! 48.Nxf7 Rxe4 49.Nh8 Rxh4, when Black
is still very much alive. Preferable after 45 . . . Kb7 was 46.Rd8, and now
46 ... Nc3 47 .Rd3 Nb5 (not 47 ... Nxe4? ? 48.Re3) 48.a4 Nc7 (better is 48 . . . Rc7,
but White stays on top with 49.Nd6+! Nxd6 50.Rxd6 Rc3 5 1 .Kf4 Rh3
368 52 .Rf6 Rxh4+ 5 3 .Ke5 Rg4 54.Rxf7+ Kb8 5 5 .Kf6 Rxe4 56.Kxg6, and White's
g-pawn wins the game) 49.Nd6+! Kb8 50.Rc3 leaves Black in a position
where he can't move a muscle. The Knight move (45 . . . Nc3 ?) was an act of
desperation since Evans thought that he was losing. He felt that his best
chance lay in a Rook ending, even a pawn down.
46.Rc8+ Kd7 47.Nxb6+ axb6 48.Rxc3 Kd6 49.a4 Ke5
After 49 . . . Ra7 5 0.Ra3 followed by Kf4 and/or a4-a 5 , White should win
without any difficulty because his Rook is already behind his passed pawn.
50.Ke3 Rd7 5 1 .Rd3 Rc7 52 .Rd5+ Ke6 5 3 .Rb5 Rc6 54.Kd4
The game is over. An extra pawn and a dominating King is more than
Black can handle.
54 ... Rd6+ 5 5 .Rd5 Rc6 56.e5
Intending 5 7 . Rd6+ Rxd6 5 8 . exd6 Kxd6 59.a5, when White's King walks
over and picks off all of Black's kingside pawns.
56 ... Rc 1
Even though this avoids the trade of Rooks, Black is still hopelessly lost.
57.Rd6+ Ke7 5 8 .Rxb6 Rhl 59.a5 ! Rxh4+ 60.Kd5 Rhl 6 1 .Rb7+ Kf8
62 .a6 Ra l 63 .a7 Kg7 64.e6, 1 -0.
l .Nf3 c5 2.c4 b6
My opponent, a highly original player, likes to avoid mainstream continu
ations. Probably best now would be 3 . d4 (also promising is 3 .Nc3 Bb7 ,
when both 4.e3 and 4.e4 give White the better chances) L . cxd4 4.Nxd4
Bb7 5 . B ! , with transposition into some sort of Maroczy Bind Sicilian.
3 .g3
A modest continuation that shows I have no interest in trying to refute
Black's second move.
3 ... Bb7 4.Bg2 g6
This double fianchetto is quite reasonable, and more in keeping with his
style than the popular Hedgehog formation that comes about after 4 . . . Nf6
5 .0-0 e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7 . d4 cxd4 8 . Qxd4.
5 .0-0 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4
Possible is 8 .Qxd4, but in Panno-Ljubojevic, Petropolis 1 9 7 3 , Black got a
very active position after 8 . . . Nc6 9.Qf4 (9. Qh4 is met by 9 . . . h6) 9 . . . Rac8
l O. Rd l Nh5 1 1 . Qe3 Nb4 ! .
8 ... Bxg2 9.Kxg2 Qc8 1 0.b3 Qb7+ 1 1 .Kgl ! ?
RETI REM ENT
3 69
Forcing the trade o f Queens and ending Black's hopes for counterplay along
the h-file.
20 ... Qxd5 2 1 .Rxd5 hxg3 2 2 .hxg3 Rh5 2 3 .Rxh5 gxh5 24.Rc4!
370
The Rook threatens to go to either side, and there is no way to avoid the
loss of a pawn.
24 ... Rd8 2 5 . Ra4 b5
He might as well give up the pawn right away because 2S ... Rd7 2 6 . Bxb6 !
wins two o f them. Note how strong the Bishop i s o n e 3 , where i t aims at
both sides of the board at the same time.
26.Rxa7 Bd4 27.Bxd4 Rxd4 2 8.Ra5 Rb4?
I have to admit that I didn't even dream about this move, practically trap
ping his own Rook. He should have tried the more active 28 . . . Rd2 (2 8 . . . b4
is also possible), but in any case he will lose another pawn (i. e . , 28 . . . Rd2
2 9.e3 b4 3 0.RxhS Rxa2 3 1 . RbS). However, as in most Rook endgames,
careful technique would still be required to win.
2 9.Kfl e5 30.e3
White's plan is clear: The King will walk over to c3 and force the win of
the b-pawn. The problem with Black's 28 ... Rb4 is that his Rook is pas
sively placed, and if you don't have some form of active counterplay in
this kind of position, then it's all over.
30 ... Ke7 3 1 .Ke2 Ke6
Giving in to his fate. An attempt to hold onto the b-pawn fails: 3 1 . . .Kd7
3 2 .Kd3 Kc6 3 3 . Ra6+ KcS 34.f3 ! (threatening to trap the Black Rook by
3 S .Kc3) 3 4 . . . h4 3 S .g4 e4+ 3 6 .fxe4 h3 3 7 .Rh6, when the comical situation
of the Black Rook is suddenly obvious.
3 2 .Kd3 Kd5 H .Kc3 Rg4
Of course, 3 3 . . . KcS is hopeless in view of 3 4.f3 ! (taking all the escape squares
away from Black's Rook. A less enjoyable way to win is 3 4.a3 Rg4 3 S .a4)
3 4 . . . h4 3 S . Ra8 hxg3 3 6. Rc8+.
34.Rxb5+ Ke4 3 5 .Kd2
Black's final hopes rest on the kingside. By bringing my King there to
defend f2 , my opponent will be left with nothing to play for.
RETI REM ENT
37 1
3S ... f6 3 6.Ke2 Rg8 3 7 .Rb4+ KfS 3 8.Rc4 Ra8 3 9.a4 Rb8 40.b4 Ra8
4 1 .bS, 1 -0.
Black's game collapses after this, but things didn't look good anyway. For
example, I S , . .Bg4 1 6.Nh4! intending NdS is very strong.
1 6.Ng5 !
372
My feelings were mixed when I learned before round two that AlIa Kushnir
would be my opponent (she was the number two woman player in the world for
many years and played three World Championship matches with Nona
Gaprindashvili) . The pleasure of defeating her, as I expected to do, was some
how tinged with the perhaps unreasonable fear that I may draw or even lose,
especially in view of her win in the first round over Grandmaster Larry Evans. I
cringed as I imagined the teasing I would have to endure : "You lost to a woman? "
I f I did go down in defeat, how could I justify the accustomed parading o f my
inflated male ego, especially when I teach or coach women players? All of this
zips through the mind very quickly, of course. Then there is nothing left to do
but quell the chatter of all thoughts and simply play the game.
RETI REM ENT
29.Bdl Nc7 30.Qb l Na8 3 1 .Bb3 Nb6 3 2 .Nc5 Qh5 H .Qd3 Ra8 3 4.Bd l
Qe8 3 5 .Bc2 g6
I would have preferred, with Black, to retain the annoying possibility of
. . . QhS .
3 6.Bb3 Nc4 3 7.Re2
Of course no pawn is won, now or later, by 3 7 .Bxc4 dxc4 3 S . Qxc4 BdS .
Now the threat of e3 -e4 induces Black to weaken her position further.
37 ...f5 3 8.Qd l Nb6
Here we were in horrible time pressure. I was amazed at how well she was
playing, given that only seconds remained on her clock.
3 9.Ra2 Nc4 40.Qf3 Qe7 4 1 .Qf4 Rad8 42 .Rac2 Na3
Probably not the best place for the Knight! However, our moves were still
coming fast and furious, with no time for sane reflection.
43 .Rd2 Ba8 44.h5 Qf6 45 .hxg6 hxg6 46.Kg2
Not a bad move, but much better was 4S .e4! fxe4 49. Qh6+ Kf7 5 0.Nxe4.
It is hard to explain why I chose the text when I realized that I had the
chance for 4S.e4. When my opponent surprised me with her 47th move,
376 perhaps I felt that she must have seen the possibility of 4S . e4 and had
devised some sort of antidote. Therefore, trusting that she wouldn't lie to
me, I chose something else.
48 ... fxg4 49.Qxg4 Nc4 50.Re2 Qf5 5 1 .Qg3
Of course, I had no desire to trade Queens when Black's King is in such a
vulnerable position.
5 1 ...Qf6 52 .Rh4 Rh8 5 3 .Rxh8 KxhS 54.Re l
It's time to get my remaining Rook onto the h-file !
54 ... Nd2 5 5 .Rd l !
A nice move that forces Black to make a decision with her Knight.
5 5 ...Nc4
A sad retreat, but 5 5 . . . Ne4 56.Nxe4 dxe4 allows my Bishop to enter the
attack powerfully along the a2 -gS diagonal. Also poor was 5 5 . . . Nxb3
5 6.Nxb3 , since my Knight would prove far stronger than Black's bad Bishop.
56.Rh 1 + Kg7 57.Qh3 Kf7 5S.Qg4 Kg7 59.Rh3
For the attack along the h-file to be effective, I have to lead with my Rook.
This and the next couple of moves sets up that configuration.
59 ... Nb6 60.Qg3 Bc6 6 1 . Qh2 KgS 62 .RhS+, 1 -0 .
I was s o happy t o play this crushing move (62 . . . QxhS 6 3 . Qxd6 wins easily)
that I "neglected" the even stronger 62 .Ne4.
377
10.0-0-0
For a long time it was thought that 1 O .Nd5 Nxd5 I l .cxd5 c6 1 2 .Bc4 gave
White chances for a small plus. However, it eventually became clear that
Black was quite alright after 1 2 . . . Nc6, while 1 2 . . . Nd7 ! ? is also interesting.
1 0 ... Bg4
This is not highly thought of and shows that my opponent wasn't familiar
with the positions that arise after 7 . dxe5 . Better choices are 1 O . . . h6, 1 O . . . c6,
and 1 0 . . . Na6.
I 1 .NdS NxdS 1 2 .cxdS fS
An aggressive move that seems to solve all of Black's problems. In fact,
now 1 3 .h3 Bxf3 1 4.Bxf3 f4 leaves White's dark-squared Bishop in trouble.
1 3 .Ngl !
RETI R E M E N T
379
We 've reached a very difficult Rook endgame. Can B lack hold this
position?
48 ... Kf6
So far the endgame has followed my original calculation, but this move
does not offer the best resistance. A better try is 48 . . . b4 when Black was
obviously worried about 49.d6. However, he could still stop the d-pawn's
further advance by 49 . . . Ra3 + 50.Kd4 Ra l 5 1 .Re7+ Kf6 5 2 .e5+ Kf5 5 3 .d7,
when: A) 53 ... a4 54.Kc4 wins a pawn; B) 5 3 ... Rc 1 fails to 54.Rf7+, because
54 . . . Ke6 (54 . . . Kg6 5 5 .Rf3 ! is gin) 5 5 .d8=N! creates a pretty Knight-mate;
C) 5 3 . . . Rd l + 54.Kc4 Rc 1 + 5 5 .Kb5 Rd l 56.Ka4, and White's King stops
the pawns while Black can do nothing to prevent e6 and Re8; D) 5 3 . . . b3 is
safely answered by 54.Kc3 .
Since these lines don't allow Black to make a game of it, he should prob
ably play 48 . . . Ra l ! , when 49.d6 (49 .Re6 Kf7 5 0 . Rb6 a4! 5 1 . Rxb5 a 3
52 .Ra5 a 2 5 3 .Kf2 Kf6, and Black has n o problem drawing) 4 9. . . Rd l 50.Rxb5
Rxd6 5 l .Rxa5 gives White winning chances.
49.Re6+ Kf7 50.Rb6 b4 5 1 .e5 Ral
Less experienced players might wonder why 5 l . . . Rxg2 isn't good, not re
alizing that the loss of White's kingside pawns has nothing to do with what's
RETI REM ENT
Thus the opening has been concluded in White's favor. He has safely castled
and has a mobile center as well as the two Bishops. His pawns are threat
ening to advance and Black sorely misses his dark-squared Bishop.
24 ... Rd7 2 S .e4 Rhd8 26.d4 Qc4 27.Bb2 b6? 383
In the first two rounds of the 1 97 7 Long Pine tournament I was held to draws
by two young players: Vasser Seirawan of Seattle and David Goodman of En
gland. Naturally, I was dying to finally get my first victory. Brasket had started
with draws against the two expatriate Soviet grandmasters Shamkovich and Lein.
Black has gotten some air at last, but at the cost of the two Bishops. How
ever, it will be a long process for White to take advantage of this. The
isolation of White's c-pawn does not compensate Black because it is not
effectively blockaded. The way to bring White's positional edge to a deci
sive advantage is to apply pressure in various sectors-to administer "the
squeeze" and hope that Black will crack under the strain.
1 6.c4 Nf6 1 7.Qe3 e5
I get a trim at
Lone P i n e.
(Photo Ron Chan.)
Black is trying for active counterplay, but as a general rule the opening of
the position favors the Bishops. More reliable, though passive, is . . . Rfd8
followed by . . . Be 8 .
1 8.Bc3 Ng4 1 9.Qc5 Qe6 20.Rfd l Rfd8 2 1 .h3 Nh6 22 .Rd6
Black is suddenly under considerable pressure, and the difficulty of his
position is now clear.
2 2 . . .Qe8
Not 22 . . . Qe7 ? ? 2 3 .Rxc6.
2 3 .Rad l Nf5 24.R6d2 b6 2 5 .Qa3 f6 26.c5
Notice how my supposedly weak c-pawn is taking an active part in the
attack.
26 . . . Nfe7 27.Qa6 Be6 28.cxb6 axb6 29.Qb5
White has succeeded in weakening Black's b-pawn, but it would be a mis
take to take it right away: 2 9 . Qxb6 Rdb8 3 0.Qc5 Rxa2 ! 3 1 . Rxa2 Bxb 3 , and
Black reestablishes material equality.
29 ... Rdc8 3 0.Rd6 Bf7 3 1 .Rld2 Rab8 32.Bb2 Rc7?
A definite mistake, but it is hard to find a good way to shake off the
pressure.
3 3 .Rc2 ! Rbc8 34.Qxb6 Bg6 3 5 .Rc4 Bf5 36.Ba3
In time pressure, White gives Black a chance to complicate. 2 6 .Na5 is
more accurate, although Black can still hold on for a while with 36 . . . B d 7 .
3 6 . . . Ra7 ? !
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAME AND COMPOSITIONS
Black grabs his chance to get out of the pin, since White has no time to
figure out the win .
37.Bc1?
386
I could have ended the game quickly by 3 7 . Rcxc6 (Also winning is 3 7 .Bxc6
Rxc6 3 S . Rcxc6 Nxc6 3 9.BcS , but 3 7 .Rcxc6 is even stronger.) 3 7 . . . Nxc6
3 S .Bxc6 Rxc6 3 9. Qxa7 . Instead, I instinctively defend my loose Bishop.
37 Rb8 38.Qe3 Nd4 39.Nxd4 exd4 40.Rcxd4 Rxa2 41.Bd2 Ra1+ 42.Kh2
.•.
Black has been able to get the best possible drawing chances. Four pawns
against three on the same side in a Rook endgame is drawable, though
with great difficulty. However, with Queens on the board White has
attacking chances, especially because the advance Of Black's f-pawn has
weakened his King position.
42 . . . Ng6?
Considering the comments in the last note, it's easy to see why Black tries
to get to the endgame as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, this attempt
backfires because of his first-rank weakness.
43.BdS+ KhS
Even worse is 43 . . . KfS 44.Bb4, and now 44. . . Qxe3 ? 4 S . RdS is mate, or if
firs t 44 . . . Rxb4 4 S . Qx e S + and 46 . Rxb4 wins e a s ily, o r i f 44 . . . N e 7
4S .Rxf6+ gxf6 46. Qh6 is mate .
44.QxeS+ RxeS 4S .Bc6 Rf8 46.e4 NeS, 1 -0.
Black realizes that 46 ... BcS 47 .RdS loses a piece. The text, trying for a
miracle, fails because after 47 . exfS Black does not have . . . Nf3+, thus he
resigned without waiting for a reply.
After the game my opponent complained that I seemed to make an extra ef
fort against him and had given easy draws to some other players. Well, I can
assure him that no such distinction exists in my mind. I give a draw only when I
feel the game is completely even and without winning chances, or when I have
the worst of the position. It is possible, however, that I had already lost the opti
mism that characterized my play in my younger days, or the patience to wait for
my opponent's eventual mistakes.
RETIREMENT
5 . . . 0- 0 6 . 0- 0 c6 7.a4
This prevents . . . b7-b5 and threatens to gain more queenside space with
a4- a 5 .
7 . . . a5
The good points of this move are obvious: Black prevents a4-a5 and lays
claim to the b4-square (which can be occupied by . . . Nb8-a6-b4). The move's
flaws are more subtle: the b6-square has been weakened and, in many lines,
White can dominate it via NB -d2 -c4. Also, if Black plays an eventual . . . d6-
d 5 , the b5 -square can become weak after exd5 . . . cxd 5 .
8.Be3
Not only defending the d4-pawn, but also making the first gesture to
wards b6 (i. e . , If Black plays . . . e7 -e5 then dxe5 would unleash the Bishop
along the e 3 -a7 diagonal). Even though this move makes perfect sense,
White almost always plays 8.h3 first, stopping ... Ng4. However, I wasn't
convinced that . . . Ng4 was anything to worry about and, if the Knight leap
does turn out to be harmless, then why waste a tempo stopping it?
8 . . .Ng4
Black can't resist harassing my Bishop, although in my mind I felt he was
forcing it to a more aggressive square. Nevertheless, this move is the only
way to challenge White's decision to avoid h2-h3 since normal plans (like
. . . Na6 followed by . . . Nb4 or . . . Qc7 followed by . . . e7 -e5) would leave me a
tempo up over main lines. For example: 8 . . . Qc7 9.Nd2 e 5 1 0. dxe5 dxe5
1 1 .N c4, and White's control over the b6- and d6-squares gives him a clear
advantage.
9.Bg5 h6
9 . . . f6 was tried in Szabo-Hubner, Amsterdam 1 9 7 5 . After 1 0.Bd2 Nh6
1 1 . Q c 1 Nf7 1 2 .Be3 e6 B.d5 cxd5 1 4. exd5 e5 1 5 .Nd2 Nd7 1 6.Nc4 b6
1 7 .Qd2 f5 1 8.f3, White enj oyed a slight plus.
1 0.Bh4 Qc7
Also possible is 10 . . . Na6 when White , in the game D amj anovic-A.
Fernandez, Alicante 1 978, played in a very forcing fashion: 1 1 .h 3 Nf6
1 2 .e5 dxe5 1 3 . dxe5 Nd 5 1 4.Nxd5 cxd5 1 5 .Bxa6 (White's plan is simple:
he wants complete control over the d4-square . With this in mind, the ex
change on a6 makes sense since Black's Knight was the only piece that
could challenge White on that square via . . . Na6-b4-c6 or . . . Na6-c5 -e6.)
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAME AND COMPOSITIONS
The threat of e4-e5 forces Black to show his intentions in the center.
1 3 . . . e5 14.dxe5
The other possibility, 1 4. d 5 , also favors White, but the text move looks
more logical, hoping for a faster decision in a more open position.
1 4 ... dxe5 1 5 .Qd2 Nh7 1 6.Qe3
Perhaps the immediate 1 6. f4 is even stronger, since if 16 . . . exf4 1 7 .Bxf4
wins the h-pawn, and otherwise there follows f4-f5 when Black's position
is very restricted and passive. I was worried, here and later, that Black might
sacrifice a pawn in order to obtain firm control over the e 5 -square (i. e . ,
I •
1 6.f4 exf4 1 7 .Bxf4 Ne5 1 8 .Bxh6 Rd8 1 9 .Qf4 Bxh6 2 0. Qxh6 Be6). /Thls
would give him some compensation for White's slight material advantage
(the isolated e-pawn) . Whether this would prove sufficient to hold the
game is another matter.
1 6 . . .Ng5 1 7.f4
White finally decides on the break: if Black's Knight gets to the ideal e6-
square before this move (giving him added control over c5 , d4, and f4) , he
will have good chances to resist White's pressure.
RETIREMENT
17 . . . Ne6
If 1 7 . . . exf4 1 8 .Bxf4 NeS 1 9.Qg3 Re8, White can either send back the Knight
with 20.h4, or play 2 0.Rad l , in either case gaining a solid advantage .
389
1 8.f5
Again, playing to win a pawn does not seem the strongest: 1 8 .fxeS NxeS
1 9 .NxeS Bxe S 2 0 . BxeS Qxe S 2 1 . Qxh6 NcS 2 2 . Rf4 Be6 2 3 . Rh4 Qg7
24.Qxg7 + Kxg7, when Black's pieces are very well placed . The text move
virtually forces Black to sacrifice a pawn on terms that I was more willing
to accept.
1 8 . . . Nf4
An important alternative is 1 8 . . . Nd4 1 9. f6 (also good is 1 9 . Qxd4 exd4
20.Bxc7 dxc3 , when both 2 1 .bxc3 and 2 1 .b3 give White a superior endgame)
1 9 . . . B x f6 ( B l a c k s h o u l d go fo r 1 9 . . . Nxc2 , though 2 0 . Q d 2 Nxa l
2 1 .fxg7 Kxg7 2 2 .Rxa l f6 2 3 . Bf2 followed by Rd l is very nice for White .)
20.Rxf6 Nxc2 2 1 . Qxh6 Nxa l 2 2 .Rxg6+ fxg6 2 3 . Qxg6+ Kh8 2 4. Qh6+ Kg8
2 S .QgS+ Kh8 2 6.NxeS , and White wins.
19.Bxf4
Also promising is 1 9.Rxf4! ? exf4 2 0.Bxf4 Qd8 2 1 .Bxh6.
1 9 ... exf4 20.Rxf4
Of course, 2 0. Qxf4 Qxf4 2 1 .Rxf4 leaves White a pawn up in the endgame,
and Black still has problems with his development. But after his best
d e fens e , 2 1 . . . B d4+ 2 2 . Kh l Nc S , the win d i d not look s o simpl e :
2 3 .fxg6 fxg6 24.Rxf8+ Kxf8 2 5 .Nb6 Rb8 2 6.Rd l Bxc3 2 7 .bxc3 Be6. There
fore, I avoided the trade of Queens so I could keep the attack going, even
though this cost the Exchange.
20 ... Bd4 2 1. Qxd4 Qxf4 22.Rf1 Qc7
I was expecting Black to keep his Queen closer to his King by 22 . . . QgS
but even then, White keeps a large advantage by 2 3 .e5 gxfS 24.Bd3 when,
because of Black's lack of development and White's beautifully placed pieces,
it's hard for Black to find a good move .
2 3 .Kh1
And not 2 3 .Nd6 due t o 2 3 . . . Qb6.
2 3 ... f6
Black wants to create a blockade on the dark squares, but this doesn't give
him the relief that he was hoping for.
24.Rf3
Also reasonable was 24.fxg6, but I wanted to retain my f-pawn which gains
space, restricts the movements of Black's Bishop, and eventually becomes
passed.
24 . . . Ne5 2 5 .Rg3 g5
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAME AND COMPOSITIONS
390
White to Move
RETIREMENT
The interesting feature of this position is the white Rook's peculiar situa
tion. But I was quite satisfied: the Rook ties up two black pieces. If it was
Black's move here and he played, for instance, L.Bc7, then 2 .RgS wins a
pawn. Maybe my satisfaction dulled my alertness, for I now committed 391
one of the worst blunders of the tournament.
39.Bg5 ? ?
Of course, I should have played 3 9.Bd2 KcS (3 9 . . . f5 + 40.Kd4) 40.Bb4 Rc7 !
4 1 .Bd6 Kb7 42 .Bxc7 Kxc7 ! (and not 42 . . . KxaS 43 .BdS), when we get an
interesting pawn endgame where White stands better, but it's not clear if
he can find a way to penetrate into Black's position.
3 9 . . . Kc8.
There is no way for White to prevent ... Rd7 followed by ... Kb7 , winning
the Exchange and the game. I lost after a few more useless moves.
it. However, this is definitely not the case ! In fact, the Queen exchange is
quite good for White. Why? First, White's King will actually prove to be
very well placed on c2 . Second, the pawn structure favors the first player.
392 Let's compare the merits of both sets of c-pawns and e-pawns: Black's c 5 -
pawn blocks his own dark-squared Bishop while White's c3 -pawn takes
the b4 and d4 squares away from Black's pieces. White's advanced pawn
on e4 gains central space and restricts Black's light-squared Bishop while
Black's e-pawn doesn't have much of a future -if it moves to e6 it will
block the c8-Bishop and create a hole on d6. If it moves to e5 a permanent
hole will appear on d5 . These factors make it hard for Black to find a tar
get or a plan, while White can take aim at the c5 -pawn and also play to
dominate the c4-square by a2 -a4 and Nd2 -c4.
Of course, White could also play 6.bxc3 , transposing into a Griinfeld
after 6 . . . g6 7 .d4 Bg7 . At the time, this line of the Griinfeld was thought to
be favorable for Black because systems where White's Knight goes to f3
hadn't been properly explored. Now the Nf3 system is the main line, though
I'd still avoid it because the theory is too extensive .
6 . . . Qxd 1 + 7.Kxd l Nc6
Notice how my c3-pawn keeps this piece under wraps. In fact, Black's Knight
really doesn't have much of a future on c6. Because of this, modern theory
recommends 7 . . . Bg4 8.Kc2 Nd7 as giving Black more chances to reach
equality.
8.Be3
Taking aim at c5 and forcing Black to defend his pawn. However, both
defensive moves lead to slight concessions: 8 . . . e6 blocks the c8-Bishop and
weakens d6 (as I mentioned earlier) and 8 . . . b6 allows me to eventually
strike at his pawn chain by a2 -a4-a 5 . The alternative, 8.Bf4, is also known
to give White a promising position.
8 . . . e6
Better is 8 . . . b6 with the idea of . . . Bb7 and . . . 0-0-0.
9.Kc2 b6? !
This looks solid, but the newly weakened light-squares on a6 and c6 will
haunt Black for a long time. Preferable is 9 . . . B d 7 , when White gained a
slight edge in Cvetkovic-Palatnik, USSR-Yugoslavia 1 976 after 1 0.Be2 Be7
1 1 .Rhd 1 0-0-0 1 2 . Rd2 f6 1 3 .Rad l .
l O.Bb5 Bd7
The consistent 10 . . . Bb7 is also possible, though 1 1 .Ne5 Rc8 1 2 . Rhd 1 a6
1 3 . Bxc6+ Bxc6 1 4.Nxc6 Rxc6 1 5 .Bf4, followed by the doubling of Rooks
on the d-file leaves White with a nice edge (better Bishop, lead in devel
opment and control over the only open file).
1 1 .a4!
The immediate 1 1 .Rhd 1 is a mistake due to 1 1 . . .Nb4+, when Black picks up
White's loose Bishop. Now that this Bishop is firmly protected, Rfd 1 is a
In battle agai nst Raicevic,
Majdan pek 1 9 78,
strong threat (when tactics such as Rxd7 would be in the air). Since the
Bishop can't be allowed to take up permanent residence on b S , Black is com
pelled to weaken his queenside pawn formation if he wants to chase it away.
1 1 . . .a6 1 2 .Be2
Now Black's as-Rook is stuck guarding the pawn on a6.
12 ... Bd6 1 3 .Nd2
Heading for c4.
1 3" .Na5
Trying to keep White's Knight at bay. Far worse is 1 3 . . .0-0 1 4.Nc4 Bc7
I S .Rhd l RfdS 1 6 .aS b S (Like it or not, Black has to try the unpalatable
1 6 . . .NxaS 1 7 .NxaS bxaS I S .BxcS.) 1 7 .Nb6 Bxb6 I S .axb6 c4 1 9.b7, and Black
is finished.
1 4.Rhb l !
My favorite move of the game. Suddenly Black (now facing the threat of
b2 -b4) is forced to accept the vast inferiority of his position.
14 ... 0-0 1 5 .b4 exb4 1 6.exb4 Ne6
The tempting 1 6 . . . RfcS+ actually walks into possible forks on b6: 1 7 .Kd l
Nc6 I S .Nc4, when White's advantage is obvious.
17.b5 axb5
I expected 1 7 . . . Nh4+ I S . Kb3 e S , but on 1 9.Nc4 Be6 2 0 . Kc3 the King per
sonally conducts the battl e . For exampl e , 2 0 . . . RacS 2 1 . Rxb4 Bxb4+
2 2 .Kxb4 as+ 2 3 .Kb3 , with a winning position for White.
1 8 .axb5 Nh4+ 1 9.Kb3 Be5 20.Rc1
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAME AND COMPOSITIONS
Also good is 2 0.NB with the idea of Bd2 , though I eventually decided
that my move was stronger. Trying to save a tempo by 2 0.Rxa8 Rxa8 2 1 . Rc 1
isn't a s clean because 2 1 . . . Ra2 (and not 2 1 . . .Na2 ? 2 2 . Ra l Ra3 + 2 3 .Kb2 ,
394 when White wins a piece) creates some complications.
20 ... Rxal 2 1 .Rxal Rd8
Black is trying to save his stranded Knight. Of course, his position is quite
lost.
22 .Bxe5
Another strong continuation was 2 2 .Ra4 B e8 2 3 .Kd ! , when nothing can
be done about 24.Rxb4.
22 . . . bxe5 2 3 .Kc3
This gives much needed support to d3 and d2 .
2 3 ...Kf8 24.Nb3
Now that everything is defended, it's time for White to take aim at Black
weaknesses and cash in.
24 ...Re8 2 5 .Ra7 Ke7
Black should have tried 2 5 . . . Ke8 2 6. Kc4 (another way is 2 6 .Bc4 with the
idea of 2 7 .Nxc5 and Kxb4) 26 . . . Nc2 , when 2 7 .Nxc 5 ? ? Bxb 5 ! + 2 8.Kxb5
Nd4+ just about equalizes. Of course , White doesn't have to fall for this.
Instead of 2 7 .Nxc5 ? ? , the simple 2 7 .b6 wins without too much trouble.
2 6 . Ke4 Ne2 2 7 .Nxe5 Rd8 2 8 .Nxd7 Rxd7 2 9 . Rxd7 + Kxd7 3 0. Kc3 ,
1 -0.
The Knight is trapped after 30 . . . Ne 1 3 1 .Bfl followed by 3 2 .Kd2 . This was
clearly not Yasser's day. Even his wishing me bad luck before we started
didn't help. But in the next round he beat Grandmaster Tarjan, and he ended
up with a 50% score, playing eight grandmasters in nine games! This is
very impressive when you consider that he was only seventeen years old.
It might seem more natural to place this Knight on c6, but I was reserving
that square for my Bishop so it could begin the assault against a4. One of
the most important things in chess is the creation and executi on of
targets. Here, a4 is begging to be attacked. This turns out to be easy to
do: the Bishop goes to c6 and I can double or even triple on the a-file.
1 5 .Bg2 Bc6 1 6.Bb2 d4
So White ended up fianchettoing both his Bishops. Unfortunately for my
opponent, neither Bishop is particularly active.
1 7.cxd4 exd4 1 S.Nc4 Ra6 1 9.Bc1 Qa7
19 . Rfa8 was also possible, but my Queen was vulnerable on c7 and I wanted
. .
396
l .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3 .Nfl Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5
8.cxd5
The more complicated 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 Qa5 I O.Rd i was popular in the
' 70s and '80s . In the '90s, 1 0.0-0-0 became the main line. The text move
RETIREMENT
(8.cxd5) is played by those who want a quiet game where they hope to
retain a safe, small, edge.
8 . . . Nxd5
397
Though 8 . . . exd5 is also common, I prefer this capture, which gives me the
option of a quick check on b4.
9.Nxd5 exd5 1 0.Bd3
I think 1 O. a 3 , preventing the check on b4, gives White more chances for
an e d g e . Aft e r 1 0 . . . Nc6 I l . B d 3 (thr e a t e n i n g to win a p awn by
1 2 . Bxh7 + Kxh7 1 3 . Qc2 + , picking up the loose c 5 -Bishop) 1 1 . . . B b 6
1 2 .0-0, Black can play 1 2 . . . d4, trying for a dull draw, o r 1 2 . . . Bg4, with a
complicated battle ahead.
1 O ... Bh4+ 1 1 .Ke2
1 6.gxf3
Is 1 6.KxB ! ? possible? I can imagine someone like Vasser S eirawan playing
this, but mere mortals don't like to rush their Kings out into the middle of
398 the board. After 1 6. gxB , the weakening of White's kingside gives Black
plenty of counterplay.
1 6 . . . Ne7 1 7 .Bc7 Qe8 1 8.Bh3
Some sources have claimed a White edge after I S . a 3 , but I S . . . B a S
1 9.BxaS Q b S + seems fine for Black, while I S .a3 B a S 1 9 .Bd6 RdS i s also
nothing to worry about.
18 . . . BaS ! 1 9.Bd6 Rd8 20.Ba3
Not falling for 20.QcS ? ? b6! 2 1 .Qa3 Rxd6 2 2 . Qxd6 QbS+, when Black
wins.
20 . . . Bb4!
Once White's dark-squared Bishop gets traded (ridding White of his Bishop
pair), Black will be left with a pleasant initiative due to the insecure posi
tion of the white King.
2 1 .Bxb4 QbS + 22 .Rd3 Qxb4 2 3 .Rb3 ?
Not very realistic. White goes after a pawn and ignores the weaknesses
on his kingside. This leads to a remarkably swift debacle. Much better
w a s 2 3 . Ra d l , t h o u gh B l a c k h a s no p r o b l e m s a ft e r 2 3 . . . Rfe S
2 4.Kfl Qh4.
23 . . . Qh4 24.Rxb7 d4! 2 S . exd4 Nc6 !
Suddenly all of Black's pieces are participating in a furious attack against
White's open King.
26.Qxc6, 0- 1 .
White resigned without waiting for a reply since he saw that he'd be forced
to give up his Queen after 26 . . . RfeS+ 2 7 .Kfl (2 7 .Kd3 Qxd4+) 2 7 . . . Qxh 3 +
2 S .Kgl Re6.
RETIREMENT
White will be able to create serious winning chances if Black plays the simple
1 9 . . . ReS (instead of 1 9 . . . a6): 2 0.Rb5 Re7 (and not 20 . . . Re2 2 1 .Bxb7 Bxb7
2 2 .Rxb7 Rxb2 2 3 . Ra6) 2 1 .b4 a6 2 2 .Rb6 Re2 2 3 .Bxb7 Bxb7 24.Rxb7 Rxb2
400 2 5 .b 5 (or 2 5 .Ra 5 ReS 2 6.Rxa6 Rcc2) 2 5 . . . a5 =. The move I chose, 1 6.Bxd 5 ,
i s a novelty that strives to take advantage o f the weakened dark squares i n
Black's kingside structure.
1 6 . . . exd5 1 7.Nxd5
The Knight on d5 is clearly stronger than Black's Bishop. This, and the
fact that White's Rooks will take the center files faster than Black's, leaves
my opponent with difficult problems to solve.
1 7 . . . f6
Can Black equalize? It's not clear how. The obvious 1 7 . . . Be6? gives White
a clear structural plus after 1 S .Qc3 + f6 1 9.Nc7 . During the game I looked
at 1 7 . . . Qa5 , but soon realized that Black faces some serious suffering after
1 S . Qf3 Bf5 (or 1 S . . . Be6 1 9 . Qf6+ Kh6 20.Qf4+ Kg7 2 1 . Q e 5 + Kh6 2 2 .Rfd l ,
when Black i s i n trouble) 1 9 .b4 Qa6 2 0.Rfd 1 (White gets nothing from
2 0.Nc7 Q d 3 ) 20 . . . RadS 2 1 .g4! Bd7 2 2 .g5 .
l S.Rfe l
A simple move that keeps the black Bishop off of e6 and also threatens to
penetrate to e 7 .
l S . . . Rfi 1 9.Rad1 Bd7 20.Nf4
This is stronger than the tempting 20.Qxb 7 : 20 . . . Bg4 2 1 .Nc7 Qxc7 2 2 .QxaS
Bxd l 2 3 .Rxd l Qc2 2 4.RdS Qc l + ! 2 5 .Kg2 Qxb2 2 6 . RgS+ Kh6, and the
threat of . . . Qb7 (with check!) should enable him to draw.
2 0 . . . Qb6
Safer was 2 0 . . . QcS, though White's advantage would still be obvious. Now
Black gets a nasty surprise.
2 1 .Qxf7 + ! Kxf7 22 .Rxd7+ Kf8 2 3 .Ree7
Black is busted. The two Rooks on the seventh rank, in cooperation with
the Knight, prove to be far more valuable than Black's useless Queen.
23 . . .RdS 24.Rfi+
RETIREMENT
Not settling for 2 4.Ne6+ Qxe6 2 5 .Rxe6 Rxd7 26.Rxf6+. White's extra pawn
would by no means guarantee a victory.
24 ... KgS 2 5.Rg7+ Kf8 26.Rdfi+ KeS 27.Rxh7 Rdl + 2S.Kg2 Qc6+ 29.Kh3
QcS+ 3 0.g4 Qc4 40 I
Though I prefer the sharp piece play that this move offers, I have also
experimented with 7 . c4. The game Benko-Grefe, Lone Pine 1 9 7 7 contin
ued 7 . . . Nf6 S .Nc3 g6 9.0-0 Bg7 1 O. Qd 3 0-0 I l .Nd4 (Also interesting is
402. I I . Be3 Ng4 1 2 . B d4 NeS 1 3 .BxeS dxe S , when Black has the two Bishops
but White's queenside maj ority looks more impressive. In Damjanovic
Gligori c , 1 9 6 3 B lack p l ayed more carefully a fter 1 1 . B e 3 : 1 1 . . . a 6
1 2 .Rfd l RcS 1 3 . B d4 b S 14.cxbS axbS I S .a 3 Q d 7 = ) 1 1 . . . Qb6 ! (an improve
ment over Padevski-Ghitescu, 1 96 3 , which went I l .. .RcS 1 2 .b3 Nd7 1 3 .Bb2 ,
with the better game for White) 1 2 .Be3 (What else? The threat was . . . Bxe4.
If 1 2 .Nc2 Ng4, the black pieces are too active and . . . f7 -fS is even in the
air.) 1 2 . . . Ng4 (This is playable, but 1 2 . . . Qxb2 1 3 . a 3 Ng4 is most testing.
If 1 4.Nd S , then 14 . . . NeS is the best answer.) 1 3 .Nxc6 Qxc6 1 4.NdS RfeS
I S .Bd4 Bxd4? ( I S . . . NeS is correct, with equality) 1 6. Qxd4 NeS 1 7 .b 3 a6
I S . Rac 1 RacS 1 9. Rfd l Nd7 2 0.Qd2 , and White enjoyed a clear advantage
and went on to win the game.
A common idea. White dares Black to open up the h-file and give White a
direct road to his King.
1 5 ... Nxe4
This doesn't work out, but taking the Bishop is extremely dangerous. One
sample: 1 5 . . . hxg5 1 6.hxg5 Nh7 1 7 . Rh l g6 l S . g4 Kg7 1 9. Rxh7 + Kxh7
2 0 . Qh2 +, and mates. Perhaps Black had to try something like 1 5 . . . RfdS,
though White's attack remains very strong: 1 6. g4 hxg5 1 7 .hxg5 Nxg4
l S .Rh l + KgS 1 9. Qg2 Nf6 2 0 . Qh2 KfS 2 1 .QhS+ NgS 2 2 .Rh7, and the rest
would be nothing but violence.
1 6.Rxe4! hxg5
This isn't pleasant, but 1 6 . . . Bxe4 1 7 .Bxe7 is too easy for White.
1 7.Nxc6 Rxc6 1 8.hxg5 Qf5
Black is still experiencing enormous difficulties because of the open h
file. This Queen move doesn't help, but perhaps there wasn't a good de
fense.
1 9.94! Qg6
No better is 1 9 . . . Qxg4 2 0 . Rh l + KgS 2 1 . Qh2 f6 2 2 . Rg l Qf5 when 2 3 .g6
ends the game.
20.Rh 1 + Kg8 2 1 .Qh2 f5
Black's problem is that White controls all the pawn breaks in this position
- the second player must constantly be alert to b3 -b4 (chasing the Knight
from c5) or f3 -f4 (chasing the other Knight from e5). My last couple of
moves were designed to keep Black passive . His Knights can't jump into
d 3 , . . . c7 -c6 is met by Nf5 , and my c4-pawn is given protection in antici
pation of an eventual b3 -b4 push.
RETIREMENT
2 1 . . . Nc6 22.Nb5
White declines the trade, expecting great things from his Knight at b 5 .
However, more accurate would have been 2 2 .Nf5 with the same plan.
407
22 ... a4! ? 2 3 .h4 Nb3
This Knight may become either an asset or a liability later on. For ex
ample, if war is declared on the kingside, the b3 -Knight will find itself
stuck far away from the field of action.
24.Rh l Ne5
Simpler was 24 . . . Na7 , forcing the exchange of White's remaining Knight.
25.Bxe5 Rxe 5 ? !
Better was 2 5 . . . fxe 5 , securing the d4-square for the Knight a t b3 .
26.Qd3
I want to play Nc3 , but first I have to give my c-pawn some support.
26 . . . f5
Black must play actively because of the threatened Nb5 -c3xa4.
27.Nc3 fxe4 28 .fxe4 Qe8 29.Rfl !
I could have won a pawn by 2 9 . Re 1 followed by Nxa4, but this would
have left me with serious technical difficulties to overcome. Instead, I de
cided to take advantage of Black's absent Knight and go for a kingside
attack.
29 ... Qc6 30.Nd5 Qd7 3 1 .Rf4!
White is ready to break through on the f-file, and Black is too late to pre
vent it.
3 1 . . .Ree8?
This leads to a quick demise, but 3 1 . . .Rf8 is no better: 3 2 . Rxf8+ Kxf8
3 3 .Rf1 + Kg8 3 4. Qg3 Qd8 3 5 .Nf6+ Kh8 3 6.Nd7 ! Re8 3 7 .Rf7 Rg8 3 8 .Nf8 !
(Threatening 3 9.Ng6+ hxg6 40. Qh 3 + , and mates.) 3 8 . . . Qxf8 3 9 .Rxf8 Rxf8
40.Qg5 Nd4 4 1 .h3 , with an easy win for White. Just as hopeless for Black
is 3 1 . . . Rae8 3 2 . Qg3 Kh8 3 3 . Rbfl . He should probably try 3 1 . . . Q d 8
3 2 .Rbfl c 6 , though 3 3 .Rf8+ (3 3 .Nc3 i s even stronger, but the lines after
3 3 . Rf8 + are quite interesting) 3 3 . . . Qxf8 3 4 . Rxf8 + Rxf8 3 5 .Nc3 Re6
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAME AND COMPOSITIONS
3 6.Nxa4 Rxe4! 3 7 .h3 (The endgame after 3 7 . Qxe4 Rf1 + 3 8 .Kxfl Nd2 +
3 9 . Ke 2 a l s o gives White g o o d c h an c e s . ) 3 7 . . . R e 1 + 3 8 . Kh 2 Nc 1
3 9. Qxd6 Rfe8 40.NcS still leaves Black in real trouble.
408 3 2 .Rbfl Rf8 H.Qh3 ! , 1 -0.
Black is losing his overloaded Queen (3 3 ".Rfd8 3 4.Rf8 + ! ) since 3 3" . Qxh3
3 4.Ne7 + forces mate. Garcia pointed out that 3 3 .Nb6 ! also wins (3 3 . . . cxb6
3 4. Q d S +) , though in that case Black could cut his losses via 3 3" . Qe6
3 4.Nxa8 Rxa8 .
l .e4 c5 2 .NO Nc6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5 .Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5
A respectable positional system that avoids the well analyzed lines that
result from 7 . BgS .
7 ... Nxd5 8.exd5 Ne7
The alternative is 8 . . . Nb8 .
9.c4 Ng6
More common is 9 . . . NfS , but Black didn't want to block his f-pawn.
A well-known blunder is 9 . . . a6? ? (9 . . . g6? ? meets with the same fate) 1 O.Qa4 ! ,
when White wins.
1 0.Be3 a6 I 1 .Nc3 Be7 1 2 .Qd2
Stopping a possible . . . BgS trade. If Black continues to insist on the swap
by 1 2 . . . h6, then 1 3 .Bd3 would follow.
12 . . .f5 1 3 .0 0-0 1 4.Be2
The plans are clear for both sides: White will try to make use of his
queenside spatial plus (and his majority of pawns in that sector) by playing
for a c4-cS advance. Black will attempt to strike back on the kingside.
14 ... Bd7
Too pedestrian. Black had to sharpen things up by 14 . . . Bh4+ I S .g3 f4
1 6. Bf2 BgS 1 7 . Qc2 Bh3 , with a double-edged position.
1 5 .0-0 f4 1 6.Bf2 Bh4 1 7 .Bd3 Bxf2 + 1 8.Rxf2 Nh4
Black succeeded in trading off his bad Bishop for White's strong piece,
but he had to give up the e4-square to accomplish it. However, it's not
easy for White to occupy this square because Ne4 would be met by . . . NfS
when Black's Knight would also have a future.
1 9.Rc1
Continuing t o make preparations for the " obligatory" c4-cS advance.
1 9 . . . a5 20.Ne4 Bf5 ?
B lack h a d t o try 2 0 . . . NfS , though 2 1 . cS would still l e a d t o a White
advantage. After 20 . . . BfS , Black's Knight becomes stranded on the edge
of the board.
RETIREMENT
2 1 .cS
White takes the initiative and never lets it go.
2 1 . . .Bxe4 22.Bxe4 dxcS 2 3 .d6!
409
It's clear that Black's strategy has completely failed. White's Bishop is far
stronger than Black's Knight, White's passed d-pawn is a monster, and
Black's pawns on b 7, c S , and eS are all vulnerable.
2 3 . . .Ra6 24.QdS+ Rf7 2 S .Rd2!
Far stronger than 2 S .Bxh 7 + Kf8 2 6.Be4 Rxd6 2 7 . QxcS , which is also good
for White.
2 S ... Ng6 26.RxcS NfS 27.Rc7 Nd7 28.Qe6, 1 -0 .
Black has n o answer t o the threat o f 2 9.BdS .
• • •
Often people are asked if they would do it all over again if given the chance .
Though I could have done without the horrors of war and imprisonment, I would
happily embrace the life of a chess player again. Travel to exotic lands, the brac
ing rush of mind versus mind over those sixty-four squares, the deep satisfaction
that only artistic creativity can bring, and the companionship of many close friends
the world over-what more could a man ask from life? When I add this to my
fortune in meeting my wonderful wife, combined with my two amazing children
(my son has a Ph. D . in math while my daughter has a Masters in math and is
working towards her Ph.D.), I can't feel anything but deeply blessed.
Though my chessboard battles are now behind me, I still lead a rich life . I am
working on some books, I follow all chess news, meet with old friends, travel,
coach young prospects , and exercise my creative urges by composing new
endgames.
I hope you have found the tales of my interaction with various chess legends
interesting. If my life story, with its struggles and triumphs, has given the reader
insight into human nature and the subculture of chess, and if my games have
proven enj oyable and/or instructive, then I will be satisfied that the effort that
went into the creation of this book was more than worthwhile.
Evans, l eft, and Gross, 1 9 5 7, wolfing down a meal afte r a hard d ay of blitz and cards.
SILMAN: Ron, I know you and Pal are very close. When did you first meet?
GRO S S : When Benko first came to the U . S . , he was floating about, staying
anywhere he could while he figured out how to survive . He ended up in
Cleveland for a while with his father. At the end of 1 95 7 they had a big
tournament in Dallas. Though there wasn't a place for him in that event, he
decided to take a chance, leave the security of Cleveland, and went there
anyway. Remember that he didn't speak any English at all, and nobody re
ally knew how strong he was.
It has to be remembered that, unlike Szabo who was a communist guy
that always towed the party line, Benko never bought in to that garbage and
was always his own man. After the war, he was the second best player in
Hungary, behind S zabo. Actually, he was quickly catching up to S zabo, but
people in the U . S . just didn't know who Pal Benko was.
In early 1 95 7 grandmaster Larry Evans found himself with some money
to invest, so he bought a motel in Compton. I lived in that same area of Los
Angeles, and Larry and I became friends. Evans, who was playing in Dallas,
sent me some clippings from the event - that was the first time I had ever
heard of Benko.
After the tournament in Dallas, Evans drove both Benko and Bent Larsen
back with him and put them up in his motel. The occupancy rate at his
motel was fifty percent, so they were able to stay there comfortably for free.
SILMAN: Benko insists that Evans made him pay to stay there, but Evans says
he didn't.
GRO S S : Well, now I'm not sure what the truth is. It was a long time ago.
4 13
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
GRO S S : When Benko got to Dallas he had $2 00. He earned $500 for the match
with Smith that was held concurrently with the Dallas tournament. When
414
he arrived in LA (after spending some money in Texas and during the trip to
California), he had a grand total of $600 as a nest egg- that was everything
he had in the world !
So he was forced to live like a mouse, but he had been through so much
poverty and hardship in Hungary that he faced his situation with a lot of
courage. However, like so many from his time, and so many who experi
enced bitter poverty when they were young, he still lives very modestly to
this day, even though he's actually done very well for himself.
GRO S S : Benko and Larsen were killing time in Compton- they both had to
wait a few weeks for other events to begin (Benko was waiting for the Inter
zonal, while Larsen was waiting to leave for a tournament in Mar del Plata),
so they decided that this would be an ideal place to rest up and experience
California firsthand. Compton was a really nice place in those days, though
now it's changed radically and is close to being the murder capital of the
world.
My father owned a big, old-fashioned drug store that I worked at, and
Benko would go with me and check out everything. Benko wanted to see
what Americans did in their spare time, he really wanted to fit in, and he
was very cunous.
I was a student at Compton College, but I'd go on deliveries for my father
(I'd take prescriptions to people) and take Pal along. I'd show him various
restaurants, the cheapest places to eat; in fact, after the deliveries were com
pleted he would often come to my apartment and eat there.
SILMAN: Did you, Pal, Larry, and Bent all get along?
GRO S S : I went to Evans' motel everyday, so I began to take both visiting grand
masters everywhere. I introduced them to all my friends, they were hosted
at clubs, had dinners, and were honored. However, Larsen got the most out
of this simply because Pal didn't speak much English. Naturally, we all be
came very close friends.
Larsen, who was a sensation at that time due to his great result at the
Moscow Olympiad, was a tremendous storyteller, and he also spoke thirteen
languages fluently. He was a bit like Smyslov in that he was shy and got
embarrassed easily. But he was very gracious and made many nice contacts.
Benko and I hung out quite a bit. He showed me a lot about chess in gen
eral, and we played endless blitz games. In fact, all four of us played con
stantly. Benko did the best. Evans was close on his heels, and Larsen was a
distant third. Evans and Benko pounded me mercilessly, but I won several
games against Larsen.
With Ron at the FI D E World
Cham p i o n ship in Las Vegas
( 1 999 ) .
SILMAN: Ron, I'm a bit surprised that someone as incredibly strong as Larsen
would do so poorly at blitz.
GROSS: It was all about style. Benko and Evans played very correctly, but Larsen
was a wild man in these sessions ! He sacrificed everything and lost a lot of
games as a result. However, even though he wasn't doing well at blitz, he
was a real gentleman. He showed us lots of new ideas in the openings. He
showed me an important theoretical novelty that he had prepared as an im
provement on a Korchnoi game from the Russian Championship. Bent never
got to use that new idea, but I was able to win a game with it ten years later!
I loved Larsen. He had a great sense of humor, would happily talk to
people when he gave a simultaneous exhibition, would always j oke around,
tell incredible stories, and was also classy and distinguished. He was just a
wonderful man. His only problem was a rigid set of morals. He was terri
fied of women, though he was highly attracted to them. He was very shy in
this respect. Odd for a man who was so handsome and who was such an
incredible speaker.
When we were all hanging out in Compton, Evans loved playing the devil's
advocate by talking about women and making Larsen blush. Larsen is a real
games player, and he likes to win at chess, hearts . . everything. But Benko
was better than the rest of us at blitz, and Larsen was the best hearts player, so
Evans tried to do anything he could to get the upper hand in any other area.
For example, Evans loved to talk about going to brothels in Mexico. Benko
refused because he didn't want to spend the money, while Larsen was simply
horrified and didn't want any part of it! Benko always gauged his activities
according to expense, Larsen was very straight-laced, and Evans looked at
everything and anything as an adventure . . . he loved to experience things
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
GRO S S : That's probably true. I know a lot of well-known American players who
have been with prostitutes, but Benko never showed any interest whatsoever.
GRO S S : Benko and I stay in touch, and I've remained close to Evans. For some
reason, Larsen has distanced himself from me.
GRO S S : I'm not really sure, but we did go through a couple "episodes." The
first occurred in ' 5 7 , when we were living together (he eventually left Evans'
motel and moved into my apartment with me). I was playing at the local chess
club and faced Irving Rivise, a strong California master. Rivise had beaten me
in our four previous encounters, so I really wanted to win this one. I played a
great game and was winning easily. Larsen was watching and seemed to be
enjoying the game. We adjourned and Larsen congratulated me on a nice
effort. Sadly, instead of sealing a move that would have won immediately, I
instead sealed a losing blunder (we had just gone through a time trouble situ
ation and I sealed my move rather quickly) ! He told me that I was losing after
that move but I refused to believe it. So we went home and he set it up on the
board and showed me that I was toast. He began laughing and telling me
what an idiot I was for not following his advice (he had told me that, after
time trouble, you should get up, calm yourself down, and relax.). I was really
angry with myself, but on seeing how much he was enjoying the situation, I
jokingly said, "Hell, I think I'll go back and change my sealed move . " You see,
the sealed move was left hanging on the wall at the club in its envelope.
Well, Larsen jumped all over me. He freaked out! It was like he pulled out
a FIDE badge. He began ranting about being a FIDE grandmaster. How he
had to uphold FIDE rules. He went on and on, clearly thinking that I really
intended to cheat and change the move.
I tried to convince him that I wasn't serious, but we went to bed with a
sour taste in our mouths. The next day I met with Rivise and told him the
whole story, how I had sealed an idiot move, that I was resigning the game,
and how Larsen thought I was serious about sneaking into the club and chang
ing the sealed move . Rivise thought the whole thing was hilarious. Unfortu
nately, Larsen thought I was serious about my "plot, " and he wanted Rivise's
phone number so he could warn him against my dark plan. I gave him the
number (after telling him that I had already resigned the game), and he ac
tually called to make sure that I had indeed given up !
INTERVIEW WITH N ATIONAL M ASTER RONALD GROSS
The second "blip" was in 1 96 6 , when Larsen came to town for the
Piatigorsky tournament. I told him that I had been looking at some chess
with Fischer, but that Bobby didn't want a second. Then I asked Larsen if
he wanted a second, and said that I'd be happy to help in any way I could. 417
He got insulted. I guess he thought that Fischer had refused help, so it would
make him look bad if he accepted
my o ffe r. He actu ally s a i d , " I
would never take a second ! " Of
course, I wouldn't really be able to
help him - I wasn't close to him
in strength and he always had to
show me what was going on. But
my offer was made in innocence,
I just liked him and wanted to help
an old friend .
In 1 968 he returned to play in
the U . S . Open in Aspen, Colo
rado. He told me that he liked to
come to the U . S . and beat up on
American masters. He said, and I
quote, "I enjoy that very much. "
Larsen, in his p ri m e , battling Spassky at Santa
Larsen loved having a small night Mo n ica, 1 9 66.
cap, then sitting back and talking
about chess and/or politics (he always knew a lot about world politics) . One
night Browne, Tarjan, and I went to his room and we got into a long argu
ment about the necessity of NATO keeping an eye on things after the war.
He was completely against NATO . I knew a lot about NATO at that time,
and it kind of irritated him because I was making good points and holding
my own in the conversation. Finally he decided that it was late and that he
wanted to sleep, so we all left.
Next morning, I went to breakfast and all the newspapers had these huge
headlines about Russia invading Czechoslovakia. In the meantime, Larsen
was still sound asleep (he always slept late) . Anyway, I rushed upstairs with a
couple of these newspapers and pounded on his door. Eventually he answered,
visibly upset that I'd wake him up.
"Gross, what are you doing, waking me up at this hour? "
I guess I was overexcited, because I stuck both papers into his face and
said, "Remember what we were talking about last night? Well, look at these
headlines ! "
He was totally shaken. In fact, his face lost all its color. He opened the
blinds to let in light, told me that he had to read about it, and asked me to
leave so he could contemplate the whole situation. Ever since the '68 U . S .
Open, he's been cold and unpredictable in his behavior towards m e . At times
he's been friendly, and other times he's been rude or oddly distant.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
SILMAN: We seem to have forgotten about Benko, so let's get back to him.
Did you see Pal when he played in the 1 963 Piatigorsky Cup?
GRO S S : Pal always stayed with me whenever he came to Los Angeles. For the
418
Piatigorsky event, he arrived three weeks before it began. I remember us
preparing a line for Keres, who was a very difficult opponent for Benko.
The variation was: l . e4 e6 2 . d4 d5 3 .Nd2 e5 4.dxe5 dxe4 5 .Nxe4 Qxd 1 +
6.Kxd l . Later we found a bust to i t (Fischer thought that the position after
6.Kxd 1 was probably in White's favor, but he insisted that 5 . Qe2 ! simply
refuted the whole line.), but to my knowledge, this refutation still hasn't
been published. Anyway, in the second half of the tournament Benko was
Black against Keres. Pal played the French, Keres played 3 .Nd2 and, Pal
chickened out and played 3 . . .c5 . Benko lost this game and was very upset
afterwards for not giving it a try.
We actually did a lot of opening work before the Piatigorsky - he was
very serious about preparing for this event. He prepared a specific line in
the Griinfeld against Petrosian. During this game, Frank Sinatra sat next to
me in the audience, took a long look at the position, and said, "The champ's
going to win."
I told him that Benko was fine, and that we had prepared the very position
on the demo-board. Unfortunately, Sinatra proved to be right and Pal lost
the game.
Benko had a difficult time in this tournament. In fact, the very first round
set the tone: Pal was playing Sammy Reshevsky, a man who had no person
ality and no sense of humor. Sammy wasn't well liked by the other players.
The assistant tournament director who was in charge of that game was Jack
Moskowitz (an old time friend of Sammy's), and Benko was winning or draw
ing the game. Reshevsky's flag went down on the 3 8th move and the in
structions were very clear: it was not up to the players to claim, it was up to
the director. I saw the flag drop, but Benko was low on time and wasn't looking
at the clock. Then I looked at Jack's face and watched him stare directly into
the clock. He saw that Reshevsky had forfeited! Incredibly, he didn't say any
thing. After the 3 8th move was played by Benko, I still thought he'd notice
Reshevsky's fallen flag on the 3 9th (Reshevsky was very aware that his flag
had fallen !), but Jack still kept quiet.
After the game was played (and Pal managed to lose due to time pressure
errors), I told Benko and he was outraged. He asked me to bring this up to
Jack, and Jack looked a bit flustered and said that he didn't notice it, that he
wasn't sure if it fell or not; of course, I knew this wasn't true.
The Piatigorsky Cup was located in the Ambassador Hotel, and it was an
incredible event. A great location, the best players in the world under one
roof (Keres was very quiet and would vanish right away, he wasn't social at
all. Petrosian was the father confessor to many players - they would rush
up to him after a game and ask him what he thought.), Gregor Piatigorsky
and Koltanowski telling endless stories to anyone who would listen (with
INTERVIEW WITH N ATION AL MASTER RONALD GROSS
the exception of Larsen, these two were the greatest story tellers I've ever
seen) . . . an amazing tournament.
Afterwards, Gregor Piatigorsky gave Benko a signed album as a gift, and
Benko gave it to me as a thank-you for helping him prepare. 419
SILMAN: During the many times Benko stayed with you, did you ever see him
composing problems?
SILMAN: It's clear from your Piatigorsky story that you're not fond o f Reshevsky.
A young Fischer is on the far left, wh i l e Gross is i n the front row with shades, a striped s h i rt
and white sh oes. Ron and Bo bby were longti m e fri ends.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
EVANS : I owned a motel in Compton, California that had about twenty units,
all separate bungalows. I think it cost around $60,000. In 1 95 7 , we all drove
there from Dallas in a car that Art Zeller and I arranged to deliver for some
agency to Los Angeles. Benko, Larsen, Art Zeller, and myself were the oc
cupants, and the trip took several days . When we arrived, Benko was imme
diately smitten with my girlfriend Clementine, an aspiring actress who man
aged the motel when I was gone . Both Larsen and Benko rented a room
from me for about a month and we usually all played hearts at night.
EVANS: The going rate was $2 5 a week, but I can't recall ever collecting any
rent from either Benko or Larsen.
EVANS: I remember playing hearts with Benko more than I remember playing
blitz, but I have no reason to dispute Gross' account. We all got a laugh out
of Benko when he got caught with the queen of spades and accused us of
ganging up on him !
SILMAN: Ron also mentioned you in relation to some trips to Tijuana. Any
comments on these "adventures? "
EVANS: None. They happened and I won't deny i t a s I don't believe i n censor
ship!
42 1
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
SILMAN: You're famous for being a chess materialist. What did you think of
the Benko Gambit when he first started playing it? Also, did Fischer ever
share an opinion about it?
EVANS : I never discussed the Benko Gambit with Fischer, but always felt com
fortable a pawn up on the White side . I once gave Benko a chance to play it
against me in the U. S . Championship but he didn't avail himself of the op
portunity. I had prepared for that game and my idea was to quickly fianchetto
White's dark-squared Bishop in order to neutralize Black's counterplay on
the long a 1 -hS diagonal.
SILMAN: Both Benko and Gross enjoy talking about the ladies. Top sports fig
ures always have women clamoring after them, but professional chessplayers
don't seem to be as appealing. Did you ever find groupies in international
tournaments?
EVANS : No. The awful thing about chess is that there were no groupies. I hung
out with Fischer a lot in the Buenos Aires tournament and I introduced him
to a young lady there. It was the first time he ever got laid. Later I asked
him how he liked girls. "I'd rather play chess, " he said.
One problem with dealing with Sammy was his wife, who was a pest that
interfered in his games. At the U. S . Open in 1 9 5 5 I was analyzing some
game with Donald Byrne at the far end of the tournament hall while one of
Sammy's games was in progress. His wife came over and swept the pieces 423
from our board. "Stop analyzing my husband's game ! " she shrieked.
I recall that whenever he won a game on time
forfeit and it looked like a dispute was brewing,
he would simply get up and walk away in case
the decision was reversed. This happened in his
famous game with D enker where the referee
made a mistake and reversed the clocks, forfeit
ing Denker instead of Reshevsky.
When Sammy overstepped on time against me
at Buenos Aires 1 960 in a position which would
have been very difficult for me to win, I took a
page out of his book and vanished while he was
protesting. The forfeit stood. It took place in the
first round and I remember thinking this deci
sive result sent a message to the Russian players
there : the Americans played as individuals, not
as a team. S a mmy later ti e d fo r fi rst with
Korchnoi.
Sammy Reshevsky. Is th i s the face
SILMAN: The Byrne brothers? of the " Messiah of chess"?
(Photo courtesy U5CF,)
EVANS : Robert Byrne was a strong player, very se
rious about things in general . He was already a
master when I got into chess and he won our first few tournament games
until I evened the score later on.
Donald Byrne was more lighthearted than his brother and had a good sense
of humor. I always thought he was more talented than Robert, especially in
speed chess, but his tournament results weren't as good.
EVANS : Lombardy was very tough to beat. Mter I won the U. S . Champion
ship in 1 962 , we played a ten-game unofficial match that I won narrowly by
5 1'2 -4 1'2 after losing the first game. He made enemies at the board because
competition seemed to bring out something ugly in him. He got sore at the
church because they wouldn't use him as a goodwill ambassador by letting
him go to tournaments whenever he wanted.
I still remember him playing roulette during the National Open at a Reno
casino while smoking a cigar and enj oying himself immensely. Somehow it
seemed unpriestly. I always wondered what drove him to the church .
Bisguier was a great natural talent who, like Capablanca, was too lazy to
study openings. He was five years older than me and was already a master
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
when I got into chess. We later became good friends. He beat me at the
start and lost to me at the end of our careers.
SILMAN: When one thinks of American chess, Reuben Fine always comes to
mind. Did you ever play him?
EVANS : He and Reshevsky were two icons when I was a kid. We drew three
tournament games when I was very young. Fine lost his taste for chess after
turning to psychology. Unlike Reshevsky, he was interested in bettering the
plight of chess pros and fought for things on principle.
BENKO : Fischer shuffle chess was actually an idea of mine over thirty years ago,
though Fischer made changes to my original idea. I never liked theory and
thought that this would enable players to show their skills and not their memo
ries. Today, with computers and databases, this is more pertinent than ever.
Of course, Fischer used to be the greatest theoretician in the world, and
it's funny that he's endorsing this version of chess so he can avoid theory. I
mentioned this to him . . . told him that he used the system when it suited
him, but now he wants to bypass the question of theory because he doesn't
study anymore.
SILMAN: The game where Fischer beat you with a Rf6 sacrifice has been pub
lished everywhere. You were unrecognizable in that game. \Vhat happened?
BENKO : That was the U . S. Championship where Fischer got a perfect score .
He played Saidy in the last game . Tony sealed a bad move in a drawn posi
tion and lost.
Everyone thinks that this Rf6 game against me was something special, but
I don't know what's so great about it. I was exhausted for this game. I was up
all night necking in a car with a young lady . . . kissing and kissing. But it
didn't go beyond that, so the combination of no sleep and frustration led to
me losing badly to Bobby.
425
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND CO M POSITIONS
does not live by bread and chess alone, so if a pretty young lady wanted to
spend time with me, I was all for it.
SILMAN: I know you and Bobby are great friends, but not many friends would
426
have given up their spot to an Interzonal. Why did you do it?
SILMAN: It's well known that Fischer is anti-Semitic. However, don't you find
it odd that most of Fischer's friends are Jewish or have Jewish blood?
BENKO : Yes, most of them are Jewish, but that's because a large percentage of
players are Jewish. He doesn't really pay attention to individual Jews, his
look at it is much more expansive and impersonal. If he personalized it, put
a face on his "enemy, " he wouldn't be able to hold onto his delusion. For
example, Hollywood is virtually run by Jews, but Bobby loves to watch movies.
However, when it's over and the credits are running, Bobby will point to all
the Jewish names and say, "See! AJew . . . another Jew! And another! " Names
without faces again.
J;t's really sad, because Bobby has lost a lot of friends because of this. For
example, Edmondson, who was president of the USCF at one point, used to
go with Fischer to international tournaments and sit by the door. If some
one entered and made noise, he'd push him out of the room and close the
door in his face. For some reason, though, Bobby began to call Edmondson
a " CIA rat." I don't know exactly why. People try to be nice to him and he
treats them badly in return, but I don't think he really knows what he's
doing. Bobby is just oblivious.
SILMAN: Do you feel Fischer was the greatest player of all time?
BENKO : Yes I do. Fischer was the best opening player of his day, and he was very
sharp, very exact. Tactically he was good, but nothing like Tal - he would only
go into something that he could calculate. All in all, though, it's hard to beat
someone who had the will to win of an Alekhine and the crystal clear style of a
Capablanca, mixed with flawless openings and superb endgame play.
Another thing that made Fischer excel was his focus -he almost never
allowed anything to interfere with his concentration. I think he learned his
lesson in 1 960, in Argentina. He did horribly there because he got caught
INTERVIEW WITH GRANDMASTER P AL BENKO
up in women and sex. Every night he went out, and he only returned very
late. A player like Evans wouldn't be affected by this schedule, but it de
stroyed Bobby's game. Afterwards, Fischer said he'd never mix women and
chess together, and he kept that promise. 427
SILMAN: Fischer often complained about fixed games and prearranged draws.
How do you feel about this?
BENKO : I see nothing wrong with prearranged draws, it's a part of the game.
But losing on purpose is another matter. This is simply stealing, and it's com
pletely unacceptable. Actually, Fischer's complaints about people making draws
should have made him happy, because while they drew, he kept trying to
win every game, and this should have turned out to his advantage.
I've always been impressed by players who go all out to win. Larsen comes
to mind -a friendly man that I always liked and respected. He was a great
tournament player, had terrific self-confidence (as Fischer did), always play
ing every game to win, and was a fine chess psychologist.
I remember that Larsen had already qualified in the Amsterdam Inter
zonal, and he was playing Smyslov in the last round. Smyslov, who needed a
draw to quali fy, had White and approached Bent before the game and of
fered to make a quick draw. Larsen instantly refused ! This was shocking. By
the way, Larsen almost won this game, though it ended up as a draw anyway.
Of course, I've seen this kind of courage on a few other occasions . In
Hastings, Tal offered Timman a last-round draw that would give them both
equal first, and Timman refused. Also Seirawan did this at the Olympiad. I
was the team captain and he played second board. In our match against Rus
sia, Tal offered a draw to Yaz and he approached me and said, "Tal offered
me a draw but I think I'm better so I'm going to refuse." And he won a very
nice game. Impressive, because Tal had a big name while Vasser was young,
but he had faith in himself, which you need if you want to succeed.
SILMAN: The modern players always like to say that they are much stronger
than the players of old. I brought this up to Anand and asked him if he had
studied the classics, meaning the games of Steinitz and Lasker. Vishy said,
"Oh yes ! I once made a real study of Larsen's games. "
INTERVIEW WITH GR ANDMASTER P AL BENKO
BENKO : No, I don't think so. Of course, they are more booked up due to the
429
use of computers, but aside from that I don't see any big change in strength.
Yes, there are more good players today, but the best, like Botvinnik and
Smyslov, would still be great today. Don't forget that Tal was doing very
well right up until his death a few years ago, and Korchnoi is still kicking
the youngsters around.
BENKO : I'd have to think about this. I wouldn't want to make a big mistake
like Fischer did on his top-ten list when he left out Lasker. Now he tells me
that Lasker was a truly great player. He's changed his tune.
SILMAN: You are known as an endgame expert. How did you become adept at
this phase of the game?
BENKO : I've always felt at home in the endgame . Somehow I'm comfortable
there, and I quickly realized that most other players didn't handle endgames
very well. I suppose my studying Capablanca's games helped a lot. World
Champions tend to be very strong endgame players, though Tal was an
exception.
I have always loved the endgame since this phase of the game doesn't bow
to fashion like openings do. I realized how vitally important the endgame
was when I lost a Knight-and-pawn ending to the great Savielly Tartakower
during my first international tournament in Budapest 1 948 . Now, when I
analyze an endgame, I search for the basic ideas and seek to understand the
position rather than to memorize every possible sub-variation. Unfortunately,
a game of chess begins with the opening and finishes with an endgame. I
would rather have it the other way round.
SILMAN: You are also famous for hanging Rooks and getting into constant time
pressure. Do you have any comments on these two painful afflictions?
BENKO : I began hanging Rooks early in my career, and have hung in excess of
twenty Rooks over the years. I guess it's because they don't move for a long
time; you just forget about them until an endgame is reached!
I remember my game (a Benko Gambit!) against Hort. I was doing very
well when he offered to exchange a pair of Rooks. For some inexplicable rea
son, I just ignored him and left my Rook sitting there without protection. My
girlfriend came up to me and said, "They made a mistake on the demo board
and forgot to trade Rooks. " This problem came back to haunt me again and
again. I wasn't even discriminating -I'd hang Rooks versus anyone at any
time !
Time pressure, though, has always been my worst enemy, right from the
beginning of my career.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
SILMAN: At some point you must have tried to cure your time pressure
problem.
430 BENKO : I did, but I'd get so enraptured by the position's possibilities that I'd
forget all about my resolutions and let the time tick away. Early in my ca
reer, I played very well in time pressure. However, for some reason that I
can't quite grasp, my play became very unsteady when the flag got within a
couple minutes of falling. In fact, I even began to worry about getting into
time pressure during the game, which made me move slower since I wasn't
paying full attention to the actual position. In the end, the actual fear of
time pressure ultimately became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
BENKO: I started creating problems when I was young, though I didn't do many
endgame compositions until I was older. I ultimately decided that endgame
compositions were much closer to realistic chess, that the positions were
very similar to an over the board situation (unlike other compositions, that
would never occur in a game). Also, computers can solve normal mate prob
lems in a second or two. Endgame problems, though, are often too difficult
for even the strongest machine.
The prizes for compositions are very small amounts of money, so we do it
for love, not wealth . I can't describe the satisfaction I get from the creation
of a well-balanced composition !
About fifteen years ago, David Levy asked me to have a little contest with
one of his programs solving, first, three-move mates, and then four-move
mates. He set up a position, and as my eyes were focusing on the board,
before I really even looked at the position, the computer lit up (zoom !) and
gave the solution, virtually in less than a second. This happened over and
over for every three-move problem.
I was getting very discouraged, but the computer wasn't very good at four
movers, and I beat it. Now, of course, much longer problems are easy for
any of the commercial programs.
SILMAN: Who was the best problem solver you've ever met?
BENKO : Nunn was the best solver I've seen, and Suttles was also good at solv
ing problems- even blindfold. I just told him the position and he'd easily
solve it.
SILMAN: You talked about various players in the section on annotated games,
but there are some people who weren't addressed. First, let's start with
Addison.
journment against Portisch and he complained, saying that I was finding all
the good moves for his opponent!
As it turned out, his wife only agreed to marry him if he quit chess. After
this, Addison vanished from the chess scene. 43 1
SILMAN: How about Reti? Like you, he was a very strong player who also loved
compositions.
BENKO : He was one of the very best endgame composers, and his interest in
the subj ect was similar to mine in that he enjoyed positions that could occur
in real games. I remember being told how Reti was playing in a tournament
and a friend approached him and asked how he was doing in his game. Reti
said, "Never mind that. However, this is really interesting ! " Then he would
begin to discuss his latest endgame composition, and it was obvious that this
was a much greater passion for him than over-the-board play.
BENKO : Not much. In Spassky's prime, he was a great player. Later in life , he
became very lazy. He told me, "Fischer made me a millionaire, so why bother
working? "
SILMAN: Have you ever read Fine's book on chess psychology? What are your
impressions of him?
BENKO : He was an exceptionally strong player in his prime, but he quit the
game and never reached his highest potential. He became a pure Freudian,
and his book about chess psychology made very little sense. In that book, he
obsessed on the Queen, saying how people that swapped Queens hated women
. . . things like that. However, in Hungarian the word for this piece has no
female connotations -it's not a Queen! So this completely refutes his view
about all chess players being anti-woman due to their treatment of this one
piece !
PAL BENKO: M Y LIFE, GA M ES AND COM POSITIONS
His early books were very impressive. He told me that he wrote his endgame
book, Basic Chess Endings, in just three months, which in the days before
computers was amazing.
432
SILMAN: I've read many seedy tales of Matulovic's behavior. Care to shed any
light on this?
BENKO : Most of those tales are probably true! Matulovic would always play to
the bitter end so the game would look better on paper. Also, if he adjourned,
even if he was in a resignable position, he would entertain the hope that you
would oversleep and forfeit, or perhaps have an accident.
SILMAN: In the preface to one of your games, you mentioned playing Najdorf
blitz. You have any more memories about this sort of thing?
BENKO: The first time I played Naj dorf in Budapest he offered me 1 0- 1 money
odds at seven-minute chess. He was a much better blitz player than I was at
this time limit (I'd beat him at five), but I sat down and won the first two
games - then it was hopeless for him since I was already twenty up !
BENKO : Browne had good opening preparation . . . he was easy to prepare for,
but he knew his stuff very well. He's a tactician, a calculator, and this was the
cause of his endless time pressure.
I played Browne in Wijk aan Zee and we adjourned. He told me, "Why
don't we analyze and if it's a win for you, I'll resign ? " We started to analyze
and I kept winning every line. He'd try another defense, and I'd refute that
too. Finally I had to stop because I realized that he was just picking my brain.
Fortunately, I won the game. Afterwards, he chose me for his second in the
Canary Islands. Perhaps he liked the way I analyzed.
� with, I" me <>y th" my pCNon.1 int""ction with Pal Benko h"
been limited. Over the years I have been at many tournaments that he took part
in, but have played him only a few times and alas, seldom conversed with him.
As an admirer of his chess, however, I have always been struck by Benko's cre
ativity, most obviously in the area of endgames and studies, but less famously in
other aspects of his game. I will concentrate here upon Benko's extensive contri
butions to opening theory.
As a young player, I always watched Benko's games to see what he was doing
in the opening. He is not widely known as an opening theoretician, but in my
opinion he should be. As we shall see, Benko has repeatedly come up with new
moves and ideas in both rare and cutting-edge openings. Unlike most leading
U . S . players in the 1 95 0s to 1 970s, he was not afraid to try systems that he hadn't
played before and was quite unpredictable in the early phase of the game. When
I looked in my two million game database at a breakdown of openings by ECO
code for Benko's games, I found it remarkable how few codes were left empty.
That is, Benko has at some point played almost every established chess opening.
Furthermore, those database games constitute only a small sampling of his over
all praxis, which includes a great number of unsaved games from U . S . Swiss sys
tem tournaments.
One obvious clue as to Benko's importance in opening theory is that several
opening systems are named after him, most famously the B enko Gambit ( l . d4
Nf6 2 .c4 c5 3 . d5 b 5 ) , but also the Benko Variation of the Main Line King's
Indian Defense ( l 1 .g4 after 9 .Ne l Nd7 1 O. f3 f5) , the " Benko System" (a com
bination of Nf3 , g3 , and c4) , and the B enko Variation of the Sicilian Defense
( 1 . e4 c5 2 .Nf3 Nc6 3 . d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5 .Nc3 d6 6 . B c4 Qb6). As we shall
see, there are a number of other variations and moves that we take for granted
435
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
So I used up all of my time except for about 45 seconds, and then accepted the
draw. To my astonishment, my opponent said, "I didn't offer a draw" and tried
to continue the game. When I protested, he repeated himself. In this moment of
sheer panic, Benko, on the adjacent board and right in the middle of his usual 437
very serious time trouble, took the time to turn to my opponent and say "You
offered the draw, " settling the issue. Not only had Benko broken his concentra-
tion to support me but he had also given up his own chance for a first-place tie.
A trivial story, one might say, and Benko himself has probably forgotten it.
But I think that it illustrates his integrity, a trait perhaps less common among
top players than might be supposed. Reflecting upon the hypothetical reactions
by players that I have known over the years, I think that in the same situation a
great many of them would have been indifferent, saying nothing, or even se
cretly pleased that a competitor was embroiled in difficulties. Sadly, another group
would have done some silent calculations (being chessplayers) and self-interest
edly decided against interfering. I don't think that remaining silent would ever
have occurred to Benko, whose commitment to a fair result reflects his overall
character.
Let's move on to the openings.
T H E E N G LI S H O P E N I N G
When I wrote my first chess book, a four-volume work on the English Opening,
I already had a notion of Benko's facility in that opening by having watched him
play 1 .c4 in tournaments. In the course of my research for that series, I was so
impressed with his numerous ideas (with both White and Black) that I men
tioned him in my Introduction as one of the most important contributors ever
to the theory of l .c4 systems . Thus, while the following section is quite long, it
only represents a limited selection of Benko's games and innovations in the
English Opening.
The first games w e shall look a t feature Benko o n the white side o f the Sym
metrical English ( l .c4 c5). This is probably the most difficult defense for the
1 .c4 player to drum up chances against, although Black will often unbalance the
position to avoid a nagging disadvantage. Let's begin by looking at some games
in variations with high degrees of symmetry that have generally been considered
drawish, much more so than 1 .c4 e 5 or other 1 .c4 lines. Benko was nevertheless
consistently able to conjure up complex problems that tested the skills of his
opponents. Even top players weren't always up to solving them.
439
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
440
1 3 . . . Bxd4?! This is a natural move, and for some time it was the most important
response. The first thing to note here is that Benko himself had this position
with Black versus Bolbochan in Havana 1 966 and played 1 3 . . . Qb6, but without
achieving equality. That game went 1 4.NxdS exdS l S . Qxb6 ( I S . BxdS Qxb 3
1 6.Bxb3 Bxd4, 112_112, was Botvinnik-Smyslov, Moscow 1 9S 7 , an early game with
this line) I S . . . axb6 1 6.BxdS Rd8 ? ! 1 7 .Re l ! RaS ! ? 1 8 .Bb3 Bxd4, and now White
would have had a very nice position after 1 9.Be3 ! . It is therefore logical that
Benko now wanted to try his hand with White.
This is not an easy position, and theory demonstrates that there are many ways
to go wrong. In my opinion, 1 3 . . . Ne7 ! ? (intending . . . Nc6 or . . . NfS) is probably
best, despite its passive appearance, for example, 1 4.dS ( 1 4.Rd l Nc6 I S .Be3 Nxd4!
1 6.Bxd4 Bxd4 1 7 .Ne2 eS =, Pfleger-Matanovic, Hamburg 1 965) 14 . . . exdS I S .BgS
h6 1 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 1 7 .NxdS QeS 1 8 .Rab l Re8, Forintos-Sapi, Magyarorszag 1 969.
Naturally there is room for further exploration here. 14.Bh6 Bg7 14 . . . Re8
I S . Rad l Bxc3 1 6.bxc3 Qb6 1 7 .Qc4! Qc6 1 8 . Qe2 ! led to a winning attack in
Cardoso-E. Torre, Manila 1 9 7 3 , a game that inspired great interest in 1 3 .Qb3 .
For example, Torre himself later played 1 7 . Qa4 Qc6 1 8 .Qe4 as White, with per
haps an even bigger advantage. 1 5 .Bxg7 Kxg7 1 6.Bxd5! A new move, and con
siderably better than 1 6. Rfd l Qb6 1 7 .NxdS Qxb3 1 8 .axb3 exdS 1 9. RxdS Re8, or
here, 1 9 . . . a6 2 0.b4 Rb8 from Smyslov-Petrosian, Moscow 1 974. Benko's game
notes mention Black's successful defense in U. Andersson-Gheorghiu, Moscow
1 98 1 after 1 6.NxdS exdS 1 7 .BxdS as ! . Thus the formerly approved move 1 3 . . . Bxd4
is only cast into serious doubt by Benko's own strategy. 1 6 . . . exd5 1 7.Nxd5
BENKO AS WH ITE
White is surprisingly much better here, the dominating Knight and Black's
weakened dark squares causing the second player real difficulty, especially as the
natural 1 7 . . . Be6 runs into 1 8.Qc3 + f6 1 9 .Nc7 . See Benko's detailed notes in Game
1 3 4. The move 1 6.Bxd5 ! requires a great deal of positional insight, and this game 44 1
is very much worth playing over.
Posing Black all kinds of difficulties. The opening has been a great success for
White. 1 5 . . .Bh3!? 1 6.Rad l Bxg2 1 7.Kxg2 , with a nice advantage. See Game
93 for Benko's notes, and for the impressive conclusion.
The game Benko-Gilden, U.S. Ch. (Chicago) 1 974 features a line that was
to become ultra-theoretical over the years. Benko positionally outplayed his op
ponent in the opening and won a nice ending: l .NB c5 2.c4 b6 3 .g3 Bb7 4.Bg2
g6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Benko quotes 8 . Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qf4
Rc8 l O.Rd l Nh5 I l .Qe3 Nb4! ? 1 2 .Rb l ! Rxc4 1 3 .Ne5 "with wild complications, "
Panno-Ljubojevic, Petropolis 1 97 3 . This was later repeated and shown to favor
White. Today, the dominant move at the top level is 8 . . . d6, as played, e.g., in the
recent Kramnik-Kasparov Braingames World Championship match. 8 . . . Bxg2
9.Kxg2
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
442
An independent move that has, surprisingly, only been played five times that I
know of. By contrast, 1 1 .f3 has a long history; Benko quotes the game Capablanca
Botvinnik, Nottingham 1 9 3 6 : 1 1 . . . d 5 (Benko gives this an " ! " . These days,
1 1 . . .0-0 1 2 . e4 d6 with a Hedgehog is considered equal. The queen is well-placed
on b7 to support . . . a6 and . . . b 5 .) 1 2 .cxd5 Nxd5 1 3 .Nxd5 Qxd5
1 4.Bb2 0-0 1 5 . Q d 3 Rd8 1 6. Rfd l Nd7 , assessing this as good for Black. But it
was later discovered that 1 4 Be3 ! was better for White, just as in the game here
(and a bit more so). Thus, although his assessment of 1 1 .f3 is not correct, Benko's
basic idea in the game is justified by later theory.
BENKO AS W H ITE
1 1 ...d5? Benko queries this move and suggests castling with . . . d5 to come,
since White cannot play e4. This is true, although later theory about Hedgehog
positions suggests that White doesn't really want to play e4 in a position like
this anyway. Therefore Black might try 1 1 . . .0-0 1 2 . e 3 ! ? RdS ( 1 2 . . . d5 1 3 .cxd5 443
Nxd5 1 4.Qf3 RdS 1 5 . Rd 1 , with a slight edge) 1 3 .Ba3 d6 (worse is 1 3 . . . d5 1 4.cxd5
Nxd5 1 5 .Nxd5 Rxd5 1 6 . Q f3 ) 1 4.Qe2 Nbd 7 , and if White has any advantage, it's
very small. 1 2 .cxd5 Nxd5 1 3 .Nxd5 Qxd5 1 4.Be3! An idea that Benko came up
with over the board. He correctly avoids 1 4.Bb2 0-0 and . . . RdS . 1 4.Be 3 ! had
been played once in Kottnauer-Bondarevsky, Moscow 1 946, but was not fol
lowed up accurately. 14 ... Nc6 1 5 .Nxc6 Qxc6 1 6.Rc 1
1 6 ... Qe6 Benko suggests 1 6 . . . Qb7 , when 1 7 .Qd3 0-0 l S.Rfd l still threatens Qd7.
Then the Kottnauer-Bondarevsky game went lS ... h 5 , when 1 9.Qd7 would have
still maintained the advantage. But perhaps l S . . . RfcS 1 9.RxcS+ RxcS 2 0 . Qd7 Qa6
was worth trying (2 1 .QdS+ BfS). 1 7 .Qd3 h5?! Benko explains that Black didn't
like 1 7 . . . 0-0 l S . Rfd 1 , but this should still be tried, e.g., l S . . . Bf6 1 9.Qd7 Qe5
2 0 . Rc7 a6. 1 8.Qb5+ Kf8 1 9.Rfd 1 h4 20.Qd5! Qxd5 2 1 .Rxd5, and the ending
favored White considerably-see Game 1 2 2 .
444
14 ... Qf6! ? As a general principle, one should avoid the exchange of Queens against
Benko! Better was 14 . . . Qe7. 1 5.Qxf6 Nxf6 16.Ne5 Nxe5 1 7.Bxb7 RabS I S .Ba6!
RfdS 19.Nb5 Rxd 1 + 20.Rxd l Nc6 2 1 .a3 ! with a virtually decisive advantage,
since Rc 1 (or Rd6) comes next. A deceptively simple performance.
I 1 .Na4! A surprising leap to the side of the board, which not only threatens
the c-pawn, but opens up the powerful Bishop on b2 . 1 1 .. .Nd7 B enko prefers
1 1 . . .b6, but then Black's awkward queenside can be exploited by 1 2 .Ne5 . 1 2 .Bxg7
Kxg7 1 3 .Qd2 e6? As B enko says in his notes, this weakens d6. S till, something
like 1 3 . . . Qc7 1 4. Rad l Rd8 1 5 . Qb2 + Kg8 1 6 .Ng5 ! , with moves like Bd5 and Ne4
in mind, will prove awkward for the second player. 1 4.Rfdl Qe7 1 5 .Ng5 , head
ing for d6 via e4. See how Benko converted this clear advantage in Game 92 .
445
8.a3 A Symmetrical English has arisen with Black having no theoretical problems.
But in practice, Benko could be deadly in such positions. A great example is his
imaginative opening versus Averbach in Game 2 6 . 8 ... Bd7 Here S . . . a5 9.Rb 1 NeS
transposes into Benko-Zuckerman, Atlantic Open 1 967. Of course, this is per
fectly equal; but within a few moves, an original Benko idea throws his opponent
completely off: 1 O.Bd2 Nc7 1 1 .Na4! RbS? ! ( 1 l . . .Ra6 - Benko) 1 2 .Nb6 Bf5 1 3 .Bc3
Qc3 +, e 3 , and d4, so Black tries to resolve things straightaway: 14 ...Nxb5 1 5 .cxb5
Nd4 ! ? I S . . . Na7 1 6 .a4 eS ! ? would be fine. 1 6.Nxd4 exd4 1 7.a4 Re8 At some
point hereabouts, the opening is formally over, but the game retains its funda-
446 mental characteristics almost to the end. 1 8.Qd2 b6? Now Black will be pas
sively placed after b4. 1 8 . . . Qb6 was better. 19.b4 e5 20.bxa5 bxa5 2 1 .Rfc1 Qb6
22 .Rxe8 ! Rxe8 2 3 .Rc 1 Calm and collected : White has a protected passed pawn,
and the pawn on as has to be tended. 2 3 " .Re5 2 3 . . . Rd8 24.BdS h6 2 S .e3 , or
even 2 S .Qc2 Rc8 2 6 . Qxc8 ! Bxc8 2 7 .Rxc8 intending things like Rc6-a6 and pushing
the b-pawn. 24.Rxe5 ! dxe5 2 5 .Qa2 ! It's impressive to see how Benko works
with such simple ideas. Now QdS-b7 is a real threat. 25 . . . Be6 26.Bd5 Kf6
Now it looks like Black has gotten his King close enough to defend, but . . . 27.Qe4!
g5 ! A good try. Otherwise, for example, 2 7 . . . Ke7 2 8 .Bxe6 ! fxe6 2 9 . Qc 1 ! Kf6
3 0. Qh6 would win straightaway. 28.Bxe6 fxe6 29.Qc 1 ! The Queen's moves have
a subtle geometry worthy of Benko's studies. Now it can fight against the King
almost by itself, since Black's Queen is tied to the b-pawn: 29 . . . h6 3 0.h4 Qd6
3 1 .hxg5 + hxg5 3 2 .Qb l Qb6 3 3 .Qf1 e4 34.Qh3 Qd8 3 5 .Qh6+ Ke5 36.Qg7+
Kd6 3 7.dxe4 g4 3 8.Qb7, and White won easily. This is a case of winning posi
tional play that extended from the opening all the way to the endgame .
Benko-Seirawan, Lone Pine 1 978, Game 1 3 1 in this book, sees Benko quickly
entering into and exploiting another Queenless middlegame : l .Nf3 Nf6 2 .e4
e5 3 .Nc3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5 .e4 Benko won a couple of nice games with this
idea of Nimzowitsch. 5 . . . Nxc3 6.dxc3 ! ? Traditionally the most important move
here has been 6.bxc3 , when 6 . . . g6 7 . d4 is a Griinfeld Defense. 6 ... Qxd 1 + 7.Kxd l
BENKO AS W H ITE
A typical opening result for Benko: the Queens come off and White has the bet
ter practical chances with a slight theoretical edge. Among other contests, Euwe
Palmason, Munich 1 9 5 8 and Miles-Tal, Las Palmas 1 97 7 preceded this game, as
did two games by Andersson (versus Diesen and Timman); but Benko was quick 447
to notice the latter ventures and refine the ideas. 7 . . . Nc6 8.Be3 e6 The best
move was 8 . . . b6 ! , with White only slightly better. 9.Kc2 b6? ! Benko: "This looks
solid, but the newly weakened light-squares on a6 and c6 will haunt Black for a
long time. " Instead, 9 . . . Bd7 1 0 .Be2 Be7 1 1 .Rhd 1 0-0-0 1 2 .Rd2 f6 1 3 .Rad 1 was a
little better for White in Cvetkovic-Palatnik, USSR-Yugoslavia 1 976 (played before
this game) . 1 0.BbS Bd7 l 1 .a4! a6 1 2 .Be2 Now Black has surprising difficulties
due to his weaknesses.
l .c4 Nf6 2 .Nc3 cS 3 .NB dS 4.cxdS NxdS S .e4 Nb4 At the time, this was a
major theoretical line, being explored again after a long absence from interna
tional play. 6.Bc4 Nd3 + 7.Ke2 Nf4+ 8.Kfl Be6?
Here Benko showed for the first time why this move is a mistake (8 . . . Ne6 is
correct) : 9.BbS + ! Bd7 9 ... Nc6? 1 0.d4, when the fact that both d 5 and Bxf4 are
threatened is fatal for Black. 1 O.d4 cxd4 In this and the next few notes, we see
Benko's line confirmed by later games. Here 1 O . . . Ne6 1 1 . d5 Nc7 1 2 .Bxd7+ Nxd7
1 3 .Bf4 is also great for White, Engelbrecht-Molineus, Germany 1 99 5 . I 1 .Nxd4
Ng6 ! 1 1 . . . e 5 1 2 .Bxf4 exf4 1 3 .Qh5 ! is hard to meet, e.g., 1 3 . . . Bxb 5 + 1 4. Qxb 5 +
Nd7 ( 1 4 . . . Qd7 1 5 . Q e 5 +) 1 5 .Rd 1 Q b 6 1 6.Nd5 Qxb 5 + 1 7 .Nxb5 with a winning
advantage, Chytilek-Langner, corr. 1 99 7 . 1 2 .Be3 e6 1 3 .Qb3 Be7 1 4.Rd l Qc8
I S .Rc 1 with a substantial advantage. White played g3 , Kg2 , and Rhd 1 , when his
control of more space and his better-placed pieces (note the awkward Knight on
g6, for example) made it hard for Black to unwind.
448
Benko's original note here (from an old Chess Life magazine) reads: " ? ! The usual
move is 7 .Nc2 . I must admit that I wasn't sure which Knight move was correct
and I chose the inferior one. The purpose of 7 .Nc2 is to avoid the pin that Black
now applies and to be able to defend the c-pawn with Ne3 if necessary. Even so,
7 .Nb3 is not so easy to refute. 7 . . . NeS looks dangerous but 8 . e4 Nfg4 9. Qe2
is safe . "
This i s a n interesting note for more than one reason. First, 7 .Nb3 h a s been
the main move in this incredibly popular position for almost 30 years, but wasn't
appreciated at the time of this game. Today, by contrast, Hansen's recent book
on the Symmetrical English treats 7 .Nb 3 exhaustively, devotes a bit more than a
page to 7 .NdbS , and doesn't mention 7 .Nc2 at all ! My own (originally 1 980)
book gives just one game with 7 .Nc2 dS ! . Older books claim that 7 .Nb3 was
introduced (or given its boost, more likely), in Taimanov-Geller, USSR Ch. 1 9S S .
Schwarz's English Opening book ( 1 96 3 ) quotes only that game while devoting
the rest of his space to 7 .Ndb S . And Taimanov himself switched back to 7 .Nc2
versus Korchnoi in 1 967 ! Thus there does seem to be a large gap of time before
7 .Nb3 caught on. Regardless of his later assessment, Benko's "mistaken" em
ployment of 7 .Nb3 here is one of the very earliest appearing in books and data
bases, and his choice shows typically good instincts. 7 . . . Bh4 7 . . . NeS 8 . e4 Bb4
9 . Qe2 is the modern main line. Benko is of course right that 7 .Nb3 is not easy
to refute ! 8.Bg2 d5 9.cxd5 9.0-0 dxc4 1 O. B e 3 has also been played. With his
move, Benko prepares to sacrifice a pawn. 9 . . .Nxd5 1 0.0-0! Nxc3 Even this
move goes unmentioned in Hansen and ECO; the older theory disappears! l 1 .hxc3
Be7 Way too risky is 1 1 . . .Bxc3 1 2 .Be3 . 1 2 .Be3 Qa6 1 2 . . . Qc7 has been the more
common move, although 1 3 .Nd4 Bd7 14.Rb l ( 1 4.NbS Qb8 I S .Rb l is also thought
to be good for White) 1 4 . . . a6 I S .Nxc6! Bxc6 1 6.Bxc6+ Qxc6 1 7 . Rb6, with the
better game was Gulko-Sokolov, Parnu 1 97 7 , "planning Qa4, Rib l , " according
to my own book.
BENKO AS W H ITE
449
It seems this game pretty much put 1 2 . . . Qa6 out of commission- the Queen
move seems to have been tried only once more and ended up losing in the same
manner! 1 3 .Bc5 0-0 1 3 . . . Bxc5 1 4.Nxc5 allows Qd6 next. But now 1 4 . Bxc6 Bxc5
gives White nothing. 1 4.Qd3 ! A very nice move. Just when Black seemed to be
getting out, Benko espies a very favorable ending. 14 ... Qxd3 1 5.exd3 Rd8 1 5 . . . Re8
1 6. Rab l a5 1 7 .Bxe7 Rxe7 1 8 .d4! Rc7 1 9 .Nc5 Ra7 2 0 .Rb5 Kf8 2 1 . Rfb i com
pletely tied Black down in the later game Galic-Bogdanovic, Saraj evo 1 974.
Reshevsky's move isn't any better. 1 6.Bxc6 ! Bxc5 1 7.Nxc5 bxc6 1 8.£4!
And White has a decisive advantage based upon his magnificent Knight versus
the miserable Bishop on c8. See Game 86 for the conclusion.
The English Opening with l .c4 e 5 was nowhere near a s developed during
Benko's peak international playing years as it is now. As White, Benko helped to
solve certain important positions (his examples are still those cited), and at the
same time he failed to establish that other, experimental, moves gave White enough
positive chances. In many lines, we can follow the actual development of En
glish Opening theory through his games.
To this day, what we call the Closed English (1 .c4 e5 2 .Nc3 Nc6 3 .g3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7) is popular and closely contested up through the grandmaster level.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
From the opening of Benko-Emma, Skopj e 1 972, one can learn pretty much
everything that is known about an older but still important variation: l .c4 Nc6
2 .g3 e5 3 .Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e3 d6 6.Nge2 Be6 ! ? 7.d4 Remarkably, the
450 natural move 7 .NdS is no longer mentioned by either Hansen or ECO (the pri
mary sources on l .c4 eS), although at the time of my book I devoted a whole
column to it. Why this is remarkable is that against all conventional moves, White
almost certainly has the advantage, since Black has a difficult time dealing with
the Knight on d S . So (and one would think that a player of either color would
want to know this), the only real reason not to play 7 .NdS is 7 . . . Nce7 ! :
Benko is also involved i n the theory of this move, although without success:
S . d4 (S .Nxe7 Nxe7 9.Bxb7 RbS , and White must either return the pawn or sub
j ect himself to a dangerous counterattack, e.g. 1 0.Bg2 Bxc4 I 1 . Qa4+ BbS 1 2 .Qxa7
0-0 1 3 .Nc3 Bd3 1 4. B e4 Bxe4 I S .Nxe4 dS 1 6 .Nc3 d4, and Black is obviously
better) S . . . c6 9.Nxe7 Nxe7 1 0. d S Bg4 1 1 .f3 ? ! ( 1 l .h 3 = Hort; after 1 1 . . . Bxe2
1 2 . Qxe2 cxdS 1 3 .cxdS 0-0 1 4.0-0 fS , Black threatens . . . e4, but I S . e4 fxe4 1 6.Bxe4
NfS intending . . . Qb6, . . . Nd4 and . . . RacS is at least equal.) 1 1 . . .Bd7 1 2 .Nc3 cxdS
1 3 .cxdS b S ! , with advantage for Black, B enko-Hort, Venice 1 969. Hort was also
successful with 7 . . . N ce 7 ! versus Panno in Palma de Mallorca 1 969 and in later
contests. It was actually played once before by Levenfish in 1 949, but it's un
likely the players knew about it! 7 . . .exd4 Benko cites 7 . . . Bxc4 S . d S (In my En
glish 1 . . . e S book, I also give a wild and unclear line beginning with S .Qa4! ? )
S . . . Bxe2 9.Qxe2 N b S 1 O.QbS+ N d 7 I 1 . Qxb7 R b S of Larsen-Suttles, but a s the
game notes point out, after 1 2 . Qxa7 ! White has a pawn as well as his other ad
vantages- this is too much for Black to expect from his position.
Other moves that are played here include 1 1 . . . QbS 1 2 . QxbS + RxbS 1 3 .e4, and
although Black has nagging play with a combination of . . . NcS and . . . fS , it's hard
to argue against the two Bishops or, for that matter, the holes on Black's queenside.
Finally, the best move is probably 1 1 . . .Ne7 which prepares . . . fS/. . . fxe4/ . . . NfS - d4
in some positions; again, White's position is preferable, but at least this might
make life interesting. 8.Nxd4
BENKO AS W H ITE
45 1
8 ...Nxd4 8 . . . Bd7 (given as equal in old analysis by Schwarz) 9.0-0 Nge7 1 0.Nde2 !
gave White a nice edge due to his control over d5 in Mikenas-Podgaets, USSR
Ch. 1 97 0 . 9.exd4 Ne7 ! ? B enko quotes Quinteros-Hort, Vincovci 1 97 0 , which
went 9 . . . Qd7 1 0 .0-0 Ne7 1 1 .Re 1 0-0 1 2 . d 5 Bf5 1 3 .h3 ! , with a clear advantage.
1 0.d5 ! As Benko points out, 1 O.Bxb7 O-O! 1 1 .Bxa8 Qxa8 1 2 . d 5 Bh3 would be
extremely difficult in practice. 1 0 ... Bd7 1 1 .0-0 0-0 1 2 .Ne4!
Here is the simple but ingenious positional idea that discouraged Black from us
ing this line in practical play; the Ne4 idea also applies to a number of similar
positions with this pawn structure. White makes it awkward for Black to better his
piece position, while .. .f5 will always be badly weakening. 12 . . . h6 On 1 2 . .. Nf5 ,
1 3 .Bg5 obviously favors White. 1 3 .Bd2 f5 Not 1 3 . . . Bxb2 1 4.Bxh6, and versus the
natural 1 3 . . . Re8, White might play 1 4.Bc3 Bxc3 1 5 .Nxc3 Nf5 1 6 .Ne4! - the
Knight returns to threaten g4 and Qd4 or Qb3 -c3 . 14.Nc3, and Black's kingside
and e6 are seriously weakened. See Game 1 09 for the continuation. Such ideas as
1 O.d5 and 1 2 .Ne4 look simple, but they bespeak the play of a positional master.
452
Aiming for something between a 2 .c3 Sicilian Reversed and an Alekhine De
fense Reversed. Black has found solutions to this approach (which costs White
some time), so 4.d4 is most popular today. 4 ... e4 5 .Nd4 d5 6.exd5 Qxd5 ! 7.Ne2
Qh5 8.h3 To prevent . . . Bh3 , which has at least equalized in several games. 8 ... Be5
Both sides are very likely just winging it here. Over a decade later, Black estab
lished that 8 . . . Qg6 9.Nc3 Bd6 was a good setup, when 1 O.Ne3 0-0 I l . Qc2 Re8
protects Black's strongpoint in the center. Tal's 8 . . . Bc5 is not bad, but the Bishop
can either be hit by b4 or in some cases lose a tempo when White's Queen comes
to c2 . 9.Nc3 Qf5 ? !
9 . . . Qg6 still seems best. Tal probably wanted to threaten f2 i n order t o avoid
ideas like 1 O .b4 with ideas of a quick fianchetto or further harassment of Black's
Bishop. 1 0.Ne3 ! Bxe3 1 1 .dxe3 0-0 1 2 .Qe2 Re8 1 3 .f4! ? A bold but probably
incorrect decision. One feels that simply 1 3 .0-0 would have kept an advantage.
Perhaps Benko was banking upon Tal 's unwillingness to exchange Queens.
13 ... Na6 ! ? There is nothing at all wrong with this move, but now Benko gets
the positional game he wants. Could Tal have tried 1 3 . . . exf3 1 4. Qxf5 fxg2 ! ?
( l 4. . . Bxf5 1 5 . exf3 Bd3 or 1 5 . . .Na6 is also o f interest) 1 5 .Qf3 gxh l =Q+ 1 6 . Qxh l
Bf5 followed by . . . Na6-c5 ? This seems roughly equal, and i n any case not much
fun for White to play. 14.g4 Now White's structure makes a better impression.
14 . . .Nh4 1 5 .Qa4 Qe5 1 6.a3 Nhd5 1 7 .Nd l ! ? Nd7 Here 1 7 . . . b 5 ! was better.
1 8.Bxe4 Qe7 1 9.Bf3 Ne5 20.Qe2 White holds some advantage, and in a battle
between young players on their respective student teams, the more experienced
Benko slowly outplayed his soon-to-be-famous opponent. For the tragic last few
moves of this contest, however, see the comments before Game 44.
BENKO AS W H ITE
Benko played many games with similar setups. I will cite several in the middle
of the following game, Benko-Zuidema, Belgrade 1 964: l .g3 Few grandmas
ters used this flexible move at the time. The possibilities for transposition abound;
45 3
here the game becomes an English opening. 1 . ..e5 2 .c4 Benko entered this kind
of English opening often before it became popular. He lost a few key games
with it, e.g., to Tal and Korchnoi; but those were not due to the opening. As so
often with Benko's openings, the system can hardly be considered advantageous,
but he got out of that era's book and immediately tested his opponent. 2 . . . c6
For positional gems against 2 . . . d6 and 3 . . . fS , see Benko-Formanek and Benko
Bisguier, Games 84 and S l . The latter game, featuring the modern 6.Nh3 and
the counterattack with 8 . cS ! , is another example of Benko's facility with English
Opening positions.
Finally, Benko outplayed the formidable Larsen with the same system as fol
lows: 2 . . . d6 3 .Nc3 fS 4.Bg2 Nf6 S . d 3 Be7 6.NB 0-0 7 .0-0 Kh8 8.M! as 9.bS
Nbd7 1 0.Ba3 Qe8 1 1 .Rc l Rb8 1 2 . e 3 ! Nb6
1 3 .cS ! dxcS 1 4.Nxe S , and White was much better; see Benko's notes in Game
7 0 . 3 .Nf3 3 . Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 e4 S .Nd4 would transpose into the above-analyzed
game Benko-Tal from 1 9S 7 . 3 . . . e4 4.Nd4 d5 5 .d3 ! ?
A move hardly ever seen. Amazingly, there are only a few games with i t in my
database, and the two Benko games here are still the only ones quoted by theory!
As usual, he was trying to pose problems at the earliest stage, and had some
success in doing so. Again, S . cxdS QxdS 6 .Nc2 (6 . e 3 might be met by 6 . . . Nf6
7 .Nc3 Q e S 8 . d 3 B c S ) 6 . . . Nf6 7 . Nc3 QhS transposes to Benko-Tal above .
PAL BENKO: M Y LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
and White's development gives him some advantage after the e-pawn falls, Benko
Tal, Cura�ao 1 962 . 6.Bd2 Qb6 7.Bxb4 Qxb4+ 8.Qd2 Qxd2 + 9.Nxd2 exd3
1 O.e3
BENKO AS W H ITE
In this position, White has a small pull in the kind of Queenless middlegame
that Benko excels in. 1 0. e4 ! ? would have been an active move, but the text is
more subtle: Black's queen Bishop is slightly worse than White's, and White can
wait to play cxd 5 , since . . . dxc4 Iets a Knight in to attack the weakened d6 square. 455
This isn't much, but Black has to be careful. 10 . . . Nf6 I 1 .Bxd3 0-0 1 2 .cxdS
NxdS 1 2 . . . cxd5 B .Re l ! prevents . . . Nc6 and gives White easy play against the
IQP and down the c-file. ECO gives the position after 1 2 . . . Nxd5 as equal, and
that's close to being true, but see how Benko cashes in on his slight lead in de
velopment and his extra center pawn (a la the Sicilian) : 1 3 .Re l I think that
B .O-O-O ! ? is obj ectively more accurate, as Black can now equalize. 1 3 . . . Nd7
1 4.Be4 ! ? An exotic maneuver designed to lure the d7-Knight to f6 (instead of
e5), and then expand by e4. It successfully confuses his opponent. 1 4. e4 is pre-
mature due to 14 . . . Nb4 1 5 .Bb l Ne5 . 14 ... N7f6 1 S .Bb l Bd7 ? ! Instead, 1 5 . . . Bh3 !
1 6.Nc4 would be double-edged. 1 6.e4 Ne7 1 7.0 ! as I S.Kf2 Now White's po-
sition is very harmonious, for example, Rhd l and Nc4-d6 is in the air. In a few
moves, Benko gains a clear advantage: I S . . . b6 1 9.a4 cS 20.NbS Nc6 2 1 .Nc4
RabS 22 .Rbd l Be6 2 3 .Rd6, and White, with his superior central and queenside
position, went on to win.
Another difficult opening system, this time aimed against the King's Indian
Defense formation, involves the so-called Botvinnik System. Benko was instru
mental in its development, as we will see in the notes to Benko-Panno, Mos
cow 1 956: l .c4 Nf6 2 .Nc3 g6 3 .e4 eS 4.g3 Bg7 5 .Bg2 In a similar c4/e4 setup
against Steiner in Budapest 1 948, Benko showed the advantages of playing Nge2
and 0-0 before d3 . One positive is that White can sometimes play d4 in one step
(as we will see), or in other cases, the move f4 can threaten f5 before Black has a
chance to meet it by, say, . . . Nf6-e8 and . . . f5 . Despite this, the major sources now
tend to have every c4/e4 variation transpose from 5 . d 3 . Benko-Steiner went l .c4
e5 2 .Nc3 g6 3 .g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d6 5 . e4 Ne7 6 .Nge2 Be6 7 . d4! (This is based upon
7 . . . Bxc4 8 . Qa4+) 7 . . . Qc8 8 . 0-0 0-0 9 . d 5 Bd7 (9 . . . Bh3 1 O .Be3 Bxg2 I l .Kxg2 f5
1 2 .f3 and besides greater space, White has much the better Bishop) 1 O.Be3 b6
1 1 .b4! .
A very modern approach which has been found to secure a slight advantage.
Now Black has a hard time finding a plan: 14 . . . KhS ( 1 4 . . . Nd4 l S .Bxd4! exd4
1 6.Nef4! Bh6 1 7 .Qb2) l S .Bh6 Bxh6 1 6. Qxh6 NgS 1 7 . Q d2 fxe4 l S .dxe4 Bh3
1 9.Qc3 ! , and White, eyeing the cS break, was better. Back to Benko-Panno: 5 .. d6 .
6.Nge2
Botvinnik brought the e4/c4 structure to general attention by proving that White's
hole on d4 is counter-balanced by other advantages, for example, Black's diffi
culty in playing . . . dS and the risks of .. . fS , which can be answered by exfS and
either Qd2 and Bh6 or f4, in both cases with positional pressure. Better still,
White has attacking plans on both sides of the board: f4-fS and b4-bS . 6 . . . 0-0
7.0-0 Be6 8 .d3 c6 A double-edged idea: Black would like to enforce . . . d S , but
he foregoes the natural developing move . . . Nc6. Furthermore, White can now
consider defending his c-pawn and playing for d4. 9.h3 ! ? A remarkable move,
allowing Black to gain a tempo in support of his . . . dS plan. White would like to
play f4 without being harassed by . . . Ng4 and . . . Qb6+. The move h 3 is very com
mon in such positions if . . . Nc6 is in, but it takes some good calculation and posi-
BENKO AS W H ITE
tional sense to make it work once . . . c6 and . . . Be6 have been played. Another
attractive option was 9.b3 (threatening d4), since 9 . . . d 5 ? fails after 1 O. exd5 cxd5
I I .Bg5 ! (when 1 1 . . . dxc4 1 2 . Bxb7 Nbd7 1 3 .dxc4! wins a pawn with no counterplay
for Black). 9 . . . Qd7 1 O.Kh2 d5 ? ! Surprisingly (and as Benko had anticipated), 457
this natural move is a mistake. However, White also looks better after 1O . . . Na6
1 l .f4! , for example, 1 1 . . .Rad8? ! 1 2 .f5 ! gxf5 1 3 .Bg5 ! with a clear advantage. I l .exd5
cxd5 1 2 .d4!
The most aggressive move, since 1 2 .Qb3 e4! is unclear. 12 ... e4 12 . . . dxc4? 1 3 .dxe5
Ne8 1 4. f4 is depressing for Black; and he is also worse after 1 2 . . . exd4 1 3 .Nxd4
dxc4 1 4.Nxe6 fxe6 1 5 .Qe2 ! ? ( 1 5 .Bf4 is also interesting) 1 5 . . . Rc8 ( 1 5 . . . Qc8 1 6. Re l
Re8 1 7 .Nb5 !) 1 6. Rd l (or 1 6.Re l ) 1 6 . . .Q f7 1 7 .Rd6 ! . 1 3 .cxd5 Bxd5 14.Nxd5 Qxd5
1 5 .Nc3 Qf5
Or 1 5 . . . Qc6 1 6.f3 ! ? exf3 1 7 .Bxf3 , for example, 1 7 . . . Qd7 ( 1 7 . . . Qb6 1 8 .Na4) 1 8 .Bg5
h6 1 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 2 0 .Bg4! Qxd4 2 1 . Qf3 , and White has too many threats. 1 6.Qb3
The opening is over and Black has been positionally outplayed. Here 1 6.f3 ! was
also strong. 16 ...Nc6 1 7.Be3 Rad8 1 8 .Rad l Rd7 1 9.Kgl ! Threatening g4 with
out having to worry about . . . Nxg4. 1 9 . . . h5 20.d5 ! Ne7, and at this point simply
2 1 .f3 ! would have won outright: 2 1 . . . exf3 2 2 .Rxf3 Qe5 2 3 .Bd4, etc. Unfortu
nately, Benko only drew, and this excellent game was consigned to obscurity.
The next two games involve . . . Bc5 systems for Black, with Benko adding a
little twist to the opening move order. In Benko-Consulich, Venice 1 974, there
results merely a transposition: l .c4 e5 2 .g3 Nf6 3 .Bg2 Nc6 4.NB
PAL BENKO: M Y LIFE, GA M ES AND CO M POSITI ONS
458
Surprisingly, this interesting "trick" (to avoid . . . Bb4 lines by delaying Nc3 ) doesn't
appear in the major sources like Hansen, ECO, and even my own 1 979 work. In
theory's defense, the alternative 4.Nc3 Bb4 (what Benko says he was avoiding)
5 .Nd 5 ! has been considered better for White -perhaps Benko didn't trust the
lines after 5 . . . Bc5 , although most sources then give 6 . e 3 as yielding White a small
advantage . Interestingly, 4.NB has gradually caught on during the 1 980s and
1 990s. Gelfand, for example, has used it several times. 4 . . . Bc5 I can't find many
games predating Benko's use of 4.NB (although Euwe played it in 1 92 6) . One of
them went 4 . . . d5 5 .cxd 5 Nxd5 (an idea used fairly often in recent times), when
6 . 0-0 Be7 7 . d4! ? (7 .Nc3 transposes into a normal Dragon Reversed) 7 . . . e4 8 .Ne5
f5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 1 O.Nc3 0-0 1 l . f3 ! ? exB 1 2 . BxB with perhaps a slight edge, Zita
Hromadka, Prague 1 943 . There is of course newer theory on this line. 5 .d3 0-0
6.0-0 d6 7.Nc3 Bd7 ? ! 8.e3 , and we have one of the admittedly rather slow
versions of l .c4 e5 2 .Nc3 Nf6 3 .NB Nc6 4.g3 B c 5 , with White effectively a
tempo up due to . . . B d 7 . His best plan is probably b 3 , Bb2 , and an eventual break
by d4, perhaps preceded by a3/ . . . a 5 . See Game 1 2 3 for the game continuation.
The next game, Benko-Rossolimo, Novi Sad, 1 972, has also disappeared
from theory. In my 1 979 book, I called Benko's performance "ingenious and worthy
of study. " I still think so: l .g3 e5 2.c4 Nf6 3 .Bg2 Nc6 4.NB Bc5 5 .Nc3 d6
6.d3 a5 7.0-0 h6 8.e3 0-0 9.b3 Bg4 1 O.h3 Bf5 I 1 .Bb2 Re8 1 2 .a3
1 7.g4! Now, after so much preparation, Benko grabs space and then cracks open
the position for his Bishops: 17 ... Be6 1 8 .b4 Bb8 l S . . . axb4 1 9.axb4 exposes Black
to doubling on the a-file. 1 9.bS Nd8 20.Khl ! ? 2 0. a4 and 2 1 . Rc 1 was perhaps
more accurate, but White heads for the attack: 20 . . . BxdS 2 1 .cxdS ! ? Introduc
ing a bold attack based upon activating the two Bishops. 2 1 . . .QxbS 2 2 .f4 gxf4
2 3 .exf4 f6 24.Rab l Qa4 2 S .gS ! Ba7? Now Benko's usual time trouble was al
ready present, or he would have found 2 6. gxf6 ! intending 26 . . . gxf6 2 7 .fxe5 , and
White is just winning with ideas like Qh6, Be4, Rg 1 etc. A very aesthetic game
that probably escaped its deserved audience because of poor play at the end .
Benko didn't play a great number of games on the white side of the Reversed
Dragon, but it brought out his understanding of Sicilian structures . Benko
Diickstein, Sarajevo 1 967 illustrates an advanced opening strategy, well before
theory became very developed in this line. See also the game in the note to White's
Sth : l .g3 eS 2 .c4 Nf6 3 .Nc3 dS 4.cxdS NxdS S.Bg2 Nb6 6.NfJ Nc6 7.0-0 Be7
8.a3 A very pleasing and smooth Benko win in the same opening went S.d3 0-0
9.Be3 f5 1 O . Q c 1 Bf6 1 1 .Bg5 ! ? Bxg5 ? ! (later simply 1 1 . . .h6 and 1 1 . . .Be6 were
played) 1 2 .Nxg5 Nd4 1 3 .NB NxB + 1 4.BxB c6 1 5 .b4 Nd5 ? ! ( 1 5 . . .Be6 1 6.b5 cxb5)
1 6. b 5 Ne7 1 7 . Rb 1 ! Rf6 l S .Qa3 ! with typical Benko queenside pressure and a
significant advantage, Benko-Palme, Bad Gastein 1 945. 8 . . . 0-0 9.b4 Be6 1 0.d3
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
B enko points out the mistake 1 0.bS Nd4 1 1 .NxeS ? ? Bb3 1 2 .Qe l Nc2 . 10 . . . f5
I 1 .Bb2 The same goes for 1 1 .bS Nd4 1 2 .NxeS Bf6 1 3 .f4 Nb3 . 1 1 . . .Bf6 1 2 .Nd2 !
460
See Benko's notes on this move, now the normal one, in Game 66. As so often,
B enko's game is the very first over-the-board game with 1 2 .Nd2 among the mul
titude in my databases and even in my older books. There is a short draw in a
Swedish championship game and a Finnish correspondence game from 1 96 2 ,
the latter very poorly played. To show how long it took before 1 2 .Nd2 entered
the mainstream, I suggested it myself in my 1 979 1 . . . eS English book, but couldn't
find any examples (not knowing this game) . When I played it myself versus
Sosonko at Lone Pine 1 980, thirteen years after B enko, I thought that it was an
innovation ! 1 2 . . . Qe8 Later Hubner found 1 2 . . . Bf7 ! ? 1 3 .Nb 3 e4! with great com
plications, but even there White may be able to keep a slight edge. 1 3 .Nb3 Rd8
14.Ne5 Be8 1 5 .Qb3 + ! ? The game notes point out the even better move I S .NbS ! ,
but White can be very happy with the check a s well. 1 5 . . . Kh 8 1 6.Nb 5 ! with a
clear advantage. A perfect exploitation of White's space and flexibility on the
queenside.
Finally, we look at a few English and c4-related openings in which Black does
without 1 . . .cS or 1 . . . e S . In Benko-Pribyl, Majdanpek 1 976, there is another
early Queen exchange: l .e4 Nf6 2 .NB g6 3 .Nc3 d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5 .e4 Nxc3
6.dxc3 Qxd 1 + 7.Kxd l
BENKO AS W H ITE
1 1 .. .Rd8 1 1 . . .eS 1 2 .Nb3 b6 allows 1 3 .a4! Bb7 ( 1 3 . . . aS ? ! 1 4.Bb S !) 14.aS, and Black
isn't coordinating very well. 1 2 .Be2 NfS 1 3 .Rhd l Bd7 Passive, but 1 3 . . . Ne6
1 4. Bc4 Nxd4+ I S . cxd4 intending Rac 1 and Kb l gives White a straightforward
central advantage. 14.a4 e5 1 5 .Nb3 Benko's opening innovation has resulted in
a white advantage. The game went 1 5 . . . Ne6? 1 6.Na5 !
1 6 . . . Bc8 1 7.Bc4 Rxdl 1 8 .Rxd l Kf8 1 9.Bxe6 fxe6 20.Bg5 Kf7 2 1 .Bh4 ! , with
a winning position, since . . . Bf6 will be answered by Bg3 and at the least Black's
e S -pawn will fall.
462
A move that might bring attention back to the moribund 7 .h4. Benko points out
in his notes that this move (unknown to theory, whereas there are many examples
of 7 .h4 and 8 . B e 3 ) makes it possible to answer . . . e S , . . . Nc6-d4 with Nf3 , Nxd4.
Another point is that in lines with 8 . B e 3 , . . . NdS will sometimes gain a tempo on
a Bishop and force an undesirable exchange on d S . S . . . Ne6 9.Qc1 Nd4 1 0 .NO
e6 1 1 .Ne4 NdS 1 2 .Rh 1 Qh6 1 3 .Nxd4 Bxd4 1 4.h4. In this position, I prefer
White with his queenside advantage. So 8 .Bd2 is at least noteworthy, and as the
game goes, Black falls into a positionally inferior game without making any ob
vious mistakes - see Game 1 2 7 .
Benko liked to get two Bishops in positions where there were n o violent ex
plosions in the center, so that he could build up at his leisure to exploit the long
term advantage of the bishop pair. In Benko-Brasket, Lone Pine 1 976, the
line l .e4 Nf6 2 .Nc3 e6 3 .Nfl Bh4 4.Qe2 gave him the opportunity to aim for
this. 4 . . . eS 4 . . . 0-0 S . a3 Bxc3 6 . Qxc3 d6 7 . e 3 eS 8 . d 3 Bg4 9.Be2 was Benko
Guillermo Garda New York 1 98 8 - see Game 1 3 7 for some fine positional play.
S . a3 BaS 6.e3 Ne6 7.Be2 0-0 S.O-O d6 9.d4 Bxc3 1 0.Qxc3 as 1 1 .h3 Qe7
1 2 .Bh2
Now White is fully developed and can start to expand. 12 ... h6 1 3 .dS! NdS 14.Nd2
Bh7 l S .Bfl eS Otherwise White starts to open lines, but now Black's Bishop
and his Knight on d8 are pretty awful. 1 6.h4! Nd7 1 7 .Nb3 axh4 l S. axh4 ReS
1 9.Ra7, and White was breaking through.
BENKO AS W H ITE
For several years Benko experimented with b-pawn ideas, including 1 .b 3 and 463
1 .b4. But his favorite was to combine c4 and b4 in a sort of English/Polish open-
ing, as in the game Benko-Vukcevich, U.S. Open 1 969: l .NfJ Nf6 2 .c4 g6
2 . . . d6 3 .b4! ? is featured in Game 1 02 , Benko-Kavalek, U . S . Open 1 97 0 . There
Benko plays like a raving hypermodern, permanently refusing to move his cen-
ter pawns past the third rank while slowly increasing pressure on Kavalek's cen-
ter and achieving a substantial advantage from nowhere. 3 .h4
Benko fiddled around with this system in quite a number of games (sixteen that
I have found), with just average results. Although it shows his creative and some
times anti-theoretical bent, there is nothing exceptional about the setup he nor
mally preferred : e 3 , Be2 , 0-0, with Nc3 and/or d3 . Rather than an opening ad
vantage, he would aim for a game without immediate tactics that left both sides
dependent on their own resources. L .Bg7 4.Bh2 0-0 5.e3 d6 6.Be2 e5
better, e.g., 1 O.Qb3 as l 1 .a3 Nb6, preparing . . . d S . 1 O.Nxe4 Nxe4 I 1 .Bxg7 Nxfl
1 2 .Rxfl Kxg7 1 3 .Qd2 . Here White is slightly better due to his central pawn
PAL BE NKO: MY LIFE, GAM ES AND COMPOSITIONS
mass and some pressure against Black's weakened kingside. The game went
1 3 . . . NeS 14.Nd4 c6 I S .Rafl QgS 1 6.Rf4! Bh3 1 7 .Rlf2 Bg4? I S.Bxg4 Nxg4
1 9.Rxf7+ KgS 20.R2f4 Rxe3 2 1 .NB . Now White is winning, in view of 2 1 . . .RxB
464 2 2 .Rf8+ ! Kg7 2 3 .R4f7 + Rxf7 24.Rxf7+ Kh6 2 S .Rxh 7 + .
B E N KO SYSTE M : l .g3
As Benko points out, calling l .g3 "The Benko System" is just silly. To me, the
only setup we might call a B enko System would be one with NB , g3 and then c4
against . . . d S , in which White omits or delays d4. In addition, the game has to be
in some sense different from a simple Reti System. Benko tried a number of
versions of such setups, including the game Benko-Bisguier, U.S. Ch. (New
York) 1 966: l .g3 dS 2 .Bg2 Nf6 3 .NB b6 4.c4 e6 S.cxdS exdS 6.0-0 Bd6
7.d4 ! Only now, since it makes the combination of . . . Bd6 and . . . b6 look suspi
cious. 7 . . . 0-0 S.Nc3 c6 9.Ne S ! Bb7 1 0.BgS !
White has achieved a unique and favorable position, of which I have only found
two other examples in various databases. His well-placed pieces prevent . . . cS
and prepare e4. For Benko's notes on both the opening and the rest of this game,
see Game 62 .
Benko-Keres, Cura�ao 1 962 shows the "Benko System" at its best versus
the legendary Estonian: l .Nf3 dS 2 . g3 Bg4 3 .Bg2 Nd7 4.0-0 c6 S.d3 eS 6.h3
BhS 7.c4
BENKO AS W H ITE
Any discussion of Pal Benko's openings has to include the King's Indian Attack,
an opening of which he was arguably the leading practicioner for many years.
What we have here is not so much a case of specific innovations, but of Benko's
strategies and their execution. For those who wish to play the KIA, I recom
mend playing through the overview in this game, paying attention to the games
in the notes and referring to others throughout this book. Our main game is
Benko-Uhlmann, Stockholm Izt 1 962 : l .e4 e6 2 .d3 d5 3 .Nd2 Nf6 4.g3 c5
5.Bg2 Nc6 6.NgB Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Re 1 B enko's delayed-eS idea (used against
Uhlmann here) was prevented by Schweber in the same tournament, but to Black's
greater detriment: 8.c3 Qc7 9 . Qe2 b6 l O. Re l (now White is ready for Nfl and
Bf4) lO . . . dxe4 I l . dxe4 e S ? ! 1 2 .Nfl h6 1 3 .Ne3 (White has the standard advan
tage of a King's Indian formation: an outpost on dS with no corresponding out
post for the opponent. What's more, Black's committal . . . h6 means that a white
Knight on fS will have greater effect than usual) 1 3 . . . Rd8 1 4.NM! Be6 I S .NhfS
Kh7 1 6. g4 Bf8 1 7 .NdS ! , and White already had a decisive advantage. 8 . . . Qc7
8 . . . b6 is slow, e.g., 9.eS Nd7 l O.c3 Rb8 1 1 .Nfl b S (an admission that Black hasn't
succeeded in making 8 . . . b6 useful) 1 2 .114 c4 1 3 . d4 b4 1 4. Qc2 Re8 I S .NgS Nf8
1 6.Ne3 ! Ba6 1 7 .f4 bxc3 1 8 . bxc3 h6 1 9.Nf3 QaS 2 0 . fS , and White is much bet
ter, Benko-Bielicki, Mar del Plata 1 96 5 .
9.Qe2 As w e shall see, this move contains a special idea. The conventional treat
ment, which Benko employed more than once, is seen in Game 1 03 versus Csom:
9 . e S Nd7 1 0. Qe2 bS 1 1 .Nfl as 1 2 . Bf4 Ba6 1 3 .114 b4 1 4.Ne3 Nb6 I S .Ng4 Qa7
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
(As Benko points out, Black wants the Queen to be out of the line of fire in the
case of possible sacrifices on d5 or f6.) 1 6.h5 Rfc8 (For an example of an f4-f5
plan, Benko cites yet another Stockholm 1 962 Interzonal game, Benko-Bisguier)
466 1 7 .h6 g6 1 8 .c3 bxc3 1 9.bxc3 Nd7 2 0.Bg5 , dominating the dark squares, Benko
Csom, Palma de Mallorca 1 97 1 . Superb notes are to be found with the complete
game. 9 . . . b5 1 0.Nfl Ba6
1 1 .Bf4! Pal Benko has to be considered one of the most important, if not the
most important, developers and players of the King's Indian Attack. Including
games with the KIA versus a French setup (but not those against the Caro-Kann),
I find him involved in 3 7 King's Indian Attacks against international competi
tion. These games are in databases that are quite incomplete for his peak KIA
period ( 1 960s and early 1 97 0s) and include very few U. S . Swiss system events.
Of the thousands of King's Indian Attacks in Mega base 2 00 1 (expanded by vari-
0us other databases), the game before you is the only one with this exact move
order. More importantly, none of the games with 9. Qe2 (or other alternatives to
9.e5) even contain the creative idea of Nfl and Bf4 before the automatic e 5 .
Benko's point i s that both moves are played i n the e 5 systems (i. e . , Bf4 i s played
after 9 . e 5 or 9. Qe2 and 1 0.e5), so why not play them here with the gain of a
tempo (Bf4 attacks the Queen)? 9. Qe2 does allow ideas associated with . . . dxe4,
or perhaps . . . Nd4, although in practice these have not worked out very happily
for Black. So to this day, it may well be that 9 . Qe2 and 1 0 . Nfl is an underrated
option. 1 1 . . .Qb6 1 2 .e5 Nd7 1 3 .h4
BENKO AS W H ITE
Now we have a standard KIA position in which White's attack is one move fur
ther along than usual. White's idea is h5 -h6 and in many cases Ne3 -g4 or N l h2 -
g4. Compare Benko-Csom, Palma d e Mallorca 1 97 1 , a s alluded to earlier. I n the
notes to that game, Benko mentions Fischer's comment "Today I play like Benko ! " 467
In fact, this KIA attacking scheme is often called "Fischer's," despite his sparse
use of it and his play along the same lines that Benko (and others) had previously
employed many times. For the continuation of Benko-Uhlmann after 1 3 .h4, see
Game 39. This is an extremely instructive contest that should not be missed by
anyone who plays the KIA.
" ! " for novelty! This is the earliest game in my databases with 5 . d4; even if it had
been tried before in some forgotten game, Benko brought 5 .d4 to international
notice. Soon after this game other high-level players were trying it out, includ
ing Tal himself. 5 . . . cxd4 This seems natural, but in my book Play the French I
give what I believe to be the solution to 5 . d4, namely 5 . . . d 5 ! (as I played against
Fedorowicz in New York 1 97 7) . Most of the details are in that book. 5 . . . cxd4
gives White what he wants, but is naturally playable. 6.Nxd4 d5 A move that
has been played several times since this game. It is not bad, but White will retain
some edge. For a complete analysis of 6 . . . Bg7, see the game notes. By the way,
6 . . . a6 has been played a lot, notably by Hiibner, Tal, and Kramnik! So at the
very least it deserves consideration. 7.Bb5 7 . Bg2 Bg7 8.Nxc6 bxc6 is reasonably
solid for Black. 7 ... Bd7 8.exd5 Nxd4! This seems to be best, given Black's weak
nesses (and poor record) after 8 . . . exd 5 . 9.Qxd4 Bxb5 10.Nc3 ! And not 1 O. Qxh8 ? ?
Qxd5 1 1 . Rg i Q f3 wins. 1 0 . . . Qf6 1 1 .Nxb5 Qxd4 1 2 .Nxd4 0-0-0 1 3 .Be3 At
tractive, but one wonders if something like 1 3 .Nb5 ! ? a6 ( 1 3 . . . Rxd 5 1 4.c4 Re5 +
1 5 .Kfl with Bf4 next is uncomfortable for Black) 1 4.Nc3 exd5 1 5 .0-0 might just
favor White, who has ideas like Bg5 and Ne2 -d4. 1 3 . . . Rxd5
PAL BENKO: M Y LIFE, GAM ES AND CO M POSITIONS
468
KI N G PAW N : l .e4
Keeping in mind that Benko played 1 .e4 in a relatively small percentage of his
games (about 1 8 % , whereas with Black he had to face it about half the time), his
interpretation of it was typically creative, involving many new ideas and novel
ties. Benko tended to play 1 .e4 more in the beginning and middle years of his
career, which would seem to indicate a gradual shift to more positional open
ings. Nevertheless, we will see that against many defenses, Benko finds a solid
but pointed system by which to annoy Black, avoiding the wide-open positions
that sometimes result from e-pawn openings.
P i rc Defense
We begin with a look at the Pirc D efense (one of Benko's frequent openings as
Black, by the way). Here is the opening setup that he used in what are two of his
best-known games, wins versus Fischer and Tal. After his successes in these games,
this opening was called the "Benko System" by various annotators, but is in fact
just a Pirc Defense by transposition. The variation is illustrated by Benko-Tal,
Cural;; a o (C andidates) 1 9 62 : l . g3 g6 2 . B g2 B g7 3 . d4 d6 4 . e 4 Nf6
5 .Ne2 0-0 6.0-0 6.Nbc3 is the most accurate way to enter this system, in view
of 6 . . . e5 7 .h3 (7 .Be3 Ng4; 7 .0-0 Nc6 ! ) 7 . . . Nc6 8 .Be3 ; compare the next note.
6 . . . Nbd7 White's order allows 6 . . . e 5 intending 7 .Nbc3 Nc6 ! . 7.Nbc3 Now we
have a position from the Pirc, i . e . , l . e4 d6 2 . d4 Nf6 3 .Nc3 g6 4 . g 3 B g 7
5 . Bg2 0-0 6.Nge2 Nbd7 7 .0-0. 7 . . . c6 These days Black tends t o play 7 . . . c 5 , be
cause the text is cramped. 8.a4
BENKO AS W H ITE
469
It's interesting that in the books, White has almost always played h3 by this point,
or at the very least within the next few moves. Benko has avoided making that
move (usually played to prepare Be3) because he intends to play b3 instead. 8 ... a5 ! ?
This typical King's Indian move stops White from advancing to a5 and secures
the c 5 -square for Black's Knight. Instead, 8 . . . e5 9.a 5 ! exd4 1 O.Nxd4 was Benko
Fischer, Cura�ao 1 962 , in which White had a nice advantage and later won (see
Game 4 1 ) . 9.b3 Even in this position White has almost never played b 3 and Ba3
without h3 first. Benko gains an important tempo thereby. 9 . . . Re8 1 0.Ba3
Now the position is unique in chess history, as far as I know! At any rate, White
is better, because . . . e5 will weaken d6, but otherwise Black has trouble getting
his pieces out. Benko excelled in such prophylactic maneuvers. 10 . . . Qc7 I I .Qd2
e5 1 2 .Rad l exd4 1 3 .Nxd4 Nc5 1 4.8
PA L BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
Here White is clearly better: not only is d6 weak, but Black has none of the
typical King's Indian counterplay versus White's rock-solid center. Benko sys
tematically increased the pressure by Rfe 1 , f4, and then BD ! and Qg2 ! , a ma-
470 neuver that is another original feature of this game. To see the continuation, go
to Game 44.
This setup was a B enko specialty. He played the same position with Be2 (after
Nbd2) more often, but later decided that Bd3 was better. B ecause Benko devel
oped so much of the theory on the Bd3 lines, I will concentrate upon some of
his innovative games with it.
Of course, White can achieve the key position via Bd3 or Nbd2 on any of
moves 3 through 6 . B enko brought this system to the attention of modern play
ers at the Siegen Olympiad in 1 97 0 (including this game), and it took off from
there. Of course these moves are too natural not to have been played many times
before; but of the relatively few precedents, I have found games by only a hand
ful of top players, e.g., Marshall (in 1 92 4), Stahlberg ( 1 940) , Ragozin ( 1 944),
and Petrosian ( 1 946) . Interestingly, Fischer played it in blitz versus Ivkov in 1 970.
We will talk elsewhere about how many Benko openings were taken up by Fischer
in more serious contexts. 6 . . .Nc6 This and 6 . . . c5 are considered the main lines.
A strategically and tactically attractive game by Benko against 6 . . . c5 went 7 . dxc5
dxc5 8 . Qe2 Nc6 9.Nbd2 Qc7 l O. Re 1 b6 1 1 .Nc4! Bg4! ( 1 1 . . .b 5 1 2 .Ne3 c4 1 3 .Bc2
and a4 or Nd5 causes some problem) 1 2 .a4 a6 1 3 .Bc2 b 5 1 4.Ne3 BxD 1 5 . Qxf3
e6 (about equal) 1 6. Qe2 c4 1 7 .g3 Nd7 1 8 . f4 Nc5 1 9.Ng4!
BENKO AS W H ITE
Benko often played the Pirc as Black and therefore knew a variety of systems
against it. He tended to choose very solid variations and, as Benko-Ostojic,
Wijk aan Zee 1 969 shows, he was extremely familiar with the Classical Main
Line: l .Nf3 g6 2 .d4 Bg7 3 .e4 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 S .Be2 0-0 6.0-0 Bg4 For 6 . . . c6
7 . a4 a5 S.Be3 Ng4 of Benko-R. Chavez, Sao Paulo 1 97 7 , see Game 1 2 9 . 7.Be3
Ne6 8.Qd2
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
472
S ... e5 In his notes to this game, Benko mentions his own invention, played against
Ivkov in Caracas 1 97 2 : 8 . . . Re8 ! ? with the idea 9 . Rad 1 eS 1 O .dS BxB 1 1 . BxB
Nd4 1 2 .Bxd4 exd4 1 3 . Qxd4 Nxe4. I don't have that game, but a later correspon
dence game Pesolano-Piccinali, 1 9 8 1 went 1 2 .Be2 ! Qd7 ! ? 1 3 .B Nxe2 + 1 4.Nxe2 ,
threatening c4-cS with an advantage for White (compare the King's Indian De
fense). Something like that probably accounts for the almost exclusive use of
8 ... eS today. 9.d5 After 9 . dxe S dxeS 1 0. Rad 1 , which as Benko says, "was all the
rage" at that time, he came up with the solution that to this day is important:
1 O . . . Qc8 !
I remember this move well from that time, because it spoiled part of my reper
toire! The stem game for this line was Hug-Benko, Sao Paulo 1 97 3 : 1 1 .h3 ( l 1 .BgS
BxB 1 2 .BxB Nd4 1 3 .Be2 c6 equalized handily in Weinstein-Benko, Chicago
1 974; 1 1 . Q c l is considered best by theory, but Black doesn't have to work very
hard for equality.) 1 1 . . . Rd8 1 2 .Q c l BxB 1 3 .BxB Nd4 1 4.Bxd4 exd4 1 S .NdS NxdS
1 6 . exdS , with a dead equal game due to the opposite-colored Bishops. 9 . . .Ne7
1O.a4 The idea of this move is to prevent an early . . . b S . In this case, Benko
didn't invent it himself - he was following Geller-Vasiukov, Kislovodsk 1 96 8 .
Although 1 O .a4 was the main move at the time and is played upon occasion to
this day, it actually doesn't appear in Nunn and McNab's The Ultimate Pire ! They
give only the current favorite 1 O. Rad l . l O . . . NeS Benko talks about his win over
S eirawan following 1 0 . . . Nd7 , a move which is also frowned upon now. The best
response to 1 0 .a4 is probably 1 0 . . . B d 7 , considering . . .Ng4 and preserving the
idea of . . . NhS . The latter plan was employed by Vasiukov in the game men-
BENKO AS W H ITE
tioned in the last note. 1 1 .a5 Grabbing space on the queenside. White has come
out of the opening with an edge. Nunn and McNab give only 1 1 .Ng5 , which
has ideas of f4 and also appears to lead to an advantage. 1 1 . .. a6 1 2 .Ra3 ! ? Bd7
1 3 .g3 Perhaps thinking about Nh4 and f4? 13 ... f5 ! ? 1 4.Ng5 h6 1 5 .Ne6 Bxe6 473
1 6.dxe6, and Black's weak light squares combined with White's activity gave Benko
excellent chances-see Game 8 7 .
French Defense
Benko consistently employed the King's Indian Attack against the French De
fense (via l .e4 e6 2 .d 3 ) ; please refer to that King's Indian Attack section above .
However, he could invent important new theory in variations that he seldom
played. The game Benko-German, Stockholm (Interzonal) 1 962 introduces
a formation that was subsequently used in hundreds of top-level encounters: 1 .e4
e6 2.d4 d5 3 .Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5 .c3 c5 6.f4 Nc6 7.NdB Qh6 8.g3 ! ?
plan, I give a lot of analysis on 1 O" ,Be7 in the first edition of my Play the French
book, and it is still a fully satisfactory move. I 1 .Kfl f5 ? ! But " . f6-fS makes no
sense. Having committed to " . f6, Black should try 1 1 . , ,0-0 1 2 .Kg2 Rf7 ! ? intend-
474 ing " .NfS , " .Bd7 etc. But White still has obvious attacking chances. 1 2 .Ne2 Be7
1 3 .h3 NfS 1 4.g4 g6 1 5 .Nc3 Bd7 1 6.Be3 . Now White has a super-solid center
and much more space. See how Benko converted these advantages in Game 3 S .
9 . . . Qb6 ? ! A key decision. The Queen doesn't really stand very well on b6 unless
it can pressure d4, which is not the case here. Black should save this valuable
tempo, keep the pawn on cS to meet Nb3 with " . c4, and leave b6 open for a
Knight in some cases. 9 " . cxd4 1 0.cxd4 f6 has been played, when 1 1 .exf6 can
theoretically be met by either recapture. But Black needn't give White an out
post on eS so quickly, and two other moves deserve strong consideration:
(a) 9" .Be7 1 O .Nb3 ( 1 O.Bd3 can now be met by 1 0" .Qb6! with extremely un
comfortable pressure on d4, since 1 1 .Nb3 fails to 1 1 . . .c4 - compare the game;
also l O".aS l 1 .a4 gS ! ? is very interesting, resembling other lines in the French.)
1 O".c4 1 1 .Nbd2 b S , with queenside prospects. White has some trouble untangling,
so logical is 1 2 .b 3 , when 1 2 " .RbS 1 3 .a4 b4 is promising, or 1 2 " . QaS 1 3 .Bb2 RbS;
(b) 9 " .aS 1 0. a4 cxd4 is more conservative : I l . cxd4 Be7 (or 1 1 . . .Nb4) 1 2 .Nb3
Nb4 1 3 .Bf4 0-0 1 4. Rc l b6 I S . Q d2 Ba6 1 6. Bxa6 Rxa6, and Black has gotten rid
of his bad Bishop in exchange for White's good one. White has space, but Black
can penetrate or simplify on the queenside. 1 0.Nb3 ! cxd4 1 2 . a4 Be7 1 3 .Bg5 ! .
White was better and went o n to win nicely - see Game 1 4 for notes.
BE NKO AS W H ITE
Benko tended to play irregularly with White against double king pawn open-
ings ( l .e4 e5), with his usual variety of opening schemes. For example, looking 475
through one database I see him playing two Four Knights Games, two Ponzianis,
one Philidor Reversed, six Scotch Games, two Vienna Games (with 3 .g3), and
seven Spanish Games in lines with varying degrees of irregularity! Most of these
games are of little theoretical significance (as far as I can see), but Benko
Rossolimo, Atlanta (U.S. Open) 1 967 is an example of his general philosophy
with such openings: l .e4 e5 2 .NB Nc6 3 .Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5 .0-0 Be7 6.Bxc6
dxc6 7.d3 This is the Delayed Deferred Exchange Variation, a perfect weapon
for Benko, who can maneuver to his heart's content without being disturbed by
nasty pawn breaks by his opponent. 7 . . . Nd7 8.Nbd2 Bf6 9.Nc4 0-0 1 0.b3 Re8
I l .Bb2 c5
1 2 .h3 1 2 .a4 is now played a lot. As is usually the case in this survey, you are
looking at a game from the early days of this opening's revival. We have one of
those positions in which both sides tend to take a long time to execute a plan. A
"normal" idea for White consists of Nh2 and f4 at some point, perhaps with
Ng4, but this has to be well timed. 12 . . . b5 1 2 . . . a5 1 3 .Nh2 Nf8 1 4.Ng4 Ng6
1 5 . Qf3 Ra6 was about equal in Taimanov-Gligoric, US SR 1 96 5 ; 1 2 . . . g6 1 3 .a4
Bg7 is a popular plan, after which White again plays 1 4.Nh2 and contemplates
f4. 1 3 .Ne3 Nb6 Not much better was 1 3 . . . Nb8 1 4. a4 b4 1 5 .Nd5 Nc6 1 6 .Kh 1
Be6 1 7 .Nxf6+ Qxf6 1 8 .Nxe 5 ! Nxe5 1 9.f4 (revealing the point of 1 6.Kh 1 ) in Beijar
Lind, corr. 1 99 3 ; nor was 1 3 . . . Nf8 1 4.Nd5 Ng6 1 5 . Q c 1 Bb7 1 6.Nxf6+ Qxf6
1 7 .Nxe5 ! any good in Vogt-Romanishin, Altensteig 1 992 . A logical and reason
able alternative is 1 3 . . . g6. 1 4.a4!
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAM ES AND COMPOSITIONS
476
1 4 . . . bxa4! ? Black weakens himself on the queenside, isolating his two c-pawns.
But 14 . . . Bb7 was bad after 1 5 .Ng4. Instead, the modest 14 ... Rb8 was only some
what better for White. 1 5 .bxa4 a5 Now 1 5 . . . Bd7 ! ? might be met by 1 6. c4, e.g.,
16 ... Nxa4 1 7 .Rxa4 Bxa4 1 8 . Qxa4 Qxd3 1 9.Nd5 ! . 1 6.Bc3 ! B enko makes it look
easy. The a-pawn is almost impossible to defend. 16 . . . Bd7 1 7.Qd2 c4! A good
try in a bad position. 1 7 . . .Nxa4 1 8 .Bxa5 Nb6 1 9 . Rfb l , and the pressure mounts.
1 8.Bxa5 cxd3 1 9.cxd3 Nxa4 20.Nd5 Nb6 2 1 .Bxb6 RxaI 22 .RxaI cxb6 2 3 .Ra6.
Benko has his usual positional pressure, which led to a win. Apart from taking
on b6, he has the idea of Qa2 and Ra8 .
Caro-Kan n
Benko dabbled in the Caro-Kann himself, and he tried out different systems
against it as White. Perhaps because the main line gave him some trouble as Black,
he used it himself on several occasions, as illustrated by Benko-Kagan, Winnipe g
1 967: l . e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3 .Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5 .Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 In a couple of
other games, Benko did without this standard move, preferring to play Nf3 and
Bd3 straightaway. This goes along with his general tendency to avoid potential
weaknesses (e.g., a pawn on h5), although ultimately the h4-h5 maneuver prob
ably gives White the best chances in this line. 6 ... h6 7.h5 Bh7 8.Nf3 Nd7 9.Bd3
Bxd3 1 0.Qxd3 Qc7 I 1 .Bd2 e6 1 2 .0-0-0 Ngf6 1 3 .Ne4 0-0-0 1 4.g3
of modern theory, and how accurately the opening was played without known
examples as precedent. 14 ... Nxe4 1 S .Qxe4 Nf6 1 5 . . . Bd6 at once has done well,
when 1 6 .Kb 1 Nf6 doesn't let White play his order in the game before us (i. e . , in
which he skips Kb 1 ) . The alternative 1 6 .c4 c5 1 7 .Bc3 cxd4 1 8 .Bxd4 Nf6 1 9 . Qe2 477
Qa5 has consistently equalized for Black. 1 6.Qe2 Bd6 1 7.e4 eS 1 S.Bc3 exd4
1 9.Nxd4 a6 20.NB Rd7 2 0 . . . Qc5 has also equalized. Apart from ideas like . . . Nxh5
and . . . Ng4, the point is 2 1 .Ne5 Bxe 5 2 2 .Bxe5 Ng4! All of this only became clear
in the 1 990s, however. 2 1 .Kb 1 After 2 1 .Ne5 Bxe5 2 2 .Bxe 5 , 22 . . . Qa5 ! is pre-
ferred today, with numerous draws resulting. 2 1 . . .RhdS 22.a3 , and instead of
22 . . . Qc6 n .Rh4! (see the very impressive Game 69), 22 . . . Qc5 ! intending . . . Qf5
is fully equal; on n .Rh4, n . . . Be7 2 4.Rxd7 Nxd7 is simple enough. Some of this
theory is included just for the reader's benefit. But it also puts into perspective
how very relevant a game from 1 967 can still be.
S i c i l ian Defense
B enko: "I decided to avoid it [the variation starting with 1 O .f4] and came up with
this new move. At least Byrne had to stop and think. "
His over-the-board discovery of 1 O.Bd2 is noteworthy. Black's variation with
6 . . . Bd7 and without . . . e6 was still experimental at the time. In fact, I have found
only a few other games played in the position with 9 . . . Qa5 before 1 96 8 , and
none with 1 0.Bd2 until 1 97 0 . One should always be aware that databases are
very limited in their coverage of events from earlier decades (Who knows, for
example, how much the Soviet players knew about such a move ? ). Nevertheless,
it is clear that Benko was either the originator of this line in international play
or at the very least that he shifted attention to it. Today 1 O.Bd2 is almost the
only move played, for example, there are 1 95 games with 1 0 .Bd2 in the database
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
I am using. 1 0 ... a6 I I .Bc4 Not often used, but with results and theory in White's
favor. It may even be the reason that 6 . . . Bd7 isn't seen that much anymore com
pared to . . . e6, especially at the top. 1 1 . . .QcS Benko mentions 1 1 . . . e 5 1 2 .Qd3
478 Qc5 1 3 .Bb3 Qxf2 , when 1 4.Bg5 Be7 1 5 .Bxf6 Qxf6 1 6 .Nd5 looks dangerous.
1 2 .QxcS RxcS 1 3 .Bb3 g6 14.Be3 Some other orders have been used over the
next few moves, but I like Benko's choice .
1 4 . . . Rc8 Benko queries this and suggests 1 4 . . . Rc6, when 1 5 .f3 Bg7 still leaves
White several ways to search for advantage, e.g., 1 6 .g4 ( 1 6.Nd5 Nxd5 1 7 .Bxd5
Rc8 1 8 .c3 ; 1 6 .a4! ? 0-0 1 7 .a5) 16 . . . e6 ( 1 6 . . . 0-0? 1 7 . e 5 ) 1 7 .a4 ( 1 7 .Na4 ! ? ) intend
ing 1 7 . . . Ke7 1 8 .a 5 , and White is better, with ideas like Na4-b6. I S .Bd4 Bg7
1 6 .NdS NbS The only option was the anti-positional 1 6 . . . e 5 . 1 7.Bxg7 Nxg7
1 8.eS ! . Now White has a nice advantage.
We know that Benko is primarily a positional player who often likes a bit of early
simplification, but occasionally he just lets loose and attacks. Benko-Simms, At
lanta (U.S. Open) 1 967 is an example of sustained initiative in a standard opening:
1 .e4 cS 2 .NB Nc6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 S.Nc3 d6 6.BgS e6 7.Qd2 Be7
8.0-0-0 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 0-0 1 O.Bc4 QaS l 1 .f4 I 1 . Qd2 is a solid answer, avoiding
the tempo loss by . . . e5 and thinking about Kb 1 and Nd 5 . The text is more aggressive:
dxe5 1 3 .fxe5 Rd8 1 3 . . . Nd5 1 4.Bxe7 Nxe7 1 5 .Bd3 ! ? , and Black was hard pressed
to defend his kingside in Adler-Bannik, USSR 1 97 8 . 14.Qf4 Nd5 1 5 .Bxe7 Nxe7
1 6.Rxd8+ Qxd8 1 7.Rfl Qf8 1 8.Ne4 b5 1 9.Bd3 White has all his pieces aimed
at the kingside and Black's position is critical. The opening is over, but let's en- 479
joy the game : 19 ... Nd5 20.Qg3 Ra7 2 1 .Ng5 ! ? Or 2 1 . Qh4 g6 2 2 .g4 ! ? Rd7 2 3 .g5
Bb7 24.RB threatening Rh3 . 2 1 . . .h6 2 2 .Ne4 Rc7 2 3 .Nd6 Now White threat-
ens Bg6. His position is undoubtedly winning, but Black's next allows a deadly
blow: 23 . . . Kh8? 24.Qg6 ! f5 Or 24 . . . fxg6 2 5 . Rxf8+ Kh7 2 6 . Rxc8 . 2 5 .exf6 gxf6
26.Nxc8 Qxc8 27.Qxh6+, with a clearly won game.
B enko talks about avoiding the "mainstream theory" of I I .Bxf6; but even at the
time, I l . e 5 had become popular, e.g., in 1 95 7 and 1 9 5 8 Gligoric, Larsen and
other well known players were already making use of I I . e 5 . It's also true that
I I .Bxf6 seems to have been a major choice before that, but the top players took
Black, e.g., Polugayevsky, Geller and Korchnoi all defended the position after
1 1 .Bxf6 gxf6 in 1 954. Be that as it may, I I .e 5 is still critical and unclear. 1 1 . . . b4
1 2 .exf6 bxc3 1 3 .Qxc3 gxf6 1 4.Bh4 d5
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
1 5 .a3 ? ! Unusual, and probably not best. Benko: "This is a cautious move that
aims to control the b4-square . It also avoids heavily analyzed lines like 1 5 .Kb 1
Nb4." In fact, 1 5 .Kb l is still the main line today, with White holding a small but
480 definite edge after 1 5 . . . Nb4 1 6.Nd4, so the vast majority of games go 1 5 . . . Rc8
(when no one as White risks 1 6 .Bxa6 Rc7), leading to play that has been con
tested in hundreds of games, normally assessed as slightly better for White, al
though some disagree and think that Black is equal. So this is the point at which
Benko really deviates. 1 5 . a3 is probably not one of his better innovations (see
the next note) , but it's enough to create problems and a fascinating gam e .
15 . . . Na5 ! ? Benko suggests that "the immediate 1 5 . . . Rc8 might have been more
accurate, " and indeed, it's hard to see how White will reorganize in the face of
. . . Nb4 or . . . Na 5 . This position has been played just a few times, with results
favoring Black, e.g., 1 5 . . . Rc8 ! 1 6.Qd2 ( 1 6.Qe l Qc7 1 7 . Qd2 Na5 1 8 .Kb l Rb8
gave Black very active play in Santacruz-Sinulingga, Thessaloniki 1 984; 1 6. Q e 3
Qc7 1 7 .Bd3 Na5 1 8 .Nd4 Qb6 is also a little awkward, Ueter-Schoen, Germany
1 998) 1 6 . . . Na5 1 7 .Nd4 Qb6 1 8 . Q d 3 Nc4 1 9.Qb3 Qc7 ( 1 9 . . . Qxb 3 2 0.Nxb 3 Ne3
2 1 .Rd2 Nxfl 2 2 . Rxfl Rg8 is also slightly in Black's favor) 2 0 . Qg3 Kf8 2 1 . Bxc4
Qxc4 2 2 . Q d 3 Qxd 3 2 3 .Rxd3 Rg8 Pustina-Holm, Varna 1 962 , again uncomfort
able for White. While 1 5 .a3 is playable, the fact that Black won each of these
games is not encouraging. 1 6.Be l ! Driving back Black's Knight and giving White
time to activate his pieces. 1 6 . . . Nb7 1 7.Nd4 Another idea was to activate the
relatively useless h4-Bishop by 1 7 .Bf2 , e.g., 1 7 . . . Rc8 1 8 .Qd2 Ba4 1 9.Bd3 Nc5
2 0.Bxc5 and 2 1 .Kb l . 17 . . . Ne5 1 8 .Nb3 Ne4 1 9.Qf3 ! f5 20.g4!
Ke8, draw! I wonder if they knew about the original game (which was hardly
flawless and a difficult game to follow), or if this is just coincidence? Anyway,
the rest of this contest can be found in Game 3 7 . A remarkable performance
considering the undeveloped state of theory at the time. 48 1
While on the subject of Sicilians, it's worth it to note how Benko, as always,
jumped around from system to system. For example, versus the Najdorf, he played
both 6.Bg5 and 6.Bc4 several times each, and looked thoroughly modern in his
treatment of 6.g3 . Benko-Fischer, BlediZagreblBelgrade (Candidates) 1 959
is a game of little value to Sicilian theory, but an illustration of Benko's seem
ingly effortless ability to gain the advantage through innocuous-appearing ma
neuvers: l .e4 c5 2 .NB d6 3 .d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5 .Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 Nbd7 7.a4
g6 S.O-O Bg7 9.Bg5 0-0 1 O.Qd2 Ne5 1 1 .8 Bd7 1 2 .a5 ReS 1 3 .b3 ! Ne6 1 4.Be3
Qc7 1 5 .Nde2 !
Here White is a little better: 1 5 ... Bc6 1 6.Ra2 1 6 .Bb6 was also good. 1 6 . . . Nd7
1 7.Nd5 QdS I S.Nec3 Nc7 1 9.Nb4 Ne5 2 0.Be2 QeS, and now White could
have shown his undisputed mastery of the position by 2 1 .f4! Nd7 2 2 .Nxc6 bxc6
2 3 .Rd l , with a clear advantage. The game was eventually drawn.
To close out the Sicilian, the reader might like some additional theory on the
very practical l .e4 c5 2 .NB d6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 ! ? system that B enko sets
forth so attractively in Benko - Harrison, Australian Open (Ballarat) 1 9S 5
(Game 1 3 5) . As indicated, he became a leading expert i n this variation: l .e4 c 5
2 .NB d 6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 The most frequent alternative is 4 . . . a 6 5 .Be3
Nf6 6.Nc3 Nc6 (Benko-Szekely, Sombor 1 97 6 went 6 ... e 5 7 . Qa4+ ! ? Nbd7 8.Bc4,
an extremely interesting concept for White and apparently strong. Theory gives
only 7 .Qd2) 7 . Qb6 ! ? Once again, theory concerns itself with 7 . Qd2 here. 7 . Qb6
is of course quintessential Benko, in that he seeks a Queenless middlegame :
7 . . . Qxb6 8 .Bxb6
PA L BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
482
(c) 1 1 . . .Bd7 1 2 .f3 NeS 1 3 .Nb 3 Bg7 ? ( 1 3 . . .Be6 ! ? 1 4.NaS Rfc8; Benko gives
1 3 . . .Bc6 1 4.NaS) 1 4.f4 Nc6 l S .Be2 Bg4 1 6 .Bxg4 Nxg4 1 7 .NdS Nf6 1 8 .Rhe 1
"and White's superiority wasn't in doubt," Benko-Vukcevich, U . S . Telephone
Match 1 97 8 . S .BbS Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3 Nf6 S.BgS e6 9.0-0-0 In Benko
G h i t e s c u , R e g g i o E m i l i a 1 9 7 0 , Whi t e p l ayed m o r e s a fely: 9 . 0 - 0 B e 7
1 0.Rad 1 0-0 1 1 . Rfe l a 6 1 2 .Re 3 h 6 1 3 .Bh4 Rc8 1 4.h3 b S l S .a3 , which i s prob
ably about equal. 9 . . . Be7 1 0.Rhe l 0-0 1 1 .Kb l QaS 1 2 .Qd2
12 . . . KhS As pointed out in the notes to the game, several Queen retreats and
two Rook moves are also played. Some examples, including one from Benko's
practice:
(a) 12 . . . Rfd8 probably comes up a bit short after 1 3 .NdS Qxd2 1 4.Nxe7+ Kf8
l S .Nxd2 ( 1 S .Rxd2 Kxe7 1 6 .Nd4 h6 ! ? 1 7 . Bxf6+ gxf6 1 8 .f4 gave White a small
advantage in M. Popovic-Rajna, Budapest 1 989.) 1 5 . . . Kxe 7, and now 1 6 .f4 is the
most ambitious try, when 1 6 . . . h6 1 7 .Bh4 eS 1 8 .g3 ! has the ideas of both Nf3 and
BENKO AS WH ITE
Nc4, and leaves White better (weaker seems 1 8 .f5 g5 ! 1 9.fxg6 fxg6 2 0 . Bxf6+ ! ?
Kxf6 2 1 .Nc4 Ke6);
(b) 12 . . . Qb6 (avoiding Nd5) is very common here, for example, I 3 .Nd4 Rfd8
1 4.f3 Be8 1 5 .g4 Rac8 1 6 .Be3 Qa6 1 7 . Qe2 Qxe2 1 8 .Ndxe2 b6 1 9.Nd4 a6 2 0 . a 3 , 483
liz _ liz , Benko-Andresen, Augsburg 1 99 1 ;
(c) 1 2 . . . Rfc8! is an improved version of 1 2 . . . Rfd8 in several respects, e.g., 1 3 .Nd5
Qxd2 1 4.Nxe7 + Kf8 1 5 . Rxd2 Kxe7 1 6 .Nd4 h6 1 7 . B h4 g5 1 8 .Nxc6+ Rxc6=,
Paveliev-Gorkavij , Novgorod 1 999. 1 3 .Nd4 Rac8 ! ? The moves 1 3 . . . Rfe 8 ,
1 3 . . . Rfd8, and 1 3 . . . Rfc8 have all been played here with varying success. I suspect
that one of the latter two is better than the text move . 1 4.f4 Theory was rather
undeveloped here, and this may even have been a novelty. At least one earlier
game had seen 1 4.f3 . 14 . . . h6? ! In some ways this just encourages White's attack,
but Black has also struggled here after 14 . . . Rfd8 1 5 .g4! , e.g., 1 5 . . . b 5 ! ? (Trying
for active play, in view of 1 5 . . . h6 1 6.h4! , but this doesn't seem to pan out. So
1 5 . . . a6 should be tried, with a limited White advantage after 1 6 .h4 b5 or 1 6 .f5 !
Bd7) 1 6 .Ncxb 5 ! Qb6 ( l 6 . . . Qxd2 1 7 .Rxd2 Be8 1 8 .Nc3 h6 1 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 2 0 .Red l
gave no real compensation in Ciric-Hartkopf, Baden-Baden 1 98 8) 1 7 .Nxc6 Rxc6
1 8.Nd4 Rb8 1 9.c3 Rc7 2 0.Bxf6 ! Bxf6 2 1 .g5 with White well on top, Innala-Lassila,
Finland 1 99 5 . 1 5 .h4!
1 5 ... Nxe4? Black had a similar disaster on his hands after 1 5 . . . hxg5 1 6.hxg5 Nxe4
1 7 . Qd3 Bxg5 ( 1 7 . . . Nxc 3 + 1 8 .bxc3 Kg8 1 9. Rh l f5 2 0 . g6 Bg5 2 1 .fxg5) 1 8 .Nxe4
Bxe4 1 9.Rxe4 Bh6 2 0.g4 f5 2 1 . Rxe6 Bxf4 2 2 .Nxf5 , 1 -0, Tal-R. Byrne, Biel 1 97 6 .
The best move is doubtless 1 5 . . . Rfe 8 , when more proof that Black's life is diffi
cult was shown by 1 6 .Bxf6 Bxf6 1 7 .g4 ! , and White had quite a strong attack in
Logunov-Kotsur, Novokuznetsk 1 999. 1 6.Rxe4! hxg5 1 7.Nxc6 Rxc6 1 8.hxg5
Qf5 Here the notes to Game 1 3 5 reveal how desperate Black's position is. I don't
think that there is a defense here, for example, 1 8 . . . g6 ? 1 9 . Qd4+ ! Kg8 2 0. Rh l e 5
2 1 . fx e 5 dxe 5 2 2 .Reh4 f5 2 3 . Q d 7 , 1 -0 . Yandemirov-Predein, Podolsk 1 99 3 .
PA L BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
d-PAWN O P E N I N G S
Bogo- I nd ian
In many of his 1 .d4 games, as we shall see, Benko was on the cutting edge of
theory, often being involved in one of the first games being played with a certain
variation, or even inventing entirely new lines. This is illustrated by our first
game, Benko-Flesch, Belgrade, 1 964, in which he revived an extremely rare
and forgotten idea. After this seminal game and the one mentioned in the note
to 7 . . . d6 (also by Benko), the idea disappeared from practice again, only to be
noticed and played a number of times over 20 years later: l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 e6
3 .Nfl Benko also played 3 .g3 here, entering a Catalan after 3 . . . d 5 . 3 . . . Bh4+
The Bogo-Indian. For 3 . . . b6, see the next game. 4.Bd2 Qe7 A variation of the
Bogo-Indian that has had a lot to do with the recent revival of that opening.
5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Bxd2 + 7.Nbxd2 d6 Black plans . . . e 5 , when after d5 he will
lose space but have the better Bishop. In a later game versus Platanov at Wijk
aan Zee 1 970, Benko used a variant of the key idea under consideration: 7 . . . 0-0
8.Re l ! ? d6 9.Nf1 ! e5 1 0 .Ne3 e4 1 1 .Nd2 Nxd4 1 2 .Nxe4 Nf5 1 3 .Nd5 Nxd5 1 4.cxd 5 ,
with pressure down the c-file. See Game 96. 8.Nf1 !
can find for the Nfl idea went 1 O. d 5 Nd8 1 1 .Nd4 Nc5 ( l 1 . . .f5 1 2 .Qc2) 1 2 .b4
Na6 1 3 .a3 e5 1 4.Ndf5 Qf6 1 5 .Be4 with a significant advantage, Trifunovic-Keres,
Prague 1 9 3 7 . 1 O . . . Nd8 ? ! A preemptive move against d 5 . Thus Black prepares to
play l 1 . . .f5 , and on 1 2 .d5 he can respond by 1 2 . . . e 5 . This plan is awfully slow, 485
but 1O . . . Bd7 1 1 .Nd2 ( l l .b4! ?) l 1 . . .Nxd2 1 2 . Qxd2 gives White space and the
possibility of expanding on the queenside via b4 or on the kingside via f4-f5 .
1 1 .Qc2 f5 1 2 .d5 Ng5 ! ? Now 1 2 . . . e5 1 3 .Nh4! wins a pawn . 1 3 .dxe6 NxB +
1 4.Bxf3 Bxe6 1 5 .Nd5 Qf7 1 6.Nf4!
1 6 . . . c6 The pawn can't be taken, since 1 6 . . . Bxc4? 1 7 .Rfe l ! Be6 1 8 . Qxc7 destroys
Black's position. 1 7.Rad l g5 And here 1 7 . . . Bxc4 1 8 .b3 Be6 1 9.Rxd6 g5 2 0.Nxe6
Nxe6 2 1 .Rfd 1 still doesn't free Black's game, but it does create weaknesses in his
own camp . 1 8.Nxe6 Qxe6 1 9.Rd4. White has pressure on d6 and active pieces.
Benko went on to win.
Presumably this whole setup, which was to become a main line, had not previ
ously appealed to White because it allowed Black to win the Bishop pair. Games
7 1 and 57 in this book (versus Matanovic and Parma) feature Benko at the fore-
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
front of QID theory, and the notes to those games cover the ideas and variations
well. I just want to add some examples from Benko's extensive experience with
the 6.Nc3 and 7 .Bd2 system to complement those two games. I have cited no
486 less than ten games of his with 7 .Bd2 here ! 7 ...dS This move was played repeat
edly in the early days, and in fact Benko's own games still constitute the core of
theory on 7 . . . d S . But he has also faced no less than four other instmctive moves,
many in the early days of the variation:
(a) To begin with, 7 . . . fS S.dS Bf6 9.Qc2 Na6 is the Matanovic game mentioned
above (current theory gives the nod to 9 . . . Qe7). But Benko was also involved
with Black's attempt to make the line 9 . . . 0-0 ! ? 1 0.Nxe4 fxe4 1 1 . Qxe4 exdS work,
since as early as 1 964 he found the positional nicety 1 2 . Qc2 ! Nc6? (avoiding
1 2 . . . ReS 1 3 .O-O! with the idea 1 3 . . .Rxe2 1 4.cxd S , with some advantage in view of
14 . . . Bxd S ? ? l S .Qd3 ) 1 3 .cxdS Nd4 1 4.Nxd4 Bxd4 1 S .e3 Qf6? ! 1 6.Bb4! Bxb2 1 7 .Rb 1
BeS l S .BxfS Bc3 + 1 9 .Kfl RxfS 2 0.Be4 ! , and Black lacked real compensation in
Benko-Milic, Belgrade 1 964.
(b) Another early game went 7 . . . Nxd2 S.Qxd2 dS 9.cxdS exdS 1 0.0-0 ( l O.NeS ! ? )
1 0 . . . Nd7 1 1 .Rfd 1 0-0 1 2 .NeS c 6 1 3 .Nd3 ReS 1 4.b4 with unclear play, Benko
Sherwin, New York 1 961 .
(c) Double-edged play resulted from 7 . . . d6 S .O-O Nd7 9.dS ! ? (9.Nxe4 Bxe4
1 0.Bc3 0-0 I l .Bh3 ! ? might be of interest) 9 . . . Nxd2 1 O.Nxd2 eS 1 1 .b4 as 1 2 .a3
0-0 1 3 .Nb 3 in Benko-Pomar, Torremolinos 1 97 3 .
(d) Lastly, 7 . . . 0-0 S.dS Nxd2 9.Qxd2 Bf6 1 O.0-0 c S 1 1 .Ne l ! threatening 1 2 .dxe6
and preparing moves like Nd3 , e4 and b4, was Benko-Sahovic, Lone Pine 1 97 5.
8.NeS Benko played this in four games. He also tried S.Nxe4! ? dxe4 9 .NeS f6
1 0.Qa4+ c6! ? ( l O . . . KfS ! I l .Ng4 Qxd4 1 2 .Bc3 Qd7 looks better) I l .Ng4 Qxd4
1 2 .Bc3 bS 1 3 .Qc2 against Kuijpers at Tel Aviv 1 964, when it seems that 1 3 . . .Qxc4
should have been played, with a sort of dynamic equality after 1 4.Ne3 . Of course
there are various options here . 8...0-0
The alternative is S . . . Nxd2 9.Qxd2 c6 1 O .e4 ! ? dxc4 ( 1 0 . . .f6 l 1 .Nf3 dxc4 1 2 .Bh3
Qd7 1 3 . Qe2 ! bS 1 4.dS ! cxdS l S .exdS BxdS 1 6.NxdS QxdS 1 7 .Bxe6 etc.) 1 1 . Nxc4
Nd7 1 2 .0-0 ( 1 2 .0-0-0 ! ? ) 1 2 . . . Ba6 1 3 .b3 Bxc4 1 4.bxc4 NeS ! l S .Rfd l Nxc4 1 6. Qe2
bS 1 7 .a4 Bb4 l S .Na2 , with a position that was wild and unclear in Benko
Rossolimo, New York 1 966. 9.Nxe4! 9.cxdS was played versus Parma in Game
S 7 . After 9 . . . Nxc3 1 0 .Bxc3 exdS I l .Qa4, Parma played 1 1 . . . Bd6, while Benko
BENKO AS WHITE
took a quick draw following 1 1 . . . Qd6 1 2 .0-0 RdS 1 3 .Rad l versus Karpov in
Caracas 1 970 ( 1 3 . . . Nd7 looks fine for Black). 9 ... dxe4 1O.Qc2 f5 Correctly avoid
ing 10 . . . Qxd4? 1 1 .Bc3 QdS 1 2 .Bxe4. 1 1 .Bc3 Bf6 1 2 .Rd 1 Or 1 2 .0-0-0; White is
surely better in this position. 12 ... Qe7 1 3 .0-0 a5 14.f4 This is Benko-Rossolimo, 487
New York 1 96 5 . White has a nice advantage .
This i s the earliest case I have found of this simple move (excepting a game that
continued S . . . Be7 6.Bf4 BcS, transposing back to a normal line). I'm sure that
there are earlier examples, but it's likely that Benko came up with S .BgS over the
board. At first, it may see odd to bring out more black pieces, but in return White
secures a basic positional advantage with his control of d S : 5 . . . Be7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7
7.Nc3 Ncxe5 Lalic analyzes 7 . . . Qb4 S.Qb3 Qxb3 9.axb3 NgxeS l O NxeS NxeS
I I .NbS , and White is much better (he wins a pawn). The main move is 7 . . . NgxeS .
Then S.NdS QdS (S . . . Nxf3 + 9.gxf3 favors White) 9.NxeS NxeS 1 O . Qd4, and
White has space and a positional advantage. 8.Nd5
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
S ... QcS 8 . . . Qd8 9.NxeS NxeS 1 O.Qd4 transposes to the note to 7 . . . NgxeS above.
9.e3 NxB + 1 0.gxB ! This was queried by Benko himself in one source, but ap
pears to be very strong. 10 . . . Nf6 I 1 .Nxf6+ gxf6 1 2 .Bd3 ! ? Benko has won the
488 opening battle, and while this move is not bad, 1 2 . Qa4! seems to give White a
clear advantage. 1 2 .QdS ! ? also deserved consideration. 1 2 ... d6 1 3 .Qb3 ! Bd7
14.Qxb7 ! ? Leading to wild complications; safer was 1 4.0-0-0 Bc6 I S .Be4 with
some advantage . 1 4 ... Bc6 I S .Qb3 BxB 1 6.Rgl Ke7 ! 1 7.Rg3 QaS+ I S.KfI
RabS 1 9.Qc2 QhS 2 0.cS !, with an unclear attack on Black's King. 2 0 . . . dxcS
would be met by 2 1 .Rc 1 .
T he Slav Defense
Moving on to some Queen's Gambits, the following Slav Defence from Benko
Sigurjonsson, Caracas 1 970 is a good example of how Benko exploits a harm
less but irregular opening: l .NB dS 2 .d4 Nf6 3 .c4 c6 4.e3 e6 S .Bd3 Nbd7
6.Nbd2 ! " ! " for surprise value rather than theoretical superiority. This variation
of the Slav was popular in the 1 92 0s and 1 93 0s, with games featuring some of
the best players in the game. Today it has mostly lost its appeal, but is solid and
certainly playable. 6 ... cS ? ! This move has done badly, primarily because, as Benko
says, it wastes a tempo with . . . c6-cS . Slav players may be interested in some theory
here. Of the normal responses to 6.Nbd2 is 6. . . Be7, which has worked out well
enough over the years, but the move that most aggressively counters 6.Nbd2 is
6. . . Bd6, aiming for . . . e S . Then fairly typical play goes 7 .0-0 (7 .e4 e S ! 8.cxdS cxdS
=. For example, 9.exdS exd4 1 0. Qe2 + Qe7 1 1 .0-0 Qxe2 1 2 .Bxe2 NxdS 1 3 .Nxd4
A well-tested position in which Black has sufficient play, for example, I I .Nc4!?
( l 1 .Nxd4 N e S 1 2 .Ne4 Nxd3 1 3 . Qxd3 Nxe4 1 4. Qxe4 Re8 I S .Qd3 ReS ! , Collas
Becerra, Linares 1 997; I 1 .Ne4 Nxe4 1 2 .Bxe4 NcS ! 1 3 . Qxd4 Nxe4 1 4.Qxe4 Re8
I S .Qd4 BfS ) 1 1 . . .NcS 1 2 .Nxd6 Qxd6 1 3 .Bc4 Bg4 1 4.Qxd4 Bxf3 I S .gxf3 Ne6
1 6. Qh4 NxdS 1 7 .Rd l Nec7 = Salov-Anand, Linares 1 992 . White has the Bishop
pair but at the cost of structural weaknesses on the kingside. 7.b3 This is to
avoid the isolated pawn after . . . cxd4 and . . . dxc4- see Benko's notes. 7 ... Be7 Black
must be careful to avoid something like 7 . . . cxd4 8 . exd4 dxc4 9.bxc4 e S ? (9 . . . Bd6
BENKO AS WHITE
leaves White with some advantage) l O.dxe5 Nxe5 1 1 .Nxe5 Qd4. This is awful
for Black, although it's still a little unclear after either of Benko's suggestions
1 2 .0-0 and 1 2 . Qa4+. However, 1 2 .Qe2 ! is simply winning, due to 1 2 . . . Qxa l
1 3 .Nb3 Qc3 + ( 1 3 . . . Bh4+ 1 4.Kd 1 Qc3 1 5 . Bb2 ) 1 4. B d 2 Qb2 1 5 .Ng6+ etc. 489
8.0-0 0-0 9.Bb2 b6 10.Qe2 Bb7 Again, please see Benko's game notes for a
discussion of these moves. We are already out of theory; a few more moves are
needed to demonstrate White's opportunities: 1 1 .Rfd l ! ReS Stepping out of
the shadow of the d 1 -Rook by 1 1 . .. Qc7 is also possible, when 1 2 .Rac 1 Rad8
1 3 .cxd5 exd5 1 4.e4! ensures White the better game. 1 2 . Rac 1 Re7 ! ? 1 3 .dxeS !
NxeS 1 4.Be2 QaS I S .NgS !. A surprisingly effective attacking idea that nets
immediate dividends; see Game 94.
1 2 ... Be7 ? ! Black intends to play ... Bf6 and neutralize White's Bishop on the
long diagonal. Now 1 3 .Nxe4 tends to free Black's pieces, and the classic block
ade of the queen pawn by 1 3 .Nb5 Bf6 1 4.Nbd4 is only superficially attractive
after 1 4 . . . Qa5 and the transfer of Rooks to the center ( . . . Bg4 is also an idea).
But Benko finds a precise response, and with hindsight, better looks 1 2 . . . Re8
or 1 2 .. .f6, the latter move covering e5 and blocking off the b2-Bishop (as in the
Keres-Parma line of the English Opening). 1 3 .Ne2 ! This subtle move is supe
rior to the more conventional 1 3 .Nb5 in the line 1 3 .Ne2 Bf6 1 4.Nfd4! , and
White can play Nf4 next with the serious threat of Bxe4. 13 ... ReS 1 4.Nf4. Sud
denly White is considerably better. He will play his Queen to e2 and a Rook to
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
d 1 , tying Black to defense of the d-pawn. Benko explains the further course of
the contest in Game 1 07 .
The line arising in Benko- Lounek, Vienna, 1 947 has been the subject of many
famous top-level encounters. The game is brilliantly examined in Game 6; so here
I will provide some theoretical background: l .Nf3 d5 2 .d4 Nf6 3 .c4 e6 4.Nc3
c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Benko also experimented with 6.g3 , for example, against
Korchnoi at Cura�ao 1 962 (see Game 43 ) and Donner at Wijk aan Zee 1 970 (see
Game 9 5 ). In both of these games, Queens were exchanged early and Benko again
showed his remarkable strength in Queenless middlegames. 6 ...Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4
8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2 + Exchanging Queens is definitely a poor idea after
9 . . . Qa5 1 O.Rb l Bxd2 + 1 1 . Qxd2 Qxd2+ 1 2 .Kxd2 , and White has better develop
ment, the center, and an active King. 1 O.Qxd2 0-0 I l .Bc4 Nc6 1 2 .0-0 b6
Over the years, several very strong players have tried 1 2 . . . Qd6 here (preventing
Qf4) and have enjoyed some success with it. 1 3 .Rad l ! As Benko points out, this
game (in 1 947 ) predated the famous games in the next notes by over 20 years !
Of course, his game with this line is very obscure and there was at least one and
probably more players of White who had played 1 3 .Rad 1 before, but in any case
we see Benko anticipating later theory in a very important line. 13 ... Bb7 A "schol
arly" aside here: database sources give Polugayevsky-Tal from the 1 969 USSR
Championship as continuing 1 3 . . .Bb7 1 4.Rfe 1 Na5 1 5 .Bd3 RcS . I think, how
ever, that Benko is right in asserting that 1 3 . . . Na5 came first, because Polugayevsky
himself gave that order in his Grandmaster Preparation. A brilliant game resulted
after 1 4.Bd3 Bb7 1 5 .Rfe 1 RcS 1 6.d5 ! ! exd5 1 7 .e5 Nc4 l S .Qf4 Nb2 1 9 .Bxh7 + ! ,
and Polugayevsky won one o f the finest games o f his career. 14.Qf4 Spassky
Petrosian, Moscow 1 969 went 1 4.Rfe 1 RcS I 5 .d5 ! exd5 I 6.Bxd5 Na5 1 7 .Qf4,
with a space advantage and open lines.
BENKO AS WHITE
49 1
1 4 . . . Rc8 ! ? Benko doesn't comment upon this move, but the many later contests
continued 14 . . . Qf6! with great success. Thus 1 4.Rfe 1 is considered more accu
rate than 1 4.Qf4. 1 5 .d5 exd5 1 6.Bxd5 Qe7 The only precursor to this game
that! can find went 1 6. . . Qc7 1 7 .Qg4 ( 1 7 .Qh4 ! ? ) 1 7 . . . Ba6 1 8 .Rfe 1 Ne5 1 9.Nxe5
Qxe 5 , with at best a minor edge for White due to his space, Reinhardt-Tautvaisas,
Buenos Aires 1 9 3 9. 1 7.Ng5 Ne5 1 8.Bxb7 Ng6 1 9.Qf5 Qxb7 20.Rd7 Qa6
2 1 .Rxf7 Qxa2 , and after this series of more or less forced moves, Black could
have held on with accurate play.
In the traditional QGD, Benko was an early adherent of the 5 .Bf4 system that
later became quite popular. His opening against Lengyel from Venice 1 969
shows how easily Black can slip into positional difficulties: l .c4 e6 2 .NB d5
3 .d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5 .Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7
7.cxd5 The main move these days is 7 . Qc2 . But the game Benko-Medina Garcia,
Palma de Mallorca 1 968 , quoted in Benko's notes, is still cited today: 7. a 3 c5 ! ?
(also possible i s just 7 . . . dxc4 8 .Bxc4 a6, e.g., 9.Qc2 c 5 1 0 .dxc5 Bxc5 l 1 .b4 Be7=,
Loebler-Singer, Austria 1 99 5 ) 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Be2 a6 1 O.dxc5 Nxc5 1 1 .0-0 Be6
1 2 .Be5, with a slight advantage .
7.cxd5 is a thematic response to Black's . . . Nbd7 because in the Exchange Varia
tion structure that arises, White's Bishop is well posted on f4. Indeed, White
often voluntarily loses a tempo by Bg5-f4 in the main lines of the Exchange Varia
tion of the Bg5 Queen's Gambit Declined. 7 . . .Nxd5 7 . . . exd5 8 . Qc2 would illus-
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE. GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
trate the point in the last note. 8.Nxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 Nf6 Benko mentions 9 . . . Bb4+
1 0.Nd2 , after which White can continue with moves like 0-0 and Qc2 , although
this may not achieve much. He could also play 1 0.Ke2 ! , when I think that White
492 has a small but definite advantage. In a recent theoretical article on 6 .. Nbd7 ,
Zoran Ilic gives one fragment and suggests that 9 . . . Bb4+ equalizes, but h e sup
plies only one unconvincing example. 1 0.Qc2 c6 1 l .0-0 Bg4 Benko calls this
"an inaccuracy, " although after his 1 1 . . . h6, 1 2 .Ne5 would similarly grant White
nice prospects, whereas the continuation 1 1 . . .a5 1 2 .h3 keeps White's options open
and maintains some pressure. 1 2 .Ne5 Be6 l 3 .b4!
Grunfeld Defense
Benko tried several systems against the Griinfeld Defense, but either by nor
mal means or by transposition, he most often ended up in a g3 system (fifteen of
them in my database). His first match game versus Reshevsky in New York
1 960 is still theoretically important: l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5
Nxd5 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 Nb6 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.d5 Nb4 1 O.e4 c6 I l .Qb3
BENKO AS WHITE ,
Benko says that he "dreamed up this move over the board" in preference to the
"more natural" 1 1 .a 3 . Actually, although there had not been many games with
9 . . . Nb4 up to this point of time; 1 1 .Qb3 had been played more often than 1 1 .a3 .
Interestingly, 1 1 .Qb3 has continued to score well over the years, but in the mod- i 49 3
erate revival of 9 . . . Nb4 in 1 999-2000, White has chosen 1 1 .a3 Na6 1 2 .bxc6 in
every game, with indifferent results ! Thus 1 1 .Qb3 is still critical to theory.
1 1 . . .Nd3 Oddly enough, the retreat to a6 isn't bad and has achieved fair results.
1 2 .Be3 c5 Benko's 1 2 . . . Nxb2 ! ? 1 3 .Qxb2 Na4 1 4.Nxa4 Bxb2 l S .Nxb2 hasn't been
tried. 1 3 .Ne l c4 14.Qc2 Nxe l 1 5 .Rfxe l , and as Benko shows in Game 3 5 ,
White i s better.
6 . . . c5 The modern solution is 6. . . Nxc3 7 . bxc3 dxc4, when White has to choose
between a speculative gambit or misplacing his Queen: 8.e3 (8.Qa4+ Qd7 ! 9. Qxc4
b6! , with the idea . . . Ba6) 8 . . . bS 9.a4 c6 1 0. Be2 a6 1 1 .Nd2 0-0 1 2 . Bf3 Ra7 , and
Black was still a pawn up in Sorin-Kasparov, Buenos Aires (simul) 1 997. 7.cxd5
Nxc3 8.bxc3 Qxd5 9.e3 cxd4 1 0.cxd4 Nc6 1 1 .Be2 e 5 ? The sequence 1 1 . . . 0-0
1 2 .0-0 eS is now preferred, although it is still by no means easy for Black after
1 3 .dxeS . 1 2 .dxe5 Qa5+ 1 3 .Qd2 Qxd2 + 14.Kxd2 Nxe5 15 .Rab l 0-0 1 6.Nd4!
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
494
Benko arrived at this position twice and won both games. Black will have great
difficulties developing his pieces in view of Rhc 1 and Rc7 , among other ideas.
16 ... h6 ! ? This game predates the normally cited Gheorghiu-Jansa, Skopje 1 97 6.
There Black played 1 6. . . Nc6 1 7 .Nxc6 bxc6 1 8 .Rhc 1 Be6 1 9.Bc4 ! , which looks
pretty awful for him in view of his weak pawns combined with White's open files
and centralized King. Benko's first game with this line went 1 6. . . a6 (first played
by Enklaar versus Uhlmann in 1 97 2 ; Benko seems to have been only the second
player to have played the whole line up to 1 6.Nd4) 1 7 .Rhc 1 Re8 1 8 .f4! Nd7
1 9.BB with an obvious advantage, Benko-Rosino, Venice 1 974. 1 7.f4!? gS l S.fxgS
Ng6 1 9.Bg3 hxgS 20.Bc7 ! , and White, preventing . . . Rd8 , retains the advan
tage, as seen in Game 1 2 5 .
Versus the King's Indian Defense, Benko played g3 systems, 4.Bg5 , the Averbach
S ystem (5 .Be2 and 6.Bg5 ), orders with 4.e4 and 5 .Ne2 , h3 systems, the Samisch
Variation, and the Four Pawns Attack! An incredible assortment. In addition to
all those, he came up with a new and important scheme in the Main Line ("Clas
sical") KID: l .c4 g6 2 .d4 Bg7 3 .Nc3 d6 4.NfJ Nf6 S .e4 0-0 6.Be2 eS 7.0-0
Nc6 S.dS Ne7 9.Ne 1 Nd7 1 0.fJ fS The most-played and best-analyzed posi
tion of the King's Indian. After countless master games and analysis, Benko be
gan to use a paradoxical and unique new idea: 1 1 .g4!
BENKO AS WHITE
" ! " for the move's originality and boldness. Benko explains the point of this move
in the well-annotated Game 3 2 . What he doesn't mention is the reason that no
one had come up with I I .g4 before, i.e., that it moves a pawn in front of one's
own King on the very side of the board in which Black has his attacking chances ! 495
Such an idea flouts classical chess principles and simply wouldn't occur to most
players. Since Benko helped to introduce and then developed the key ideas of
l 1 .g4, this is usually called the "Benko Variation. " Today, l 1 .g4 is still played
with varying results-I have 468 games with it in my database, many from the
last few years. True, Black has come up with plans to prevent the paralysis of his
attack that can follow White's moves h4 and Ng2 . Therefore this is no longer
feared as a refutation of Black's play, i.e., theory considers that both sides have
satisfactory play. It is worth mentioning, however, that Benko's idea has been
given an extra dimension via the order 1 0.Nd3 f5 I 1 .Bd2 Nf6 1 2 . f3 f4 1 3 .g4! ? ,
which, a s Nunn and B urgess say, i s "a critical test of Black's whole system. " Thus
the g4 concept has an ongoing vitality. 1 1 . . .f4 Certainly not the best idea, as
Benko shows. Led by John Nunn and others, players and theoreticians have turned
to 1 1 . . . Kh8 as the most reliable solution. Here I should note two historically
significant games. Portisch-Dely, Budapest 1 9 5 6 was apparently the first l 1 .g4
game by a major player (with Benko's 1 95 8 game mentioned below probably the
second). That game went 1 1 . . .h6 1 2 .h4 Kh7 ! ? (there are later games with 1 2 . . . Nf6)
1 3 .Be3 ? ( l 3 .Nd 3 prepares to protect g4 and h3 by Nf2 ) 1 3 . . . fxg4 1 4.fxg4 Rxfl +
1 5 .Bxfl Nf6 1 6.Be2 Qd7 ! 1 7 . g5 Qh3 , with a good game. Notice that this poor
start for White didn't divert Benko from investigating and playing the line him-
self. A still earlier example (although stemming from the order 1 O.g4 f5 1 1 . 8)
was again of Hungarian origin: 1 1 . . . fxg4 (not mentioned among the eight 0)
moves in Nunn and Burgess) 1 2 .fxg4 Rxfl + 1 3 .Bxfl (or 1 3 .Kxfl intending 1 3 . . . Nf6
1 4.g5 ) 1 3 . . . Nf6 1 4.h3 ( 1 4.g5 and 1 4.Be2 100k good) 1 4 . . . c6 1 5 .Nc2 cxd 5 1 6.cxd5
Bd7 1 7 .Be3 , and White had some edge in Sandor-Gereben, Budapest 1 95 2 . 1 2 .h4
as Benko's first game with his system went 1 2 . . . c5 1 3 .a3 Kh8 1 4.Bd2 Ng8 1 5 .Ng2
B f6 1 6.Be l , and Black was at a loss for a plan in Benko-Pachman, Portoroz 1 95 8 ,
although the game was eventually drawn. 1 3 .Ng2 NcS 14.Bd2 Kh 8 I S .Be l !
Bd7 1 6.Bf2 . We are following Benko-Eliskases, Buenos Aires 1 960. Benko's
notes to this struggle are terrific- see Game 3 2 .
Benko enjoyed playing g3 versus the King's Indian, but did not produce any
important opening novelties that I know of. However, his treatment of the . . . Nbd7
defense to g3 in Game 63 versus Medina is well worth seeing-the concept of
1 3 .c5 ! is characteristic of a variety of such positions.
In a rare Samisch Variation (5 .8), Benko filched an important point from Fischer
in the 1 958 Portoroz Interzonal after the following interesting move order:
l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.£3 e S ? ! Benko had quite a bit of experi
ence from this position. He discussed it from the Black side with Bronstein in
1 9 5 8 and again versus Wade in 1 960 (a game he lost). In a game versus Tatai
(presented below), he showed his facility with the white pieces. My own feeling
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
497
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
498 We begin with the l .c4 e5 English Opening. Benko had little trouble with the
main line (2 .Nc3 Nf6 3 .NB Nc6 4.g3), comfortably drawing a number of strong
players. The following game has several examples in its notes that are not terri
bly exciting, but instructive for the calm neutralization of White's plans: l .c4 e5
2 .Nc3 Nf6 3 .Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 5 .Bg2 5 .Nd5 was particularly popular at the
time of these games, because the main line with 5 .Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 Bxc3 or 6. . . e4
was doing so well for Black, and thus White wanted another weapon. After 5 .Nd5,
B enko was willing to give up the Bishop pair for effective development and cen
tral control: 5 . . . e4
and now:
(a) 6.Nxb4 Nxb4 7 .Nd4 0-0 (Fairly recently, the move 7 .. .Ng4 ! ? has been dis
covered, threatening . . . Qf6. That seems to equalize.) S.Nc2 Nxc2 + 9.Qxc2 d5 !
1 0.Bg2 ! ? ( 1 O .cxd5 Qxd5 ! I l .Bg2 , and Black has more than enough for a pawn
with the moves . . . RacS and . . . e3 threatened. Here 1 1 . Qxc7 is met by 1 1 . . . Bg4! .)
1 0 . . . dxc4 ( 1 0 . . . d4! ?) 1 1 . Qxc4 Be6 1 2 . Qc2 ReS 1 3 .b3 ( 1 3 .0-0 Bg4!) 1 3 . . .Bg4 1 4.Bb2
Re6, liz_liz, Smyslov-Benko, Wijk aan Zee 1 97 2 . White has two Bishops, but
lacks space and can't castle. Probably "equal" is a legitimate assessment.
(b) 6.Nh4 Bc5 7 .Bg2 d6 S . O-O Be6 9.d3 Nxd5 1 0.cxd5 Bxd5 I l .dxe4 (This was
all book at the time, but later I l .Nf5 ! ? with the idea 1 1 . . .0-0 1 2 .d4 Bb6 1 3 .Ne3 !
was discovered, with advantage to White. So Black is best off playing 1 1 . . . Qf6,
which has been satisfactory in a few tests.) I l . ..Be6 1 2 .Bd2 0-0 1 3 .Bc3 Qd7 1 4.Qd2
a5 ! ? , liz_liz, Christiansen-Benko, Greenville 1 9S0. A move ago Black could have
played for more, but now 1 5 .Bxg7 Kxg7 1 6.Qg5+ draws . 5 . . . 0-0 6.Nd5 6.0-0
Bxc3 7. bxc3 is the main 1 . . . e 5 line of the English Opening: 7 . . . ReS (7 . . . e4 is now
more common) S . d 3 e4 9.Ng5 exd3 1 O.exd3 d6! ?
BENKO AS BLACK
499
(This kind of position has always been considered equal, but here Black should
be a little careful not to get tied down. An easier solution is 1 O . . . b6.) 1 1 .Rb l !
Ne5 (or 11 . . .h6 12 .Ne4 Nxe4 1 3 . Bxe4 Ne5 1 4.f4! Nxc4 1 5 .f5 ! with attack,
Mecking-Tan, Petropolis 1 97 3 ) 1 2 . f4 Ned7 ! ? 1 3 .Ba3 RbS 1 4.Qd2 b6 1 5 .Rbe l
Bb7 1 6.RxeS+ QxeS, 112_112, Ree-Benko, Wijk aan Zee 197 2 . I think White should
play on, since the Rook is badly misplaced after 1 7 .Bxb7 Rxb7 I S .Re l followed
by Qg2 -c6. On the other hand, the Bishop on a3 is itself poorly placed, so what
advantage exists is limited. 6 . . . Re8 7.0-0 Again, Black has a nice space advan
tage to compensate for White's Bishop pair after 7 .Nxb4 Nxb4; for example,
s.o-o e4 9.Nd4 d5 ! 1 O.Nc2 a5 = . 7 . . . Bc5 8.d3 According to modern theory, S.e3
is the best chance, and achieves a small advantage. 8 . . . Nxd5 9.cxd5 Nd4
This maneuver has held up very well over the years. 1 0.Nd2 To play e3 and
chase Black back, but in the meantime White really only has one effective piece
out. 10 . . . d6 l 1 .e3 Nf5 1 2 .Nc4 Ne7 A modest move, preparing . . . c6 and free
ing the cS bishop . 1 3 .Bd2 c6 1 4.b4 Bb6 1 5 .dxc6 bxc6 1 6.b5 ! ? 1 6.Nxb6 Qxb6
1 7 .Re I intending Qa4 in certain cases keeps some pressure on Black, but not
much. 16 ... Bc7 ! 1 7.bxc6 d5 18.Na3 Ba6, 112_ 112, Gheorghiu-Benko, Las Palmas
1972 . Black's positional combination has actually netted him the advantage after
being slightly worse for some time. A possible continuation would be 1 9. Qc2
Bd6! 2 0.Nb l RcS , with advantage.
are tired of the maneuvering after 4.g3 have turned to this older, more open
variation. 4 ... e4 Much more common but not necessarily better is 4 . . . exd4 S .Nxd4
Bb4. 5 .Nd2 Bb4 This is a very reasonable setup for Black, and one requiring
500 little theoretical knowledge. 6.e3 Bxc3 The knight should be captured now, be
fore White plays Qc2 . 7.bxc3 0-0
S.Ba3 S.Be2 is more common, but as one can imagine, Black's e4 strongpoint in
conjunction with White's doubled c-pawns should ensure him good play. One idea
that I presented in my 1 979 book but I've never seen again is S . . . ReS (S . . . Qe7 is rare
but also equal.) 9.0-0 d6 1 O.f3 BfS ! ? ( l O . . . exB I 1 .BxB Rxe3 1 2 .Nb3 Rxc3 ! 1 3 .BgS
Ne7 is an older solution.) l 1 .fxe4 Nxe4! intending 1 2 .RxfS ? ( 1 2 .Nxe4 Bxe4 is slightly
better for Black.) 1 2 . . . Nxc3 1 3 .Qf1 Nxe2 + 1 4.Qxe2 Nxd4. S ... ReS 9.Qc2 d6
1 0.c5 ? ! Best seems 1 O.Be2 BfS I 1 .Rb l b6 1 2 . 0-0 Qd7 =. 1 0 . . . d5 I l .h3 Perhaps
White had intended I I .c4, but Black can utilize dS and develop smoothly there
after, for example, 1 1 . . .Be6 1 2 .Rb l RbS 1 3 .Be2 dxc4 1 4.Nxc4 QdS ! I S .0-0 QgS .
1 1 . . .Be6 1 2 .Be2 Qd7 1 3 .g4? ! Awful looking, but White needs a plan and is
understandably afraid of 1 3 .0-0 Bxh3 1 4. gxh3 Qxh3 with the idea . . . Re6. 1 3 ... KhS.
White was threatening to win a piece by gS . With that threat out of the way, it is
obvious that Black has gotten the better game out of the opening.
50 1
This move is not mentioned in the main theoretical books and I Ow) thought
that I had first discovered and suggested it myself, being unaware of this game.
Remarkably, 8 ... Na6! has still only been played three times that I can find, with
Benko's use of it predating the next one by twenty-two years ! At any rate, it is
the best move and makes it slightly difficult for White even to equalize. 9.d3
Bg4 1 0.f3 1O.Qd2 O-O-O ! 1 0 ... exf3 1 1 .Nxf3 Qc7 1 2 .0-0 Rd8 ! ? 12 ... 0-0-0 ! looks
risky at first, but Black's King is secure and he would gain time in bringing his
Rooks to the center. 1 3 .d4 Be7. Now Black has the better game-White's cen
tral structure is suspect, in view of 14.e4? ? Rxd4! .
7.d3 The consistent move is 7 .Nxd 5 . The game notes cite the 1 968 correspon-
dence game Abramov-Kuuksmaa in the line 7 ... Nd4 8.Nxf6+ Qxf6 (In fact, 8 . . . gxf6!
is almost certainly better according to modern theory, intending . . . Qc7, . . . Be6,
502 and . . . Rc8 .) 9.Qd 1 ? (9.Qd3 ! Bf5 1 0.Be4 is double-edged and considered dynami
cally equal.) 9 . . . Bf5 1 O.d3 Rc8 1 1 .Kf1 Qa6! , a pretty move that practically wins
due to the idea of . . . Nc2 and . . . Qxa2 and sacrificial threat on e2 . An earlier game,
Nazzari-Perez, Mar del Plata, saw White play better after 1 1 . Rb 1 ! Bb4+
1 2 .Kfl 0-0 B .Nf3 , although the resulting position was obviously very difficult
to defend . 7 ... d4 8.Nb l Bb4+ 9.Bd2 as ! 1 0.a3 Or 1 0.Bxc6+ bxc6 1 1 . Bxb4 axb4
1 2 . Qxb4 Qd5 . 1 O ... Be6 I 1 .Qa4 Be7 1 2 .Bc1 0-0 With . . . Nd7-c5 and . . . a4 in
mind. The opening has ended with a large advantage for Black. See Game 1 00
for its brutal course.
Mikenas Variation
Feldman-Benko, Budapest 1 945 is a very early and theoretically important
game in the development of Nimzo-English theory, i.e., l .c4 Nf6 2 .Nc3 e6: l .c4
Nf6 2 .Nc3 e6 3 .e4 This is the MikenasVariation, still one of the main lines of
the English Opening. 3 ... d5 Benko's old notes mention the line L. c5 4.e5 Ng8
5 .f4 as a possible disincentive to L.c5; today this is no longer played due to
5 . . . Nc6 6.Nf3 d6, when White is struggling in the center. 4.cxd5 exd5 5.e5
Benko says that this move is "refuted" by the game, and in the sense of it being a
practical winning attempt, he's certainly right. Instead, he suggests 5 .exd 5 ; how
ever, Black is already better after 5 . . . Nxd5 6.d4 Bb4 7 .Bd2 0-0, so this is no im
provement. 5 . . . Ne4!
503
The most direct and pointed move; but in fact, 8 . . . Be6 was played successfully in
Carls-Helling, Bad Pyrmollt 1 93 3 and then again in Kuppe-Unzicker, Oldenburg
1 949. So one already wonders about White's undeveloped position and poor pawn
structure. 9.Qxd4 Nxd4 1 0.Bd3 A later example was 1 O.Kd 1 Bf5 1 1 .d3 0-0-0
1 2 .Be3 Bc5 of Drimer-Podgaets, Budapest 1 961 . This is playable for White, but
still depressing. 1 0 . . . Be6 Calm development, indicating Black's self-confidence.
I 1 .Be4 My 1 9 79 book has 1 1 .Ne2 here, leading to equality after 1 1 . . .0-0-0
1 2 . Be4 (see the game notes for 1 2 .Nf4) 12 ... Bd5 ! ? Thus, on White's 1 2 th below,
he should consider Ne2 , transposing to that line. 1 1 . . .0-0-0 1 2 .f4? ! Continuing
with the thought of the last note, 1 2 .Ne2 might be answered by 1 2 . . . Bc5 = (or
1 2 . . . Bd5). The alternative 1 2 .Kd 1 Bd5 1 3 .Bxd5 Rxd5 1 4.f4 g5 transposes to the
game. 12 ... Bd5 1 3 .Bxd5 Rxd5 1 4.Kd l g5 ! ? Balogh in the bulletin gave 1 4 . . . Bc5 ,
which is probably better for Black. 1 5 .fxg5 Bb4! 1 6 .Nh3 ? ! , and here the notes
to the game correctly indicate that 1 6. . . Rxe5 ! 1 7 .Rfl Rhe8 favors the second
player. That is enough to define the opening. Thorough notes to the whole con
test can be found in Game 1 .
FLANK OPENINGS
In Kalme-Benko, New York U.S. Ch. 1 960, Benko uses one of the most
effective anti-Reti systems: l .NB Nf6 2.g3 d5 3 .Bg2 c6 4.0-0 Bg4 Today masters
everywhere play this setup, bringing the Bishop outside of the pawn chain. 5.c4
A "Benko Opening"! As we discuss elsewhere, the most legitimate use of this
(dubious) appellation involves an early Nf3 , g3 , and c4, without transposition to
a normal Reti Opening. Such is the case here. 5 . . . e6 6.Qb3 ! ? Qb6 Benko natu
rally has no fear of trading Queens. The resulting Queenless endgame offers
many chances and indeed, he outplays his opponent over the next few moves:
7.Qxb6 axb6 S.cxd5 exd5 9.d3 Be7 1 0.Nc3 b5! I l .a4? !
1 1 . ..Nbd7 ! ? Looking for more, Black foregoes 1 1 . . . Bxf3 ! 1 2 .exf3 (l2 .Bxf3 d4
1 3 .Ne4 Nxe4 1 4.Bxe4 bxa4) 1 2 . . . d4 1 3 .Ne2 Rxa4 1 4.Rxa4 bxa4 l S .Nxd4 0-0,
with the kind of edge that one would normally expect Benko to convert. 1 2 .b3
An alternative was connecting Rooks by 1 2 .Bd2 . 1 2 ...Nc5 1 3 .Rb l ! So as to capture
on b 7 in reaction to any Black capture on a4. Instead, 1 3 .Nd4 bxa4 1 4.bxa4
(1 4.Nxa4? ? b5) 14 . . . 0-0 would have been a little awkward for White. After 1 3 .Rb 1 ,
he has equality. The game ended tragically (but, alas, not entirely atypically) when
Benko's flag fell in a dead equal position.
Benko has long been a fan of the Modem Defense ( 1 . . .g6), playing some key
games that influenced its early development. This opening is conceptually di-
BENKO AS BLACK
vided into systems with White having played c4 at some point (as he does in our
example here), and setups without that move (see the games in the next section).
Since there are three orders by which White can get to a c4-based Modern (via
1 .c4, 1 .d4, and 1 .e4), it is not strictly a 1 .e4 opening (nor does ECO assign it as 505
such); hence its placement here.
In the following game, Benko gladly enters into what is now the best-known
Queenless middle game that arises from the Modern with c4: l .e4 g6 2 .d4 Bg7
3 .c4 d6 4.Nc3 e5 Of course, there are many setups here involving moves like
. . . Nc6, . . . Nbd7, . . . c6 with . . . a6, and the like. Benko played 4 . . . Nd7 5 .Be3 e5 6.Nge2
Nh6! ? in a game versus Roeder in Augsburg 1 99 1 . The experiment didn't work
out badly after 7 . f3 f5 8.d5 0-0 9.Qd2 Nf7
1 O.g3 ( l 0.exf5 gxf5 1 1 .0-0-0 a6! ?) 1 0 . . .Nf6 ( l 0 . . . a5 1 1 .Bg2 Nc5 looks fairly solid)
1 1 .Bg2 c5 ! ? 1 2 .0-0 ( l 2 .dxc6! bxc6 1 3 .0-0 should keep some edge.) 12 . . . Bd7 1 3 .a4
Qe7 1 4.Kh 1 h5 ! 1 5 .b3 h4 1 6.gxh4 f4 1 7 .Bf2 Nh5 , with serious kingside pressure
via . . . Bf6, . . . Kg7 , . . . Rh8 etc. S.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Kxd8 7.Bg5+ 7 . f4 is consid
ered the most dangerous move versus Black's setup, but the text move is also
popular, developing rapidly. 7 . . . f6 8.0-0-0+ Nd7 9.Be3 Bh6
One of Black's main ideas is to exchange his bad Bishop for White's good one.
1 0.Bxh6 Nxh6 1 1 .h4! ? A move that hopes to put pressure on the kingside, but
also wastes time. 1 1 . . . c6 ! Here is Black's key move, after which the King goes to
e7 or c7 without being harassed by Nd5 + . A Knight will try to get to the hole on
d4. 1 2 .h5 Ke7 1 3 .hxg6 hxg6
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
506
1 4.NO White's dilemma with his bad Bishop is illustrated by 1 4.Be2 (versus an
eventual . . . Ng4) 1 4 . . . Nc5 1 5 .f3 Be6 1 6.Nh3 a s , and Black's pieces are more ef-
fective. 14 ... NfS 1 5 .Nh4 Be6 1 6.Be2 Rd8 1 7.g3 Finally White is ready for the
positive idea of f4. 1 7 ... Rxd l + 1 8.Nxd l Ntl 1 9.Ne3 Ke8 ! ? To prevent forks
on g6 or f5 . 1 9 . . . Ng5 might be played immediately, thinking about . . . Bd7 or
. . . Bf7 and . . . Nge6-d4. Black tries the same idea next move. 2 0.Rd l Ng5 2 1 .0
Btl 2 2 . c 5 ! Finally freeing the f1 Bishop ! 22 . . . Nge6 2 2 . . . Bxa2 2 3 .Bc4 Bxc4
2 4.Nxc4 Nf7 2 5 .Na5 regains the pawn with a good game. 2 3 .Nc4 Nd4 24.Nd6+
Ke7 2 5 .Bd3 Bxa2 26.Nxb7 Bb3 I like the look of Black's game here, although
White kept an approximate balance and achieved the draw in Janosevic-Benko,
Majdanpek 1 976.
l.e4 OPENINGS
This highlight of this section is Benko's beloved Sicilian Defence, which accounts
for a numerical majority of his l .e4 games as Black. But he by no means limited
himself to that response. A close look at the sections below (especially on the
Pirc Defense) reveals how extensive his contributions have been in other e-pawn
openings as well.
Modern Defense
The Modern Defense was just coming into fashion in the late '60s, and Benko
jumped right into playing this anti-theoretical opening, one that had the refreshing
quality of allowing for entirely original play. My database contains quite a few
non-transpositional Modern Defenses (i .e., without . . . Nf6) by Benko from 1 966
to 1 970, and less frequent use later. But here's an interesting game from 1 9 7 5 in
what can be considered the main line of the Modern Defense (i.e., without the
move c4 by White) : 1 .e4 g6 2 .d4 d6 3 .Nc3 Bg7
BENKO AS BLACK
507
9.a4 Maintaining the center by 9.d5 doesn't seem right after 9 . . . Qa5 ! (threaten
ing . . . b4) 1 O.Qd2 h6 1 1 .Be3 Ngf6, threatening . . . b4 and planning . . . Ng4. In this
line, 1 O.a3 Ngf6 ( l O . . . Bxc3 ! ?) 1 1 .Bfl 0-0 is very comfortable for Black. 9 . . . h6
1 O.Bh4 cxd4 I l .Nd5 ! ? Trying to exploit the pinned e-pawn. 1 1 . Nxd4 Qb6 is
again effective for Black. In general, his fianchettoed Bishops have considerable
influence in this position. 1 1 . . .bxa4! Black doesn't want to lose time. Ideas such
as 1 1 . . .g5 1 2 .Bg3 d3 1 3 .Bxd3 Bxd5 1 4.exd5 Bxb2 are much too risky - White
could even sacrifice the Exchange by 1 5 .axb5 ! . 1 2 .Nxd4 Ngf6 1 2 . . . Nc5 1 3 .Bc4
RcS would continue to neglect development of the kingside, but might be in the
spirit of Black's setup anyway. Benko's move is more conservative. 1 3 .BO This
is Browne-Benko, U.S.A. 1 975; now Benko played 1 3 . . . Nc5 , allowing the dou
bling of his f-pawns (the game was quickly drawn); but he might well have been
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
The Pirc Defense ( l .e4 d6 2 .d4 Nf6) can be reached by a variety of orders.
Apart from his favorite Sicilian Defense, Benko chose the Pirc as often as any
other defense to l .e4, about as much as 1. ..eS and somewhat more often than
the Caro-Kann . I would say that Benko made more important contributions to
Pirc theory than in those two openings, and much of what he played is still con
sidered optimal today. This is exemplified by the game before you, Janosevic
Benko, Belgrade 1 964, as well as in our next few games: l .e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7
3 .Nc3 d6 4.f4 Nf6 S .NB 0-0 6.Bd3 Na6
A remarkable move for the time, played at least twice by Benko in 1 964 (I can
see no earlier examples) . It is a striking example of his originality in the opening.
When the game was played, it was thought that keeping in touch with the center
(and particularly d4) by 6. . . Nc6 or 6. . . Bg4 was essential. Developing away from
the center, apparently with greater vulnerability to white pawn advances such as
eS and d S , only caught on much later. To quote Nunn and Crouch: "From small
beginnings in the 1970s (!), 6. . . Na6 has risen to be one of Black's main lines
against the Austrian Attack. " In fact, when you look at their and other Pirc books,
the earliest games come from the mid-to-late '70s, over a decade after Benko's
use. A search of databases finds only 10 or so mostly obscure games from the
1960s, all two years or more after Benko's games from 1 964. For example, Bent
Larsen, always open to unorthodox ideas, tried 6. . . Na6 as far back as 1 966.
Black's idea with 6. . . Na6 is to enforce . . . cS . He is willing to live with an ap
parently shattered pawn structure and the weakness of c6 after Bxa6 because he
gains dynamic play with the two Bishops and b-file. The truly courageous fea
ture of 6. . . Na6, however, is that it places a Knight on the rim and does nothing
immediate in the center against White's eS (as 6. . . cS does) . On the other hand,
Black retains the option of . . . Bg4 and can wait for White to commit himself.
7.0-0 In the same year, Benko encountered the critical line 7 .eS dxeS (7 . . . Nd7
is now the established move) 8 . fxe S NdS 9.Nxd S Qxd S , Bisguier-Benko, New
BENKO AS BLACK
York (Zonal) 1964- another foray into experimental waters. White may have a
slight advantage, but Black has reasonable counterplay. 7 . . . c5 8.e5 8. dS is now
the main line, but Black obtains dynamic counterplay and is holding his own
theoretically. An early example from B enko's practice went 8 . . . Nc7 9 . a4 a6 509
1O .Qe l Bd7 ! ? ( l 0 . . . Rb8 ! with the idea 11.aS bS 12 . axb6 Rxb6 is more active)
11.aS BbS 12 . Qh4 Bxd3 13 .cxd 3 e6 14. fS ! , with a dangerous attack which won
out, although at this point Black can defend with accurate play, Zuckerman-
Benko, New York 1968. 8 . . . Ng4 ! This move has scored 11112 out of 13 in my
database ! White's problem is that his center is falling apart, and . . . cxd4 will be
the answer to almost any move, e.g., 9.Bxa6 or 9.exd6. Likewise for kicking the
Knight: 9.h3 cxd4
1 0.Ne4 Not 1O. Nxd4? dxe S , and yet 10 .hxg4? ! dxc3 11.bxc3 Qb6+ 12 . Kh l Bxg4
gives Black an extra pawn and far superior position. 1 0 . . . Ne3 ! I 1 .Bxe3 dxe3
1 2 .Qe2 Qb6. Here Black is obviously much better because, among other things,
he has the two Bishops and an extra pawn.
And 6.BbS+ is discussed in the next game. 6 . . . Qa5 7.Bd3 Qxc5 A very early
game with this formation. Yet both Szabo and Pirc had used it the year before,
and Benko undoubtedly noticed those Hungarian games. 8.Qe2
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
8 . . . Nc6 S . . . O-O 9.Be3 QaS 1 0.0-0 Bg4 1 1 .Rad 1 Nc6 was the (more accurate)
order of the Spassky-Fischer, Reykjavik 1 972 World Ch. game. Benko and Fischer
worked together, and it's remarkable how often Fischer played a specific open-
SI0 ing first tried by Benko. The King's Indian Attack is an obvious example, but I
have pointed out others in various openings. 9.Be3 Qa5 1 0.0-0 0-0 1 0 . . . Bg4
first is better, as was later worked out. 1 1.Kh 1 1 1 .h3 ! is the reason . . . Bg4 was
supposed to have been played first. According to Nunn and McNab, 1 1 . . .Bd7
1 2 .a3 "makes it difficult for Black to create any counterplay. " F. Olafsson-Benko,
Wijk aan Zee 1 969 continued from that point with 12 ... RfcS 1 3 . Qf2
1 3 . . .BeS ! (to protect f7 and clear d 7 . Black may be worse, but a simplistic attack
based upon fS now looks less likely to succeed.) 1 4.fS NeS ? ( 1 4 . . . Nd7 ! is more
logical; e7 can be defended by a queen on dS, and a Knight will occupy eS next.)
1 S . NxeS dxeS 1 6 .Rad 1 e6 ! ? (Something must be done in the face of g4-gS .) 1 7 .fxe6
fxe6 1 S .Qh4! NhS 1 9. Ne2 (or 1 9 .Be2 Nf4 2 0 .Bg4! with the idea 20 . . . hS 2 1 .Rxf4)
1 9 . . . BbS 2 0.Qe7 Bxd3 2 1 .Rxd3 RfS 2 2 . Qxe6+ KhS 2 3 .Rfd 1 RacS 24.Qb3 (24.RdS !)
24 . . . Qa6, drawn. White is still better, of course. 1 1 . . .Bd7 1 1 . . . Bg4 is still prefer-
able, but the text is not bad. 1 2 .Nd4 This doesn't look right. More aggressive
was 1 2 .Bc4. 12 . . . Qh5 !
Here is Benko heading for his usual Queenless middlegame! He is doubtless at
tracted by the Sicilian pawn structure. Satisfactory but perhaps drawish would have
been 1 2 . . . Nxd4 1 3 .Bxd4 Qb4 1 4.Bxf6 Bxf6 I S .NdS Qxb2 1 6.Rab l Qxa2 1 7 .Rxb7.
1 3 .Qxh5 Nxh5 14.Nxc6 Upon 1 4. Nde2 , 1 2 . . . Nb4 wins the two Bishops, which
can be quite significant in this kind of ending. 14 ...bxc6 1 5 .Be2 ! ? rub8 ! ? 1 6.Rab 1
BENKO AS BLACK
Rb7 1 7.BxhS ? White can still equalize with 1 7 .Ba6. 1 7 ... gxhS 1 8.Nd l ? ! A mis-
take, but 1 8 .Bd2 f5 and the Bishops are coming to life. 18 ... Rb4! Winning a pawn.
1 9.Nf2 Bxb2 ! ? 20.Nd3 ? Rxe4 2 1 .Rxb2 Rxe3 , and Black won easily.
51 1
Finally, we see that Benko indeed helped to develop the theory of every im
portant Austrian Attack line, including this still-critical one played in Tringov
Benko, Sarajevo 1 967: l .e4 g6 2 .d4 Bg7 3 .Nc3 d6 4.£4 Nf6 S .NO cS 6.BbS+
The main option to 6.dxc5 . 6 ... Bd7 7.eS Ng4 8.e6 BxbS 9.exf7+ Kd7 1 O.NxbS
QaS+ I 1 .Nc3 cxd4 1 2 .Nxd4 Bxd4
As in so many openings, Benko was way ahead of the curve for Pirc Defense
theory. In my database, this capture was first played by Benko and Suttles in
1 966 (see the next note). It didn't become popular for several years, and went on
to become one of the main lines of the entire Pirc Defense ! 1 3 .Qxg4+ Now
considered fairly harmless. Zuckerman-Benko, New York 1 966 had seen 1 3 .Qxd4
Nc6 1 4.Qd2 ! ? (1 4.Qc4! replaced this and other retreats such as 1 4.Qd l and 1 4.Qe4
in the mid- 1 970s) 1 4...Rhf8 1 5 .h3 (Another example that has disappeared from
theory. Nunn and McNab give only analysis with 1 5 .Nd5 Qxd2 + 1 6.Bxd2 Rxf7
1 7 .h3 Nf6 =) 1 5 . . .Nf6 1 6.b3 Rxf7 1 7 .g4? h5 1 8 .g5 Ne8 19 .Bb2 Ng7 ! 2 0 .0-0-0
Ne6, and Black was already winning material although, as was his wont, Benko
lost the thread in severe time trouble and only drew. 1 3 . . . QfS 1 4.QO Nc6
I S .Ne2 ! ? A risky move that indirectly attacks b7 via the threat of Nxd4. The
problem is that White will have difficulties castling on either side of the board.
A safer way of protecting c2 is 1 5 .Ne4, when Nunn and McNab give 1 5 . . . Qe6
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
1 6.Be3 ( 1 6.c3 dS) 1 6. . . Bxe3 1 7 . Qxe3 Kc7 I S .Kf2 RafS =. I S . . . Qe6 I S . . . Bb6! was
better, preventing castling and keeping the pressure on. The text allows a trick.
1 6.c3 ? ! My computer correctly suggests 1 6.fS ! gxfS ( 1 6. . . QxfS ? 1 7 . QxfS + gxfS
512 I S .Bh6!) 1 7.Rfl . Black is in no real danger after something like 1 7 . . . BeS I S .QxfS
QxfS 1 9.RxfS Ke6, but he would have no winning chances. 1 6 . . . B h 6 1 7.Bd2
RafS 1 7 . . . RhfS , anticipating l S .b3 as ! ? , would keep the Queen's Rook in posi
tion to attack White's king after 0-0-0 . The text is also fine. 1 8 . h 3 Preparing to
castle queenside, but also creating weaknesses. 1 8 . . . Rxf7 1 9.0-0-0 hS ! ? Prob
ably thinking about the Benko-like . . . Qg4. 20.h3 ? ! h4 Both fixing White's pawns
and preparing his 2 3 rd move. The opening is over and Black has obvious posi
tional advantages, as was demonstrated by 2 1 .Rhe l Qf6 22 .Be3 Bxe 3 + 2 3 .Qxe3
RhS ! 24.Kh 2 RfS 2 S .RfI
Now White is tied down to defense, but he probably isn't expecting what hap
pens next: 2S ... gS ! Typical Benko ! By hook or crook, he gets the Queens off!
26.fxgS Something like 2 6.g4 hxg3 2 7 .Qxg3 gxf4 2 S . Qf3 is no better, because
the pawns roll after 2 S . . . e S . 26 . . . QeS ! 2 7.QxeS NxeS 2 8 .RxfS RxfS Black has
anticipated this position in which he will gain the seventh rank and successfully
attack White's kingside pawns, as well as having centralized pieces. 29.Rd4 Rf2
3 0.Re4 Ng6, and with . . . dS and . . . Rg2 threatening, Black had a winning advan
tage. This was the consistent result of his opening and early middlegame strat
egy, so I have shown you most of the game.
exd4 1 5 .Nd5 Nxd5 1 6.exd5 Qf5, and the players agreed to a draw shortly
thereafter.
In addition to the Sicilian and Pirc Defenses, Benko has often played the Caro
Kann, a defense befitting his positional style. In my database (severely limited,
remember, by the fact that so many Benko games in the U. S . were never saved),
Benko plays 2 7 Caro-Kanns and as always, he jumps from system to system.
After 3 .Nc3 , for example, he played 3 . . . g6 before it became popular. Similarly,
after 3 . . . dxe4 4.Nxe4, Benko had many games with the now fashionable 4 . . . Nd7,
going as far back as 1 963 . Here are examples of the latter move, including this
one versus Suetin at Bad Worishofen 1 992 : 1 .e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3 .Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4
Nd7 5.Bc4 Ngf6 6.Ng5 Still the main move today. 6 . . . e6 7.Qe2 Nb6 8.Bb3 A
frequent choice by White, although 8.Bd3 is the current preference. 8 ... h6 9.N5f3
c5 A certain neglect of history accompanies McDonald's designation in 2 000 of
9 . . . aS as "Karpov's move" and citing the "stem game" as Karpov-Kasparov, Linares
1 994. In fact, both Smyslov and Bronstein played it as early as 1 961 , with over
2 00 games (many by top grandmasters) preceding the K-K game. Benko himself
used 9 . . . aS versus de la Heras at Buenos Aires 1 965 : 1 0.a3 a4 I l .Ba2 Be 7 ( l l . . .cS
has been successful here) 1 2 .Be3 ( l 2 .Bd2 cS 1 3 .dxcS Nbd7 1 4.NeS NxcS =,
Marsalek-Smyslov, Oberhausen 1 961 was perhaps the top-level introduction of
9 . . . a S .) 1 2 . . . NbdS 1 3 .Bd2 bS 1 4.NeS Qb6 I S .Ngf3 Ba6 1 6.0-0 cS =.
51 4
Benko played the main line Caro-Kann with 4 . . . Bf5 upon occasion, mostly
unambitiously, content to draw against top grandmasters (An exception was
Bisguier-Benko, New York (4) 1 964, for which see Game 5 3 .) . Here are a few
quick snippets from the main line, all ending in draws : l .e4 c6 2 .d4 d5 3 .Nc3
dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5 .Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 6.h4 h6 7 .Nf3 Nd7 8 .h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3
1 0. Qxd3 Qc7 1 1 .Bd2 Ngf6 1 2 .0-0-0 e6 1 3 .Ne4 0-0-0 1 4.g3 Nxe4 1 5 . Qxe4 Bd6,
Gheorghiu-Benko, Palma de Mallorca 1 968. See my notes regarding this open
ing variation in Game 69, which is placed in the section on Benko's openings as
White. 6 . . . Nd7 7.Bd3 e6 S.O-O Ngf6 9.Re l
9 . . . Be7 1 0.b3 1 O.c4 0-0 1 1 .b3 Qa5 1 2 .Bxg6 hxg6 1 3 .Qe2 b5 1 4.Bd2 Qa6 1 5 .c5
Qb7 1 6 .h4 Rfe8 1 7 .Bg5 Bf8 1 8 .Rac 1 Nd5 , with a permanent outpost and in-
BENKO AS BLACK
tending . . . f6 and . . . e 5 , although White should still have some advantage, Evans
Benko, U.S. Ch. 1 96 1 . 1O ... Bxd3 I 1 .Qxd3 0-0 1 2 .Bb2 ReS 1 3 .c4 Qc7 1 4.Rad l
RadS 1 5 .Qc2 BfS White may have a litle something here, but Benko frees his
game and achieves a quick draw: 1 6.h3 h6 1 7.Nfl c5 I S.Ne3 cxd4 1 9.Bxd4 a6 515
20.Qb2 b6 2 1 .b4 a5, liz _ liz , Keres-Benko, Wijk aan Zee 1969.
French Defense
The French Defense wasn't very nice to Benko, although he used it from time
to time throughout his career. In the Tarrasch Variation (3 .Nd2), he lost games
to both Tal and Keres, and versus 3 .Nc3 he lost to the same players ! His other
results were solid, but not inspiring. Stein-Benko, Stockholm Interzonal 1 962
is an amusing game in which Benko takes his positional style into hypermodern
territory strongly reminiscent of Nimzowitsch, Petrosian, and Bronstein. I quote
most of the game because the opening strategies extend well into the game: l .e4
e6 2 .d4 d5 3 .Nc3 Nc6 ! ?
51 6
Backwards, ever backwards ! Black has only one piece out, and it's a Knight on
the edge of the board! 1 2 .Rh3 ! ? This all seems so active, but soon White lacks a
plan. Maybe 1 2 .Ba3 or 1 2 .dxc5 could be tried, in the latter case to open lines.
12 ... c4! A move that is very often bad in the Winawer, since Black no longer has
queenside play via moves like . . . Rc8 , . . . cxd4, . . .Nc4 and the like. But see the note
to Black's 1 4th . This may be the best move of the game. n .Be2 Bd7 1 4.a4 To
prevent . . . Ba4 and in some cases prepare Ba3 . 1 4 . . . Nc6
51 7
2 3 . . . Nc6 Probably 2 3 . . . Qa5 ! was still better, preventing Ba3 . Benko seems to
have a considerable advantage at this point, but he has trouble converting. Time
pressure? 24.Ba3 Bxa3 25 .Rxa3 Qb6 Hitting the d-pawn and contemplating
. . . Qb2 . 26.NB 0-0 After all that time ! 2 7.Rh3 ! And not 2 7 .Qe3 ? Ne7 . 27 . . . Qb2
2 S.Rhl Preventing . . . Qc l . Stein manages to resist successfully for the moment,
but Black is still in control. 28 . . . Qxc3 29.Rxc3 Rb2 30.Ra l rubS 3 1 .Ke3 Na5
3 2 .Ne l ! 3 2 .Nd2 RSb4 keeps the pressure on. Now White can play R3a3 and c3
in some lines. 32 . . . Rb l H .Rca3 Rxa l 3 4.Rxa l Rb4 3 5 .Kd2 Kf8 ! ? Benko's
easiest course was to simply grab the a-pawn. After 3 5 . . . Rxa4, he was probably
afraid of 3 6.Rb l , but 3 6 . . . KfS ! 3 7 .RbS+ Ke7 is good, because 3 S.RgS Bb5 ! threatens
. . . c 3 + and poses White too many problems. 3 6 .Kc3 Rb8? A mistake near the
time control. Still winning a pawn was 3 6 . . . Nc6 ! with the idea 3 7 .a5 Rb5 . Fol
lowing 36 . . . RbS , both sides made mistakes in the next few moves heading for
the time control. This intriguing game was drawn on move 42 in an obscure
position, perhaps still favoring Benko.
Benko played double king pawn openings ( 1 .e4 e5) fairly often, but mostly in
the earlier days of his career. In my database, 1 . . . e5 appears roughly as often as
the Pirc and 1 . . .c6 (S-9% of the time), although I suspect that the latter two
moves would be better represented if the selection included more Swiss System
tournaments. For the record, non-transpositional games with 1 . . .g6 accounted
for another 4. 5 % of Benko's games versus l .e4, and he very rarely dabbled in
other replies, so you can see what a dominant factor the Sicilian Defense was in
his repertoire with Black.
Benko liked the Petroff Defense ( l .e4 e5 2 .NB Nf6), which he used to draw
various highly ranked players. More often, however, he played 2 . . . Nc6. He handled
the less mainstream openings such as the Four Knights and irregular Ruy Lopez
variations well, but in fairly standard fashion. Interestingly, he played several
early games with the Berlin Defense (2 .NB Nc6 3 . Bb5 Nf6), now all the rage.
However, the one time that his opponent played 4.0-0 Nxe4 5 .d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6
bxc6 7 . dxe5 Nf5 S . QxdS+, as in several games of the 2 000 Kramnik-Kasparov
World Ch match, Benko lost. This was against Panno in the important Portoroz
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
Interzonal of 1 9S9 ; and it may have put him off 3 . . . Nf6 . His real 1 . . . eS Achilles
heel was the main line Ruy Lopez (3 .BbS a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 S .O-O Be7 6.Re l bS),
with which he lost to Smyslov, Fischer, Gligoric, and Keres. An exception was
51 8 the following contest, E Olafsson-Benko, BledlZagreblBelgrade 1 9S9 (Can
didates), which anticipated modern theory: l .e4 eS 2 .Nfl Nc6 3 .BbS a6 4.Ba4
Nf6 S .O-O Be7 6.Re l bS 7.Bb3 0-0 S.c3 d6 9.h3 Bb7 Actually, this is the
wrong move order if one wants to play . . . Nb8, as Benko does next. Normal is
9 . . . Nb8 . In this game, White doesn't exploit the inversion of move order and
goes into the main line . See the note to move eleven. 1 0.d4
1 0 . . . NbS ? ! This unnatural but logical retreat, which should have been played
via 9 . . . Nb8 1 O.d4 Nbd7 when . . . Bb7 (see the Keres-Benko game below) trans
poses in this game to the popular "Breyer Defense," named after the creative
Hungarian player and writer of the early part of the twentieth century. This
variation was revived, fairly modestly, in the early and mid-S Os, with players such
as Spassky, Petrosian, and Portisch (another Hungarian!) leading the way. In the
late 1 960s and 1 970s it was probably the main line of the Ruy Lopez. The idea is
that Black's Knight is poorly placed on c6, blocking . . . cS and masking the b7-
Bishop. Moving the Knight to as achieves the same thing, but at the cost of
placing it on an awkward square. Instead, the Knight will go to d7 to support eS
and keep the Bishop on b7 unobstructed. 1 1 .Nbd2 ? ! Now we're back in the
main line. Keres punished B enko for his choice of move order in the same 1 9S9
Candidates tournament: l 1 .dxe S ! dxe S ? (Oddly enough, this seems t o be a mis
take; better is 1 1 . . .Nxe4 1 2 .BdS ! ? or 1 2 .Bf4 ! , although White has a serious ad
vantage.) 1 2 . Qxd8 Bxd8 1 3 .NxeS Nxe4 1 4.Be3 !
BENKO AS BLACK
( 14.Bc2 is also awkward for Black, but 1 4.Be3 is even better, covering c5 .) 1 4 . . . Bf6
( 1 4 . . . Nd6? 1 5 .Bc5; 1 4 . . . c5 1 5 .f3 c4 1 6.Bxc4!) 1 5 .Ng4 Nd7 ( 1 5 . . . Nc6 1 6.Nd2 !
Nxd2 1 7 .Nxf6+) 1 6 .Nd2 Nxd2 1 7 .Bxd2 RfeS (What else? 1 7 . . . c5 l S .Nxf6+ Nxf6
1 9.Re7) 1 8 .Bf4 Rxe l + ( I S . . . c5 1 9.RxeS+ RxeS 2 0 . Rd l .) 1 9.Rxe 1 RcS 2 0 . Bc2 g6? ? 51 9
(2 0 . . . h5 2 1 .Bf5 ! hxg4 2 2 .Bxd7 nets a pawn and the game.) 2 1 .Rd 1 , 1 -0. An em
barrassing defeat for Benko, but in retrospect the opening was pretty awful after
1 0 . . . NbS . 1 1 . . .Nbd7 1 2 .Bc2 Re8 l 3 .Nfl BfS 1 4.Ng3 g6
There had been just a few games from this position in the two preceding years,
and only one of note - Sanguinetti-Panno, Buenos Aires 1 968. Subsequently this
became a very important position for Ruy Lopez theory. 15.h4 ! ? Today, moves
such as 1 5 .a4 and 1 5 .b3 are played instead. 1 5 . . . d5 ! ? A radical solution; 1 5 . . . Bg7
1 6.h5 d5 ! is more accurate, as played by Tukmakov almost 2 0 years later. 1 5 . . . c5
is also equal. 16.dxe5 Here 1 6 .Bg5 h6 1 7 .Bxf6 Qxf6 equalizes. The real prob-
lem with 1 5 . . . d5 is 1 6.Nxe 5 ! , although it was very hard to assess in advance. One
line goes 1 6 . . . Nxe5 1 7 . dxe5 Rxe5 ( 1 7 . . . Nxe4 l S .Nxe4 dxe4 1 9 . QxdS RaxdS
2 0 .Bg5 !) l S .Bg5 ( l S.f4? ReS 1 9 .e5 Nd7) l S . . . h6 1 9 .Bf4 Re6 2 0 .e5 Nd7 2 1 .Qg4
Bg7 (apparently equalizing) 2 2 .h5 ! g5 2 3 .Nf5 ! , with a clear advantage in view of
Nxg7 or Nd4 and e6. 16 ... dxe4 1 7.Nxe4 Nxe4 1 8.Bxe4 Bxe4 1 9.Rxe4 Nxe5
Now Black stands very well indeed. He retained his advantage after 20.Bg5 Or
2 0.Rd4 Nxf3 + 2 1 . Qxf3 Re 1 + . 20 ... Qxd 1 + 2 1 .Rxd l Nxf3 +, and went on to win
a protracted struggle.
Sicilian Defense
520
This is Benko's own system against the dangerous 6.Bc4. Among his numerous
contributions to Sicilian theory, 6 . . . Qb6 has to be one of the most important.
Particularly in the 1 970s, quite a few years after Benko's advocacy began, 6 . . . Qb6
caught on like wildfire, and it has been employed regularly by top players ever
since. Benko's simple idea is that after 7 .Nb3 and Black's later Queen retreat to
c7, Black has spent two moves developing his Queen to c7; but White's Knight
isn't well-placed on b3 , and if it returns to d4 at some point, White has actually
lost a tempo on a normal line ! As far as I know, Benko first played 6 . . . Qb6 against
Honfi in 1 95 7 ; regardless, his many games with the move earned it the name
"Benko's Variation. " I will try to show, with brief comments, a series of Benko
games in this line that are representative of his play. 7.Nb3 Here are few other
examples from other Benko games: 7 .Nde2 (7 .Ndb5 used to be played a lot, but
is to be well-answered by 7 . . . a6 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Nd4 and now 9 . . . Ne 5 , as played by
Kramnik among others, seems to be scoring well, whereas the solid 9 . . . e6 is also
fine.) 7 . . . e6 8 .0-0. A common starting position. I won't pretend to cover theory
exhaustively, but hope to illustrate characteristic ideas:
(a) What is possibly the 6 . . . Qb6 stem game in international play went 8 . . . a6
(Interestingly, Benko made a point of avoiding this move in later 7 .Nde2 games.)
9.h3 Be7 1 O .Be3 ! Qc7 ( 1 O . . . Qxb2 I l .a3 !) I l .Bb3 b5 1 2 .Ng3 Bb7 = , Honfi-Benko,
Budapest 1 95 7 . Black has perfectly good play typical of the Sicilian, and the Knight
on g3 is not well placed.
(b) 8 . . . Be7 9.Bb3 0-0
9.Be3
(a) Parma-Benko, Sarajevo 1 970 saw 9.Bd3 a6 1 0.a4 NaS I l .Be3 Qc7 1 2 .NxaS
QxaS 1 3 .Bd2 Qc7 1 4.aS Bd7 I S .Qe2 Bc6, with equality.
(b) 9.BgS 0-0 1 O .Bxf6 ! ? Bxf6 I l .Qxd6 Rd8 1 2 .QcS ? ! (It's probably better to
avoid these complex Queenless positions against Benko !) 1 2 . . . QxcS 1 3 .NxcS b6
gives Black the Bishop pair in return for giving up a pawn: 1 4.N d3 ( 1 4.Nb3 is
the best that White can do, but he still has serious problems, e.g., 14 . . . Bb7 I S .f4
Bxc3 1 6.bxc3 Rac8 1 7 .Bd3 e S ! 1 8 .fS ! ? Nb8 1 9.c4 Nd7 , and the c-pawn is too
weak) 14 ... Bb 7, and now Black clearly has more than enough compensation, Hoyos
Millan-Benko, New York 1 99 1 ;
(c) 9.Kh l a6 1 0.f4 Qc7 I l .Bd3 b S is another known Scheveningen position
with Black nicely placed, Klundt-Benko, Augsburg 1 986. 9 ... Qc7 1 O.f4 0-0 Later
it was found that 1 O . . . a6 l 1 .a4 b6 1 2 .Bd3 Bb7 is probably better. 1 1 .g4? ! This
overextends. Best was I 1 .Bd3 . l 1 . . .dS ! 1 2 .Bd3 Or 1 2 .exd S Nb4! . 12 . . . dxe4
1 3 .Nxe4 NdS 14.Bd2 as ! Also good is winning the bishop pair by 14 . . . Ncb4.
l S .c3 Not much better is I S .c4 Ndb4 1 6.Be2 a4 ! . l S . . . Rd8 1 6.gS ? ! a4 1 7 .Nc 1
Qb6+ 1 8.Khl Ne3 1 9.Bxe3 Qxe3 20.Qf3 What else? But we all know by now
about taking the Queens off in a Benko middlegame . 20 . . . Qxf3 + 2 1 .Rxf3 b6
22 .Bc2 Bb7, and White can't defend the long diagonal. Black won easily.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
Before discovering 6 . . . Qb6, Benko played 6 . . . e6 versus the Sozin with some
success. As pointed out in B enko's notes to the game Szabo-Benko, Hungarian
Ch. 1 95 1 , it was only after the Velimirovic Attack (7.Be3 and 8 . Qe2) began to
522 win so many games that Benko began to search for an alternative. Since some
top players now feel that there are adequate answers to the Velimirovic, these
earlier Benko contests might be of renewed interest: l .e4 c5 2 .NB Nc6 3 .d4
cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5 .Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0-0
7 ... Be7 7 . . . a6 8.Bb3 Qc7 is a type of Bc4 Naj dorf that looks a little slow for
Black. Nevertheless, Tapaszto-Benko from the 1 954 Hungarian Ch. proceeded
interestingly with 9.Be3 b5 1 O.a3 ? ! ( 1 0.Nxc6 ! Qxc6 1 1 .Re 1 100ks strong, for ex
ample, 1 l .. .Bb7 1 2 .Bd4! threatening Nd5 and/or Bxf6 with Qh5 to follow) 1 O . . .Na5
1 1 .f4 Be7
1 2 .g4? ! (but 1 2 .Ba2 Nc4 and 1 2 .f5 Nxb3 1 3 .cxb3 0-0 aren't terribly inspiring
either) 1 2 .. .Nxb3 1 3 .cxb3 Bb7 1 4.Rc 1 Qd7 1 5 . Qf3 Rc8 ! ? (This has a tactical
idea seen in the next note. The more straightforward 1 5 . . . d5 1 6.e5 Ne4 would
be very comfortable for Black) 1 6.f5 ( 1 6.g5 Rxc3 ! and . . . Nxe4 with more than
enough for the Exchange) 1 6 . . . e5 1 7 .Nde2 h6 1 8 .M and although 1 7 .. .Nh7 was
fine, this was a good moment for 1 8 . . . d5 ! 1 9.Nxd5 ( 1 9.exd5 Nxd5) 1 9 . . . Nxd5
2 0.Rfd 1 Rxc 1 2 1 .Nxc 1 Bxh4, etc. 8.Be3 0-0 9.Bb3 This is the old main line
Sozin Sicilian, still debated today. As one might imagine, the theory on it was
quite undeveloped in 1 95 1 . 9 ... Bd7 1 0.f4 Planning f5 . The modest 1 O.Qe2 is
also played. 10 . . . Nxd4 I 1 .Bxd4 Bc6
B ENKO AS BLACK
523
1 2 .Qd3 ? ! A move that exposes the Queen to . . . Bxe4 in some lines. As subse
quently confirmed, a more accurate move is 1 2 .Qe2 - see the next two notes.
1 2 . . . b5 Once again, we see a new solution by Benko that is still approved by
theory to this day. In this exact position, at least according to my database, this is
the first game in which . . . b5 was used. But Benko's complaint that Geller got
credit for it later is not that relevant, because Geller's 1 954 game as Black against
Nezhmetdinov went 1 2 .Qe2 b5 instead. After our game's 1 2 .Qd3 b5 1 3 .Nxb 5 ,
1 3 . . . Bxe4 wins the crucial e-pawn with tempo, a key difference. Even Fischer
felt that 1 2 .Qe2 b5 1 3 .Nxb5 was worth playing for White, and he won with it
versus Saidy in 1 9 5 7 . And as for the general plan of . . . b5 in such a position, it is
so obvious that really no player can claim it as "his" idea. 1 3 .Nxb5 ! ? See the last
note. Better according to theory is 1 3 .e5 dxe5 1 4.fxe5 Nd7 1 5 .Ne4 Bxe4 1 6.Qxe4
Nc5 , with equality.
1 3 . . . Bxe4 Notice that 1 3 . . . Bxb5 1 4.Qxb5 Nxe4 (the best line for Black if the
Queen were on e2) is double-edged after 1 5 .f5 . But eventually Black found that
1 5 . . . e5 1 6.Be3 Bg5 ! sufficed for a practical equality. 14.Qe2 Qd7 ? ! In order to
forestall c4, Chekov suggests 1 4 . . . a6 ! , e.g., 1 5 .Nc3 Bc6 1 6.Rad l Qc7, with easy
play. 1 5 .c4! d5 ? ! Benko: "This seemed good at the time, but it only took a couple
moves for me to realize that I'd done something wrong. Better was 1 5 . . . Bc6 . "
This i s true, although something like 1 5 . . . Bc6 1 6.Nc3 Q b 7 1 7 . Bc2 would also
keep some pressure on Black. 1 6.Rad l Qb7 1 7.cxd5 Bxd5 1 8.Bxd5 Nxd5 1 9.f5
The opening is over and "White has dangerous initiative, " as Chekov says. Al
though standing worse here, Benko managed to create some chaos and eventu
ally triumphed after a fascinating struggle. See Game 1 7 .
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
Benko helped to develop the theory of this move, not only here but also in simi
lar positions of the Sicilian. (Not surprisingly, Benko also used the standard 6 . . . e6
with reasonable success. A few examples will follow in the next game.) 7.Qd2
Snippets from two Benko games involving 7 .Bc4: 7 . . . QaS 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Bb3 (9.Nb3
QgS 1 O .g3 fS ! 1 l .f4 Qg6 1 2 .BdS Bg7 , with excellent play, Paoli-Benko, Reggio
Emilia 1 97 0) 9 . . . Bg7 1 0.0-0 0-0 1 1 .NdS Rae8 1 2 .c3 Nxd4 1 3 .cxd4 fS ! ? 1 4.exfS
BxfS I S . QhS e6 1 6 .g4? ! Qd2 ! ( l 6 . . . Bg6 ? ? 1 7 .Ne7+) 1 7 .gxfS exdS 1 8 .Rad l Qe2
with some edge, Huguet-Benko, Malaga 1 970. Benko had wonderful instincts in
the Sicilian and was more at home with it than any other Black opening. 7 ...Nxd4
7 . . . a6 8 . 0-0-0 bS is another order Benko experimented with, e.g., 9.a3 e6 1 0 .f4,
B ENKO AS B LACK
and we have a position that can easily transpose into a traditional Rauzer with
the passive a3 in, e.g., 1 O . . . Qb6 ( l 0 . . . Rc8 is less flexible but also playable: I l .ND ! ?
-[I l .Kb l ] 1 1 .. .b4 1 2 .axb4 Nxb4 1 3 .Bxf6 gxf6 1 4.Kb l QaS I S .Nd4 Bh6 ! ? 1 6 .Nb3
Qb6 1 7 .g3 Ke7 , with double-edged play, F. Anderson-Benko, Tel Aviv 1 964.) 525
I I .Bxf6 gxf6 12 .Nxc6 Bxc6 1 3 .fS hS 1 4.Qd4? (One doesn't want to volunteer for
a Queenless middlegame against Benko.) 1 4 . . . Bh6+ I S .Kb l Qxd4 1 6.Rxd4 Bf4
(Two Bishops, the lovely eS square, pressure down open files and versus the e
pawn- Black is arguably already winning!) 1 7 . Rd 1 BeS 1 8 .fxe6 fxe6 1 9.Be2 Ke7
2 0.BD h4 2 l .h3 Bxc3 22 .bxc3 Rac8, and White's position is hopeless, Hartmetz-
Benko, Badenweiler 1 98 5 . 8.Qxd4 QaS 9.Bd2 Qc7 1 O.Bc4 1 O .NdS is discussed
in the game notes. lO ... e6 l l .Bb3 Be7 l 2 .f4? ! 0-0 1 3 .Rfl Benko points out
1 3 .0-0? dS ! . 1 3 ... bS ! . The opening has turned out well for Black- see Game 90
for Benko's skillful conclusion.
Benko very seldom limited himself to only one setup in a given variation, as
shown in the next game: l .e4 cS 2 .Nfl Nc6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 S .Nc3 d6
6.BgS e6 The main line of the Rauzer. For many examples of Benko's successful use
of 6 . . . Bd7, see the previous game. His play with 6 . . . e6 was also impressive. 7.Qd2
7 ... Be7 7 . . . a6 8 .0-0-0 is a popular Sicilian position. Benko's early games are still
relevant for modern theory: 8 . . . Bd7 (8 . . . h6 9.Bf4 ! ? Bd7 1 O .Nxc6 Bxc6 1 1 .£3 dS
1 2 . Qe 1 Bb4! 1 3 .a3 BaS 1 4.b4 Bb6 l S .exdS BxdS 1 6 .Nxd S , '12_ 112, Zuckerman
Benko, Chicago 1 974) 9.f4 h6 1 O.Bxf6 ( 1 0.Bh4 Nxe4 1 l .Qe 1 Nf6 1 2 .NfS QaS
1 3 .Nxd6+ Bxd6 1 4.Rxd6, Szily-Benko, Budapest 1 947 is an approximately equal
position that has occurred many times and was popular in the 1 9S 0s.) 1 O . . . Qxf6
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
I I .Nxc6 Bxc6 (This is also frequently playe d , and is again about equal)
1 2 .g3 0-0-0 1 3 .Qe3 Qe7 ! ? 1 4.Qa7 Qc7 1 5 .Bh3 Bd7 1 6.e5 Qc5 ! 1 7 . Qxc5 + dxc5 ,
and Black held his own in Dely-Benko, Hungary 1 954. S.O-O-O 0-0 9.f4 These
526 older positions with . . . 0-0 and without . . . a6 are considered better for White, but
they served Benko reasonably well before the theory developed. 9 ... Nxd4 1 0.Qxd4
1 0 . . . h6 I 1 .Bh4 Qa5 1 2 .e5 1 2 .Bc4! creates the most problems for Black, as be
came clear over the years. Thus we have seen the second player turning to other
move orders . Rossetto-Benko, Portoroz 1 9 5 8 saw 1 2 .Be2 ? ! e 5 ! 1 3 .fxe5 dxe5
1 4.Qd3 Be6 1 5 .Qb5 Qxb5 1 6.Bxb5 Rfd8, and Black's pieces were better placed,
although the game was drawn. 1 2 . . .dxe5 1 3 .Qxe5 Qxe5 1 4.fxe5 Nd5 1 5 .Bxe7
Nxe7 1 6.Bd3 An extremely popular position in the 1 950s and early 1 960s. 16 ... b6
1 7.Be4 RbS I S .Rhe l Bb7 1 9.Rd7 Bxe4 20.Rxe4 Nc6 2 1 .Nh5 RfdS 22 .Rc7
RbcS =, according to ECO. 2 3 .RxcS RxcS 24.Rc4 Ne7 2 5 .RxcS+ NxcS, and
Black had no problems, Gligoric-Benko, Yugoslavia (Candidates) 1 959. This
is the game usually cited as the model for Black to equalize versus 1 2 . e 5 .
The games that are discussed i n the following example are Sicilian Defense
Maroczy Bind Variations. For Benko, this always occurred via the English open
ing- he didn't allow it versus any Sicilian move order, for example, l .e4 c5 2 .NB
Nc6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5 .c4 Bg7 etc. Nevertheless, the games contribute to
Sicilian theory. Benko had a good record versus elite opposition in this varia
tion, achieving a lot of draws with some of them ending in superior positions for
him. The examples presented illustrate some major themes and would be useful
for an Accelerated Dragon player to study: l .c4 c5 2 .NB Nf6 An alternate move
order leading to the Maroczy Bind is 2 . . . g6 3 . e4 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5 .Nxd4 Nf6
6 .Nc3 , and here B enko held his own against some real heavyweights using
Gurgenidze's system 6 . . .Nxd4 7 . Qxd4 d6 8 .Be2 Bg7
B ENKO AS B LACK
5 27
9.Be3 (9.0-0 0-0 1 O.Qe3 Be6 1 1 .Rb 1 a6 1 2 .Bd2 b5 1 3 .cxb5 axb5 1 4. Bxb5 Bxa2
1 5 .Nxa2 Rxa2 1 6.Bc4 Ra8 1 7 .b4 d5 1 8 . exd5 Nxd5 with a slight advantage, also
ending in a draw, Korchnoi-Benko, Curac;ao 1 962) 9 . . . 0-0 1 O. Qd2 Be6 1 1 .B Qa5
1 2 .Nb5 Qxd2 + 1 3 . Bxd2 (The next year Botvinnik switched to 1 3 .Kxd2 versus
Matulovic and got nothing there either.) 1 3 . . . a6 1 4.Nc7 Rac8 1 5 .Nxe6 fxe6 1 6.Rc l
Nd7 1 7 .Rc2 h 5 , drawn, Botvinnik-Benko, Wijk aan Zee 1 969. 3 .Nc3 g6 4.d4
exd4 S .Nxd4 Ne6 6.Ne2 A fairly conservative system that is popular among
solid positional players and carries a touch of poison. 6 . . . Bg7 7.e4 0-0 7 . . . d6
8 . Rb 1 ! ? Nd7 9 . Qd2 0-0 1 O.b4 Nb6 1 1 .Ne3 Be6 1 2 .f4 Rc8 1 3 .Ncd5 f5 1 4.Bd3
Nd4, and Black had an edge (eventually drawn) in Larsen-Benko, Boston 1 970.
S .Be2 d 6 9.0-0 Nd7
1 0.Bd2 This is the most important move, just as in the reversed position for
Black versus the English Opening (Rubinstein Variation) when he plays . . . Bd7.
Another good example was 1 O.Kh 1 Nc5 1 1 .B f5 1 2 .exf5 Bxf5 1 3 .Ne3 Nd4! (very
modern) 1 4.Nxf5 Nxf5 1 5 .Bg5 Qd7 1 6 .Rc l Ne6 1 7 .Bd2 Bd4 ! , with control of
the weakened dark squares, Korchnoi-Benko, Palma de Mallorca 1 968 (also even
tually drawn). l O . . .NeS 1 1 . h4 Ne6 1 2 .Rh l as 1 3 .a3 1 3 .b5 Ncd4 1 4.b6 ! ? was
played by Salov versus Adams at Dos Hermanas 1 99 5 , with even chances result
ing. 1 3 . . . axh4 1 4.axh4 Ned4 I S .Nxd4 Nxd4 1 6.Bd3
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
528
1 6 . . . Ra3 !, I12 - 112, Vaganian-Benko, Sao Paulo 1977. Amazingly, this is all cur
rent theory! Indeed, a game Kaidanov-Khasin, Belgrade 1 9S5 went 1 6 ... Bd7 1 7 .Re l
Ra3 I S .Bfl ReS ? ! 1 9.Re3 , and White was well o n top, although Nielson and
Hansen recommended I S . . . e6 instead. Later, in Linares 1 993 , Illescas followed
the same line against Ljubojevic but deviated by 1 7 .Qc l . The game went 1 7 . . . e6 !
I S .Bh6 Bxh6 1 9. Qxh6 Qf6, and Black was fine.
The interesting part is that in his notes, Illescas recommends Benko's move
1 6 . . . Ra3 instead, assessing this as slightly better for Black! I think that it is prob
ably only equal, if only because White has the option of 1 7 .Qe I Nb3 ! I S . Qxa3
Nxd2 with space versus the two Bishops. Still, this is a nice testament to Benko's
strength, and again, the game anticipates later theory by fifteen to twenty years.
Benko loved the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian D efense, and espe
cially the queenside minority attack, which in his games always seemed to
outrace White's kingside attack. Here are a number of examples: l .e4 cS 2 .NB
Nc6 B enko often used a Kan/Paulsen move order to set up similar queenside
themes, e.g., 2 . . . e6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 S .Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 Nf6 7 .0-0 Be7 S .Nb3
bS 9.Bf3 Nc6 1 0.g3 ! ? 0-0 I l .Bf4 d6 1 2 .Bg2 Bb7 1 3 .g4 b4 1 4.gS NeS I S .Ne2 as
(Already Black's attack is far more advanced than White's; Benko proceeds to
drive White away, create weaknesses, and then mop up on the queenside.)
1 6 .Ng3 a4 1 7 .Nd2 Nd4 I S .Re I a3 ! 1 9 . b 3 RcS 2 0 .Nc4 Nb S ! 2 1 . Q g4 Nc3
2 2 . Rfe l Nxa2 2 3 .Ra l Nc3 24.Re 3 e S 2 S .NhS exf4 2 6.Rh3 Nxe4, Conrady
B enko, Dublin 1 95 7 . 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 S .Nc3 d6 6.Be2 e6 7.0-0 In the
following game (as in our main game) Benko avoids the natural but fairly use
less . . . RacS: 7 .Be3 Be7 S .O-O 0-0 9.f4 Bd7 1 0.Nb3 a6 1 1 .Bf3 RbS ! (removing
the Rook from the influence of the f3 -Bishop, and leaving room for the king's
Rook on cS!) 1 2 .Qe l b S 1 3 .Rd l b4 (Twenty-five years later, Gheorghiu played
the same line versus R. Cardoso in Manila 1 9 7 3 , and used the direct minority
attack: 1 3 , . . Qc7 1 4. g4 b4 I S .Ne2 as 1 6 .gS NeS , with the kind of queenside
prospects B enko also liked.) 1 4.Ne2 eS I S .fS
B ENKO AS B LACK
529
1 5 . . . Na5 ! (This time Benko wants to play . . . Bb5 and . . . Nc4, although . . . a5 -a4
was naturally still valid.) 1 6.Nxa5 Qxa5 1 7 .g4 Rfc8 ! 1 8 .g5 Ne8 1 9.Rd2 Qxa2
2 0.Ng3 BfS 2 1 .Nh5 Qxb2 2 2 . Qg3 Rd , and White's attack is at a standstill, whereas
Black has two extra pawns and ideas like . . . b 3 , Shipman-Benko, U.S.A. 1 95 8 .
7 . . .B e 7 Here 7 . . . a 6 8.a4 B e 7 9.Kh 1 0-0 1 O .f4 Qc7 was the actual order o f Reyes
Benko below. 8.Khl 0-0 9.f4 Qc7 1 O.Bfl Rd8 ! ? A Benko trademark, espe
cially in his early years. Often this Rook goes to e8 to protect e 7 and open the e
file in case of . . . d5 and exd51 . . . exd 5 . On d8, Black prepares . . . e6-e5 followed by
. . . d 5 . 1 1 .Nb3 a6 1 2 .a4 b6 1 3 .Be3 Rb8
Notice how Black foregoes . . . Bb7, a natural move that many players have played
on this or the next move of exactly this position. By leaving the Bishop on c8, he
gives e6 extra support and, as we shall see next, keeps the b-file uncluttered.
1 4.Qe 1 Many years later, the game Schammo-Wirthensohn, Luxemburg 1 9 8 1
followed Benko's plan after 1 4.Rf2 Na5 ! 1 5 .Qd3 Nc4 1 6.Bc l b5 1 7 .axb5 axb 5 ,
and the queenside attack was well underway: 1 8.Nd4 b 4 1 9.Nd 1 e5 ! 2 0.b3 (2 0.Nb3
exf4 2 1 .Bxf4 Nd7 ! and . . . Nde5 next) 2 0 . . .Na 3 2 1 .Bxa3 bxa3 2 2 .Ne2 d5 ! (With
all of White's pieces awkwardly defending on the first 3 ranks, Black switches to
the center.) 2 3 .exd5 Bc5 ! ? (2 3 . . . exf4 leaves White with nothing to do) 2 4.Rfl
exf4 2 5 .c4? ! Qe5 ! 2 6 . Ra2 Bf5 2 7 .Qd2 Bb 1 , and Black was winning the Exchange
and then more on the queenside. 14 ... Na5 !
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
5 30
From the game notes: "Now 1 5 .Nxa5 bxa5 gives Black a strong initiative thanks
to the open b- and c-files. At the time, . . . Na5 was a new idea . . . However, today
(in many different forms and positions) it's accepted as a normal maneuver. "
1 5 .Rdl Nc4 1 6.Bcl bS 1 7.axbS axbS 1 8.Nd4 Or 1 8 .Ne2 e5 1 9 . Qg3 Bb7 2 0.Nc3
b4 2 1 .Nd5 Bxd5 2 2 .exd5 e4 (isolating and winning the d-pawn) 2 3 .Be2 Nb6
2 4.Nd4 Nfxd 5 , L. Reyes-Benko, Lugano 1 968. 1 8 ... b4 1 9.Nce2 eS ! 2 0.Nb3
dS ! . Note the central pawn breaks following the retreat of White's pieces into
passivity. This is the same theme we saw in the note to move 1 4. For the rest of
this dynamic Sicilian attack, see Game 7, Foltys-Benko, Budapest, 1 948.
It's worth mentioning the following game, not so much for its theoretical value
as for its philosophy: l .e4 cS 2 .Nf3 d6 3 .d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 S .Nc3 Nc6 6.f4
e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qf3 eS 9.NfS ? As pointed out in the notes to this game, 9.Nxc6
bxc6 1 0.f5 is White's best line. 9 . . . BxfS to.exfS
1 0 ... Nd4! Many players would be tempted to launch an attack or at least gain
some traditional Sicilian advantages here by 1 O . . . Qa5 1 1 .0-0-0 ( l 1 .fxe5 dxe5
1 2 .Bb5 Rc8 1 3 .0-0 0-0) 1 1 . . .0-0 1 2 .Kb l Rac8 1 3 .g4 Nb4! 1 4.a3 ( 1 4.Bd2 Rxc3
1 5 .Bxc3 Qxa2 + 1 6 .Kc 1 Nbd5) 1 4 ... Rxc3 1 5 .bxc3 Nbd5 etc. Of course, White
can play solidly and achieve normal middlegame play. But 1 0 . . . Nd4! moves the
game onto Benko's turf: I l .Bxd4 exd4 1 2 .NbS QaS+ n .c3 dxc3 1 4.Qxc3 Qxc3 +
I S .Nxc3 O-O-O! These moves and the rest of the contest are covered in the
game comments. What's significant is Benko's willingness to take the Queens
off for little apparent advantage in a position where one might think he could
BENKO AS BLACK
attack or exert pressure. Here's his comment: "Black has a slight but definite
advantage due to the weakness of White's doubled pawns. But winning the game
is far from easy because of the presence of opposite-colored Bishops. " In other
words, Benko has tremendous confidence in his ability to convert such a posi- 531
tion, even against first-rate opposition. H e was indeed u p t o the task i n Lom
bardy-Benko, Seattle 1 966 -Game 6 1 .
4 . . . Bg4 Amazingly, in Kopec's entire video o n this Bd3 system (which he calls
"The Kopec System"), he doesn't mention this order! Kopec gives games with
2 . . . d6 3 .Bd3 Nc6 4.c3 Bg4 5 .Bc2 d 5 , but by that time White can try 6.d3 and his
e-pawn doesn't hang. Benko has indeed found an effective remedy because, by
delaying . . . Nc6, he gives himself time for . . . d5 before White can get organized
see the next note.
Only the year before, Benko as White (!) played the " Chopped Meat" himself
and ran up against 4 . . . Nc6 : 5 .Bc2 e 5 ! ? (5 . . . Bg4 6.d3 intending Nbd2 and h3 is
not as easy for Black as in our main game) 6.0-0 Be7 7 .h3 0-0 8.Re 1 (8 .d4) 8 .. .Nd7
9.d4 cxd4 1 O.cxd4 Bf6 l 1 .Bd , and White had a modest advantage, Benko-Tringov,
Havana 1 966. 5 .Be2 Benko: "The immediate 5 .h3 seems better. " Indeed, 5 .h3
was played against Benko later, by Camara in Sao Paulo 1 97 7 : 5 ... BxB (5 ... Bh5
has been played in several games. One example: 6.Bc2 Nc6 7.d3 e6 8 .Nbd2 d5
9.Qe2 Be7 1 0.Nfl b 5 l 1 .Ng3 Bg6 1 2 .0-0 0-0 1 3 .Nh4 d4 1 4.Nxg6 hxg6 1 5 .Q d 1
Rc8 1 6 .Ne2 dxc3 1 7 .bxc3 b4! , Boric-Ermenkov, Pula 1 99 1 ) 6. QxB Nc6
PAL BENKO: M Y LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
532
7 .BbS (Wasting time; one high-class example with 7 .0-0 went 7 . . . g6 S.Re l Bg7
9.Bfl 0-0 l O.a4 a6 1 1 .Na3 RbS l 2 . Qd l Nd7 1 3 .Nc2 NaS ! = , Anand-Van Wely,
Tilburg 1 992 .) 7 . . . RcS S .O-O e6 9.d4? ! Qb6 l O.Bxc6+ Qxc6, and Black had supe
rior development. S . . . dS S . . . g6 has also done well, simply playing for dark-square
control. Then the most famous Bd3/c3 game ever played went 6.h3 Bxf3 7 . Qxf3
Bg7 S .O-O 0-0 9.Qd l Nc6 l O.d3 ( l O.d4 cxd4 1 1 .cxd4 Qb6 or . . . RcS; Black is
well-developed with dark-square pressure) 1 0 . . . RbS 1 1 .Nd2 bS l 2 . a 3 Nd7
( 1 2 ... Qc7) 1 3 .Nf3 NdeS ? ! 1 4.NxeS BxeS I S .Be3 Qb6 1 6 .Kh l Bg7 1 7 .f4 as, and
from this roughly equal position, Black (Bosboom) actually beat Kasparov in Wijk
aan Zee ! ! (Okay, it was a blitz game).
Instead of 6.h3 , K. Georgiev-Kindermann, Thessaloniki 1 9S5 continued 6.d3
Bxf3 ! ? 7 . Qxf3 Nc6 S . O-O Bg7 9.Be3 0-0 l O .Nd2 ( lO . d4? cxd4 I l .cxd4 Qb6)
lO . . . RcS 1 1 .Rad i b S ! 1 2 .a3 as 1 3 . d4? ! cxd4 1 4.cxd4 Nd7 I S .Nb3 a4 1 6 .Na l Nb6
1 7 .b 3 b4! I S .bxa4 bxa3 1 9.Qe2 NaS ! , and Black, ready for .. .Nbc4, was consid
erably better. 6.eS Benko: "Naturally, 6.d3 dxe4 7 . dxe4 Qxd 1 + is not appetizing
for White. " But at least he would retain some sort of balance, e.g., 6.d3 dxe4
7 . dxe4 Qxd 1 + S.Kxd l Nc6 ! ? (S . . . Bxf3 + 9.gxf3 eS ! ?) 9.Ke2 eS l O.h3 Be6 followed
by . . . Be7 and . . . 0-0. Black is somewhat better, since White is behind in develop
ment and can"t get a piece to dS whereas Black has ideas like . . . bS -b4, depend
ing where the b l -Knight goes. 6 . . . Nfd7 7.d4 e6
Benko's note says it all: "Finally arriving at a French Defense that is favorable
for Black. It's well known, of course, that Black's troubles in the French stem
from his 'problem' light-squared Bishop, which is usually difficult to develop
BENKO AS BLACK
effectively. Here the Bishop has already found a good home. " 8 .Nbd2 8.Be3
Qb6 9.b3 cxd4 1 O.cxd4 Bb4+ 1 1 .Kfl Nc6 wasn't much of an improvement in
Rellstab-Kottnauer, Helsinki 1 9 5 2 . 8 ... exd4 9.exd4 Ne6 1 0.h3 BhS 1 1 .g4 Bg6
1 2 .Bxg6 hxg6 1 2 . . . fxg6 ! followed by . . . Be7 and . . . 0-0 is a typical French idea to 533
exert pressure down the f-file. O f course, 1 2 . . . hxg6 i s also good. 1 3 .Nb3 as 1 4.a4
Re8, and the opening has concluded to Black's advantage. This was Bisguier-
Benko, New York 1 967; see Game 64.
l.d4 O PENIN GS
It should come as no surprise that Benko tried a wide variety of defenses versus
l .d4. But here we see a bit more specialization than in the other parts of this
survey. For a period of many years, he didn't deviate from the Benko Gambit,
and I will devote a large section to it next. At other times, the Griinfeld Defense
was a mainstay of his repertoire, and he employed the King's Indian Defense
regularly throughout his career, showing particular creativity in his handling of
it. Not surprisingly, he used other defenses (notably l .d4 d5), but the three open
ings above account for the bulk of his practice and will be treated with the most
depth here.
On the same subj ect, Steffen Pedersen says: "The Benko Gambit . . . has been
around in some form or another since the 1 92 0s . . . ". Naturally, "in one form or
another," so has just about any opening, and "similarity" has not generally been
5 34 a criterion in naming openings. No one seems to complain about the name Najdorf
Sicilian, for example, and yet the Scheveningen Sicilian is certainly very similar
to the Najdorf, as are other Sicilian variations (with exceptionally similar struc
tures, themes and ideas) . Certainly the "Taimanov Sicilian" goes back to struc
tures and even piece development that were seen in the games of Anderssen and
Paulsen. And so forth. The reality is that we should name openings after those
who: (a) popularized them among strong players; (b) developed their theory be
fore or more extensively than others; and, as Alekhine says in Benko's introduc
tory citation, (c) "gave the move real significance. " Benko very clearly meets all
three criteria.
Vukic-Benko, Sarajevo 1 967 was the first game that attracted top players'
attention to the sequence l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 c5 3 .d5 b 5 , although Benko had already
used it often in less significant U. S . tournaments. As it was, the gambit took
several years and a great number of games by Benko to overcome the natural
and negative response that most players initially gave it. In brief, this response
was: "What? Give away a pawn as Black on the third move, for no attack whatso
ever and without creating any enemy weaknesses? Ridiculous ! " I freely admit
that I felt the same way when I first saw it, and was sure that a way would be
found to secure White a safe advantage. But the Benko Gambit continues to
thrive today. The hidden key is that White's queenside pawns are immobile and
subject to attack while his opponent develops more freely and actively.
Remarkably, just about all of Benko's early games are still relevant for theory.
Since the Benko Gambit is so integral to any exposition of his play, I will analyze
the theory behind most of the games in this section in unusual detail. Vukic
B enko won't get such a meticulous treatment, leading as it does into the next
few games; and yet it remains an exemplary game for the variation involved, a g3
Fianchetto System: l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 c5 3 .d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 Notice the difference
between this and l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 c5 3 .d5 g6 4.Nf3 b5 etc., where the Knight is
already committed to f3 . 5.bxa6 Bxa6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Nf3 g6 8.g3 See the discus
sion of g3 systems, and many games with it, in the next few games. 8 ... Bg7 9.Bg2
0-0 1 0.0-0 Nhd7 I 1 .Qc2
BENKO AS BLACK
Still the most popular move today. White would like to play Rd l and e4, or
perhaps Rb I , b 3 , and Bb2 . 1 1 . ..Qb6 As Benko points out, there are alternatives
such as 1 1 . . .QaS (the most popular move today; see the next two games) and
1 1 . . .Qc7 . 1 1 . . . Qb6 tries to exert pressure down the b-file, to leave c7 open for 535
the standard idea . . . Nf6-e8-c7 , and t o avoid the loss of tempo by Bd2 that . . . Q a S
allows. 1 2 .Rd l 1 2 .Rb l , once thought t o be good, can run into 1 2 . . . Qb7 ! , in-
tending moves like . . . Nb6 and . . . Bc4 with threats against White's d-pawn.
1 2 . . . Rfb8 1 3 .Rb l Ne8
We haven't left modern mainstream theory! 1 3" .Ne8 intends . . . Nc7-bS , further
pressuring White's queenside. It is given " ! ? " by Pedersen, but it's the only move
that he mentions. 1 3" .Ng4 is a bit more popular than 1 3" .Ne8, also opening the
g7-Bishop's diagonal and preparing . . . NdeS . Both moves have their points. 1 4.BgS
By transposition, Csom-Gligoric, Ljubjana Portoroz 1 97 3 went 1 4.Nd2 Nc7 I S .h3
NbS 1 6.Nc4 Qa7, leading to an "unclear" position (Pedersen). 14 ... Qd8 14 . . . Kf8
was played in two other games, with even results. l S .Bfl h6 1 6.Bd2 Nc7 1 7.b3
Nb6 1 8.e4 Bxfl 1 9.Rxfl Amazingly, we are only now leaving current theory,
although this was the first international test of the gambit! 1 9.Kxfl Qd7 2 0.Kg2
was played in a 1 986 correspondence game Bernhardsson-Blodig. Black won with
a plan similar to Benko's, by playing . . . e6 and exploiting White's light squares,
but at this point it wasn't clear who had the advantage. 19 ... Qd7 20.Rfe l Kh7
2 1 .Kg2 e6 A standard plan once the g2 -Bishop has been traded. Nevertheless,
as Benko mentions, there are alternatives involving . . . c4 and .. .fS . 2 2 .dxe6 Nxe6
2 3 .Ne2 dS. The opening can be considered over. Black has achieved counterplay
with an important central break, but White is still a pawn up. This is hard to
assess. See Game 72 for the continuation.
The g3 systems were extremely common in the first days of the Benko Gam
bit and are still very important. White creates no weaknesses and, unlike sys
tems with e4 or f4, he gets castled without much trouble. Thus playing against
g3 provides a real test of Black's positional compensation. The good news for
him is that the Bishop takes two moves to get to a square (g2) where it is blocked
by its own d-pawn. Following the Vukic-Benko game just seen, systems with g3
became popular and took on many forms. Since Black has no targets and cannot
launch an immediate attack, these fianchetto systems show clearly how, without
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
8.Bg2 (8 .Nh3 ! ? Bg7 9.Nf4 Nbd7 1 O.h4 O-O? ! - Benko suggests the safer 1 0 . . . h6
or 1 0 . . . h5 - 1 1 .h5 N e5 1 2 .hxg6 hxg6, Kovacs-Benko, Debrecen 1 9 7 5 , Game 8 1 .
This is given thorough treatment in the game notes) 8 . . . Bg7 9.Nh3 (9.Qa4+ Nbd7
1 0.Qh4 h6 Barlay-Benko, U. S . Open 1 969; White's Queen has been misplaced
at the cost of tempi and he stands worse.) 9 . . . Nbd7 1 0.0-0 0-0 I 1 .Qc2 Qa5 1 2 .Bg5
Rfb8 1 3 .Rfe l Ra7 1 4.Rab l Rab7 1 5 .Bd2 c4! ? (I'm not sure that this is best; an
alternative is 1 5 ... Qc7.) 1 6.b4 cxb3 1 7.Rxb3 Bc4!? ( 1 7 ... Rxb3 1 8.axb3 Qa3) 1 8.Rxb7
Rxb7 1 9.Ng5 Qa6 2 0. Re I Rb8 , Denker-Benko, Lincoln 1 969. Black has com
pensation, but this position is hard to assess. The game itself was drawn. 7 . . . g6
8.g3 Bg7
BENKO AS BLACK
9.Bg2 The fianchetto variation is solid but also has its disadvantages. As men
tioned above, White's light-squared Bishop is often not active on g2 because his
own center pawns limit its scope. 9.Bh3 was played at least twice by Hort in
games that Benko expresses interest in: 9 . . . 0-0 ! ? (This "natural answer .. .is prob- 537
ably not best" -Benko. Presumably he wants to get on with 9 . . . Nbd7 1 0.0-0
Nb6 immediately, contemplating ... Bc8 and recapture with the Queen in the
case of Bxc8 .) 1 0 .0-0 Qb6 (Benko also refers to Hort-E. Meyer, U.S .A. 1 974:
1O ... Nbd7 1 1 .Qc2 Qa5 1 2 .Bd2 Rib8 1 3 .b3 ? ! - [ 1 3 .Rab 1 ] 1 3 . . . Qb4! 1 4. Rab 1 c4!
1 5 .Rfc 1 Nc5 1 6.Na4 cxb3 1 7 .axb 3 Qe4 1 8 .Nxc5 dxc5 1 9.Bfl Qxc2 drawn, in
view of 20.Rxc2 c4 = . ) 1 1 .Rb 1 Bc8 ! ? ( 1 1 . . .Nbd7 followed by . . . Rib8, . . . Qd8 ! ? ,
and . . . Nb6 i n some order was perhaps a better way to prepare . . . Bc8 and possi-
bly . . . Bd7 if White retreats his Bishop.) 1 2 .Bxc8 Rxc8 1 3 . e4 Nbd7 1 4.h3 h6 ! ?
1 5 .Bd2 , and Black was having diffficulty improving his position in Hort-Diesen,
Hastings 1 974. 9 ... Nbd7 10.0-0 0-0 Benko's own recommendation of 1 0 . . . Nb6
first is now a main line, but this position is also critical and is sometimes reached
by different orders. I I .Re l 1 1 .Qc2 , the main line of the Fianchetto Variation, is
considered in the next two games. 11...Qb6 12 .e4? Better is 1 2 .h3 . 12 . . . Ng4!
13 .Qc2 rub8
14.h3 Gordon-Benko, U.S .A. 1 976 (Game 82) saw 1 4.Rb 1 Nge5 ( 1 4 . . . c4 was
also very promising, according to the game notes.) with advantage for Black.
14 . . . Nge5 15 .Nxe5 Nxe5, with a very promising position. See Game 7 7 .
Hort-Benko, U.S.A., 1974 follows the same line u p to move 1 1 . Qc2 : l .d4
Nf6 2 .c4 c5 3 .d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5 .bxa6 Bxa6 As Benko notes, 5 . . . g6 is more
accurate. This is not only because it discourages the double fianchetto with b 3 ,
but because there are lines in which Black wants to play . . . Qa5 first and then
. . . Bxa6, in order to respond to White's moves e4 (or e 3 ) and Bxa6 by recapturing
with his Queen on a6. 6.Nc3 d6 7.NfJ g6 8.g3 Bg7 9.Bg2 Nbd7 10.0-0 0-0
I 1.Qc2 Qa5 Rather than 1 1 . . .Qb6, as we saw in Vukic-Benko. 12 .Rd l
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
538
Now White wants to play b 3 , and will often play Rb I to prepare it. He also has
the idea 1 3 .Bd2 , and if 1 3 .. .Nc4, 1 4.Be l . 12 . . Rib S This is the normal move,
.
which is still doing well enough, although the continuations seem to have Black
only holding on without many positive prospects. Also, White's idea in next game
may discourage some. For those who don't like this move, 1 2 . . . Ng4 (preventing
b3 ) has a decent reputation (it was played by Adams, for example). Benko him
self suggests and analyzes a third option, 1 2 . . . Nb6 ! ? :
I n very limited practice this hasn't done well, and I have to admit that I a m skep
tical about at least one response. Still, there is no refutation, and the lines don't
look that bad. Anyway, here are some ideas: 1 3 .Rb l (the standard idea, which
Benko doesn't mention. He gives 1 3 .b3 Nbxd5 ! , correctly, and 1 3 .Nd2 c4, which
I'm not sure will equalize after 1 4.Nfl , e.g., 1 4 . . . Bb7 1 5 .Ne3 , with either b4 or
first Bd2 and then b4 in the works. This is not set in stone, however.) 1 3 . . . Nc4
(Maybe 1 3 . . . Bc4, although even 1 4. e4 intending b3 and Bd2 should keep some
edge, e.g., 14 . . .Ng4 1 5 .h 3 Ne5 1 6.Nxe5 Bxe5 1 7 .a3 , with ideas like b4 or Bd2
and b 3 ; not appropriate here is 1 3 ... c4? ! 1 4. e4.) 1 4.Nd2 Nd7 , which has led to
White wins after both 1 5 .Bh3 and 1 5 .Nxc4. Nevertheless, one could argue with
assessment-by-result, understanding that Black still has his basic Benko Gambit
advantages here, and proceeding on the belief that these will provide compensa
tion. 1 3 .Bd2 For 1 3 .Rb l , see the next game. The move 1 3 .b3 should be taken
very seriously as a potential threat to 1 2 . . . Rfb8, for example, 1 3 . . . Ng4 1 4.Bb2
( 1 4.Bd2 intending 14 ... c4 1 5 .h3 is also possible and may be better.)
BENKO AS BLACK
539
1 7.Bh 2 This variation is important for current Benko Gambit theory, and an
overview of its recent practice should be of interest. Notice of course that White
can repeat. Thus for guaranteed winning chances, Black has to look at his earlier
options. The game Avrukh-Ponomariov, Batumi 1 999 deviated at this late point
from Benko's game, but had strong similarities after 1 7 .Bd2 Qa3 1 8 . e4 ! ? Bc8 !
(preventing NbS , even after Bfl , because the a-pawn would fall) 1 9.h3 Bd7 2 0.Bel
QaS 2 1 .Bd2 Qa3 2 2 .Bel QaS 2 3 .Bb2 (Also Zaltsmann's solution ! Avrukh is again
reluctant to take a draw as White.) 2 3 . . .Nc7 2 4.a3 (A recent game went 24.Qel
Qa6 [24 . . .fS ! ?] 2 S .Re l Qc8 2 6.Kh2 Qf8 - [2 6 . . .fS ! ?] 2 7 .Ra l Ra7 2 8 .Nd l , 112 _ 112,
Kruppa-Malakhatko, Kyiv 2 00 1 . Black again follows with .. .fS , either before or
after . . . Bxb2.) 24 . . . Qa6 2 S .Bfl ? ! (This looks good, but takes support away from
d S . 2 S .Nd2 is better.) 2 S . . . Qc8 2 6.Kh2 fS !
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
540
2 7 .Ra l Qf8 2 8 .Rd2 fxe4 2 9 . Qxe4 Qf5 ! (A surprise ! 2 9 . . . e6 was another ap
proach.) 3 0 . Qxf5 Bxf5 3 1 .Re 1 Kf8 (Black wants more than 3 1 . . .Rxa3 3 2 .Bxa3
Bxc3 3 3 .Rxe7.) 3 2 .Ng5 h6 3 3 .Nge4 Nd7 (B . . . Bxe4 3 4.Rxe4 Bxc3 3 5 .Bxc3 Nbxd5
3 6 .Bb2 Rxb3 3 7 .Bc4 is difficult for both sides.) 3 4.b4? cxb4 3 5 .axb4 Rxb4 3 6 .Bg2
Nf6 ! ? 3 7 .Nxf6 Bxf6 3 8 .Rc 1 ? (Time pressure, but Black has a clear edge.) 3 8 . . . Nb5
3 9.g4 Bg5 .
Returning to Zaltsmann-Benko: 1 7 . . . Nc7 1 8 .e4 Nd7 ! ? 1 8 . . . Bc8 ! and . . . Bd7
was Ponomariov's maneuver in the same type of position. The move ... Bg4 can
also be useful . 1 9.Bh3 Bc8 20.Bfl
20 . . . Ba6 Black is content to repeat. Instead, although he would have wasted some
valuable time, Benko could also have tried 20 . . . Nb6 ! ? followed by . . . Bd7, mim
icking Ponomariov's idea. Then . . . f5 would be a factor. 2 1 .Bh3 Bc8 2 2 .Rdc 1
Nb6 Exchanging light-squared Bishops is generally useful to Black, but in this
case it's hard for him to make progress afterwards. 2 3 .Bxc8 Rxc8 24.Nd2 Qa6 ? !
I t may be time t o bail out by 2 4 . . . Bxc3 2 5 .Bxc3 Qxa2 . After White's next, it's
hard to justify the pawn deficit. 2 5 .a4! Qb7 26.Nc4 Nxc4 27.bxc4 Qb4 2 8.Qe2
Bxc3 29.Bxc3 Qxa4 3 0.e5. Black's position is unpleasant and it led to one of
Benko's few losses with his gambit. A remarkable anticipation of modern theory,
however.
4.cxbS a6 S .Nc3 This is now known as the Zaitsev Variation versus the Benko
Gambit. Its first appearance was in this game, appropriately enough, between
Zaitsev and Benko! S . . . axbS 6.e4 b4 7.NbS d6 White was threatening e 5 , and
7 . . . Nxe4? ? 8 . Qe2 is disastrous . 8.NO We should turn our attention to Benko's 541
thoughts about 8.Bf4 and the theory that surrounds it:
8.Bf4 is White's most popular move . In response, it turns out that Black has
several decent alternatives, but his most frequent and still satisfactory response
is Benko's own idea 8 . . . g5 ! . Neverthelss, it's very interesting to see what Benko
said at the time of the game about some alternatives that are now fairly respect
able, for example after 8 . . .Nxe4 9.Qe2 g5 , he anticipates the move that became
popular more than a decade later: 1 0.Be5 ! ? dxe5 (Recently, even the bizarre 10 .. .f6
has been achieving equality.) I I . Qxe4, which he naturally thought at the time to
favor White. Today, Black gets equal theoretical chances and often even better
practical ones out of I l . . .Bg7 ! 1 2 .d6 Ra5 ! , for example, 1 3 .Rd 1 0-0; Benko is
correct that 8 . . . Nbd7 9.Nf3 Nb6? l O .Rd ! (threatening I l .Rxc5 !) l O . . . Nxe4
I I .Bd3 favors White, but after years of analytical and practical input, it appears
that 9 . . . Nxe4! is satisfactory for Black- see 8.Nf3 Nbd7 9.Bf4 Nxe4! below.)
9.Bxg5 Nxe4 1 0 .Bf4 ( l 0.Bh4 Bg7 1 1 .Bd3 Nf6 1 2 .Nf3 Nbd7 1 3 .0-0 Bb7, with
strong pressure on the d-pawn, Halldorsson-Benko, Philadelphia 1 97 8) l O . . . Bg7
(Benko also mentions lO . . . Qa5, which is hotly contested to this day.) 1 1 .Qe2
PAL BENKO: MY LIF E, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
1 1 . . .Nf6 1 2 .Nxd6+ Kf8 1 3 .Nxc8 Qxc8 and Benko stated that he thought Black
was assuming the initiative. Theory recommends 1 4.Qf3 ( 1 4.d6 exd6 I S .Bxd6+
Kg8 is easy to play and probably better for Black) and now 14 . . . e6 (or perhaps
542 14 . . . QfS) is held to be equal.
8 ... Nbd7 ! ? Benko says " ? ! " too pessimistically. But he is right that 8 . . . g6 is the
most reliable move, one main line today proceeding 9 . Bc4 Bg7 1 0 .0-0 0-0
( 1 0 . . .Nxe4! ? 1 1 .Re i Nf6 1 2 .Qe2 Bb7 is praised by theory, but it doesn't con
sider 1 3 .Qxe7+ Qxe7 1 4.Nxd6+, with some problems for Black.) 1 1 .Re l Nbd7
1 2 .a3 ! ? Nb6 ! , and Black is holding his own. 9.Bf4 Nh5? Although one would
hardly dare play it over the board, Black should play 9 . . . Nxe4! here, a main line
of theory going 1 0. Qe2 fS 1 1 .NgS Ndf6 1 2 .f3 NxdS 1 3 .Nxe4! Nxf4 ! , and two
games have demonstrated that Black gets dynamic equality (but no more) after
either 1 4.Nexd6+ or 1 4.Nbxd6+ exd6 1 S .Nxd6+ Kd7 1 6.QbS+ Ke6. 1 0.Bg5 Nhf6
1 0 . . . Qb6 ? ! I l .Nd2 g6 1 2 .Nc4 Qb8 1 3 .a4 with a nice advantage was Rashkovsky
Zilberman, USSR 1 9 7 5 . 1 1 .Qe2 ? ! This leads to a game illustrating Benko's ge
nius in these positions. Correct was either taking the draw by I I .Bf4, or Zaitsev's
suggestion I I . e S , which theory considers clearly better for White. But Benko
quite correctly suggested (in 1 97 5 !) the line 1 1 . . . dxeS 1 2 .Qe2 RaS 1 3 .NxeS NxeS
1 4.QxeS Qb6 I S .Nc7+ (Some older theory, still quoted, gives I S .a4! bxa3 1 6.Rxa3
RxbS 1 7 .BxbS+ QxbS 1 8 .Ra8 Qb4+ 1 9.Ke2 , winning, but 1 8 ... Qb7 ! 1 9.Rb8 Nd7 !
turns this assessment around.) I S . . . Kd8 1 6.Bf4 ( 1 6.d6 exd6 - [or 1 6 . . . Qxd6 ! ?]
1 7 .Bxf6+ Kxc7 1 8 .QgS gxf6 1 9 .Qxf6 Qc6 ! 2 0 . Qxh8 Qe4+ is too strong.), and
here he gives the still-unanalyzed 1 6 . . . Nd7 !
BENKO AS BLACK
Benko expresses his philosophy behind this beautiful move in his game notes.
Such . . . Ra5 moves later became common in the Benko Gambit, but at the time
this was a bombshell. 1 2 .eS It's hard to do without this move. Old Benko notes
gave 1 2 .Qc2 b3 " ! ", but 1 3 .Qxb3 Nxe4 1 4.Bf4 Ba6 1 5 .Nd2 ! leaves Black the
question of how to develop his kingside. Better is 1 2 . . . Ba6 ! 1 3 .a4 bxa3 1 4.Nxa3
Bxfl 1 5 .Kxfl g6 or 1 5 . . . QaS, with typical gambit pressure. 1 2 ... Ba6 ! 1 3 .exf6
BxbS 1 4.fxe7 Bxe7 I S .Bxe7 Qxe7 1 6.Qxe7+ Kxe7 1 7.BxbS RxbS, and Black
is clearly better. For the rest of this pretty game, see Game so.
With Pfleger-Benko, Skopje 1 972 and its associated games, we move into
more contemporary practice with the 5 .b6 System: l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 cS 3 .dS bS
4.cxbS a6 S .b6
White returns the pawn for positional reasons, e.g., to occupy c4 with a Knight
or to play directly for e 5 . This is one of White's best options, although it didn't
really catch on until many years later. S . . . d6 5 . . . Qxb6 Ied to a poorly-played but
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
1 2 .Nd2 B enko gives 1 2 .h3 BxB 1 3 .BxB Nfd7 ( 1 3 . . . NeS 1 4.Qb3 RbS I S .Be2
Nc7) 1 4.Be2 c4 intending . . . NcS . But whether Black should give up d4 and ex
pose his c-pawn in return for central pressure is at least open to question. A
plausible continuation might be I S .Be3 Qc7 1 6.Rc 1 intending 1 6 . . . NcS ? 1 7 .M ! .
But 1 3 . . . NeS intending . . .Nc7 should be fine, e.g., 1 4.Qb3 RbS I S .Be2 Nc7 .
A similar idea was seen i n Gamboa-Leko, Yopal 1 99 7 : 1 2 .a4 NeS ! 1 3 .Qd2
BxB 1 4.BxB Nc4 I S . Qc2 ( l S .Qe2 NeS = ) I S ... RbS 1 6.Rab l Nc7 , assessed as
equal by Pedersen. The natural 1 7 .Be2 can be met by 1 7 ... Nas ! ? , heading for
d4 via b3 . Then I S .b3 ( l S . Rfd l Nb 3 1 9. Bc4 Nd4 is fine for Black) I S . . . fS ! gives
active counterplay, since the move . . . Bxc3 is often in the air, e.g., after 1 9. exfS .
1 2 . . . Bxe2 1 3 .Qxe2
BENKO AS BLACK
1 3 . . . Qd7 ! As Benko points out, this clever move threatens to exchange pieces
(normally desirable in the Benko) by . . . Na4, and to play 1 4.a4 Qg4! Enforcing
the exchange of Queens. 1 5 .Qe3 Nh5 1 6.Bh6 Bxh6 1 7.Qxh6 Qf4! 1 8.Qxf4
Nxf4 19.b3 Rab8 20.g3 Nd3 "With a clear plus for Black," according to Benko, 545
which may be slightly exagerrated, but certainly Black is better. Nevertheless,
the game was quickly drawn after 2 1 .f4 f5 ! 22.a5 ? ! 2 2 .Rf3 Nb4 2 3 .Rd 1 is a
tougher defense. 22 . . . Nd7 2 3 .Rad l fxe4 24.Ncxe4 Nb4 ! ? Still better was
24 . . . RfS ! 2 S .Nc3 Nb4. 2 5 .NB h6? 2 S . . . RbS wins a pawn safely enough. 2 6.Nc3
Nc2 , Ih _ 1h . Black is obviously still better. Benko often seemed inclined to take
draws like this in superior positions, perhaps due to his habitual time trouble.
At first sight it is quite surprising that this move has completely fallen from fa
vor. Jacobs and Kinsman go so far as to give it a " ? ! " . The point is that White
shouldn't be allowed even a tempo to consolidate (see the note to move 8), so a
plan with the moves . . . Bb7, . . . e6, and . . . QaS in some order is now preferred. Of
course, the Benko games looked at in this game were all played from 1 968 to
1 97 1 , before theory had developed beyond infancy, much less become consoli
dated. And in any case most of the themes in these games are typical of other
S .e3 variations. 7.Nfl Here are some earlier games involving Benko:
a) 7 .Bc4 Bg7 8.Nge2 0-0 9.0-0 Nbd7 1 0.bxa6 Nb6 1 1 .BbS Bxa6 1 2 . Bc6 Rb8
1 3 .Rb l Ng4! intending . . . NeS and in some cases . . . Nc4, Blumin-Benko, Atlan
tic City 1 969;
b) 7 .bxa6 Bg7 (7 ... Bxa6 is an option, e.g., 8 . Qa4+ Nfd7 9.BbS Bg7 1 O.Nf3 0-0,
with fairly typical Benko play following ... Nb6 and . . . Nbd7.) 8.BbS + ! ? Nfd7 (1
don't like this much. 8 . . . Bd7 prepares for . . . Nxa6 and trading White's light-square
protector, while retaining pressure on e4 and dS .) 9.N ge2 ! 0-0 1 0.0-0 Nxa6 I l .e4
Nc7 1 2 .Bd3 NeS 1 3 .Bc2 Ba6 1 4.f4 Nc4 I S .Rf3 ! ? ( l S .b3 Nb6 1 6 . Bb2 100ks solid)
I S . . . e6! 1 6.dxe6 fxe6 1 7 .Rb 1 d S , and Black had gained a fair amount of play in
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
Kuijpers-Benko, Wijk aan Zee 1 970, although he later lost. 7 . . . Bg7 8.bxa6 ? ! A
key moment. It was later discovered that 8.a4! seriously limits Black's counterplay
while remaining a pawn ahead. 8 . . . 0-0 9.e4 Qa5 ! ? Benko expresses some skep-
546 ticism about the necessity of this move, but it is the standard idea in such posi
tions. After . . . Bxa6 and Bxa6, Black can recapture with the Queen and either
prevent castling or exchange Queens after Qe2 . The latter happens in the game.
1 0.Nd2 Bxa6 I 1 .Bxa6 Qxa6 1 2 .Qe2 How else to get castled?
12 ... Nfd7 Benko points out in his notes that 12 . . . Nbd7 is also playable and in
deed, Farago-Benko, Vrnjacka Banja 1 970 saw that move. There followed 1 3 . Qxa6
Rxa6 1 4. Nc4 Rb 8 I S . f3 Ne8 1 6 .Kd2 Nc7 1 7 .Kd3 Ne S + 1 8 . Nxe S Bxe S
1 9.Kc2 fS ! , with unclear compensation (the game was drawn) . Benko apparently
felt, and it's easy to agree with him, that 1 2 . . . Nfd7 was attractive because it re
tained the idea of a Knight recapture on a6. 1 3 .a4! ? Benko cites 1 3 .Nc4 fS 1 4.f3 ?
fxe4 I S .fxe4 ( I S .Nxe4! ?) I S . . . Nb6 1 6.Nxb6 Qxb6, Kaufman-Benko, Aspen 1 968.
White cannot castle, whereas Black can play . . . Nd7-eS next. See Benko's notes
in Game 7 S . The alternative line 1 3 .Qxa6 Nxa6 1 4.0-0 Nb4 with control over
d3 and the b-file gives Black full compensation. 1 3 ... Qxe2 + 14.Kxe2 Na6 1 5.Rb l
f5 ! , Ih _ lh, Another case of Benko failing to pursue an advantage, a bad habit he
seemed to be attached to as Black. He mentions that Larsen among others thought
that "Black had more than enough compensation for the sacrificed pawn." In
deed, this type of ending is now notoriously good for Black, whose great activity
and open lines against White's weaknesses have led to win after win. Neverthe
less, games like this, against chess greats such as Portisch, were very influential
in converting many of the world's players to 3 . . . b S .
I n the early days, B enko twice faced a perfectly logical plan that has almost
disappeared from recent books, although ECO deals with it in some detail. White
manages to achieve e4 in one step without forfeiting castling, and Black must
play carefully to demonstrate full compensation. We follow Vranesic-Benko,
Toronto, 1 97 1 : l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 c5 3 .d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5 .bxa6 Bxa6 6.Nc3 d6
7 .NO g6 8.Nd2 ! ?
BENKO AS BLACK
547
Here is White's idea: he will play e4 and then answer . . . Bxfl by Nxfl . 8 . . . Bg7
9.e4 O-O ! ? Benko had already tried 9 . . . Bxfl 1 0Nxfl versus Taimanov in Wijk
aan Zee 1 970. The negative result of that game may have influenced him to try
something else, but capturing on fl isn't bad.
The Taimanov game continued 10 . . . 0-0 ( 1 O . . . Qa5 was played by no less than
Kasparov versus Bareev in Linares 1 994: I l .Bd2 0-0 1 2 .Ne3 Nbd7 1 3 .0-0 Qa6!
1 4.Qc2 Ne5 1 5 .b 3 Nfd7 1 6.f4 Nd3 1 7 .a3 Bd4 I S .Kh I RfcS, with unclear pros
pects.) I l .Ne3 Na6 ! ? ( 1 1 . . .Nbd7 1 2 .0-0 Qb6 or 1 2 . . . Qa5 was later found to give
satisfactory play.) 1 2 .0-0 Nd7 1 3 .Qe2 Qc7 1 4.Bd2 ( 1 4.Nc4 is unpleasant for Black)
1 4 . . . Qb7 1 5 .Rab l Nc7 1 6.b3 e6 1 7 .a4! RfeS I S .Nc4 Qa6 1 9.QB , and White
was better. 1 0.Bxa6 Nxa6 1 1 .0-0 Nd7 1 2 .Nc4 A Benko game from the year
before had gone 1 2 .Qe2 Nb6 1 3 .NB Nc7 1 4.Rd l Na4 (A standard Benko Gambit
idea; once the c3 -Knight is exchanged, White's queenside becomes more vul
nerable.) 1 5 .Nxa4 Rxa4 1 6.b3 ! ? Bxa l 1 7 .bxa4 Bg7 I S . Qc2 Qd7 1 9.Bd2 RbS !
2 0 . Qc4 QcS 2 1 .Bg5 (2 1 .a 5 Qa6 ! ) 2 1 . . .Rb4 2 2 .Qc2 Rb2 2 3 . Qc4 Rb4, 112 _ 112,
Ghitescu-Benko, Siegen 1 970. 12 ... Nb6 1 3 .Ne3 Qd7 1 3 . . . Qc7 followed by . . . c4
and . . . Nc5 has also equalized. 14.a4 B enko discusses the good and bad points of
this move in his notes. The less committal 1 4.Bd2 Nc7 1 5 . Qc2 RfbS 1 6.Qd3
Na4 ! (that theme again) equalized in Tisdall-Gertarsson, Gausdal I 992 . 14 . . . Rfb 8
1 5 .Ra3 Benko prefers 1 5 .a5 Nb4 1 6 .Ra3 . 1 5 ... Bd4!, and Black may already be
better. See B enko's notes in Game 76.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
B enko played a quite a number of games in what Pedersen calls the "Classical
Main Line", in which White forfeits castling by e4, allowing . . . Bxfl , and then
(normally) scurries over to g2 or h2 with his king. I'm not going to cover the
548 theory of this variation in great detail. For those interested, it is well worked out
in the books by Pedersen and by Jacobs and Kinsman (as well as in ECO) . But
here is a quick organization of some of Benko's games in this line, most of them
commented upon in this book: l . d4 Nf6 2 . c4 c5 3 .d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5 .bxa6
Bxa6 6.Nc3 d6 7.e4 7 .Nf3 g6 8 . e4 Bxfl 9.Kxfl Bg7 1 0 .h3 introduces the Kg l
h 2 version of White's idea, b y which he stays o ff the a8-h l diagonal (g2 can be a
dangerous spot if Black plays moves such as . . . Qc7-b7 and . . . e6).
1 0 . . . 0-0 1 1 . Kg 1 Na6 1 2 .Kh2 Qb6 1 3 .Qe2 Rfb8 , and Black had plenty of play in
Camara-Benko, Sao Paulo 1 97 3 - see Game 7 8 . 7 . . . Bxfl 8.Kxfl g6
9.g3 Another idea that used to be popular is 9.g4: 9 . . . Bg7 I O.Kg2 (Benko's 1 969
game versus Visier with the passive 1 0.f3 ? ! is given in Game 7 3 .) 10 . . . 0-0 1 1 .h3
(also slow) 1 1 . . . e6 ! ? ( 1 1 . . .Nbd7) 1 2 .dxe6 fxe6 1 3 .e5 ! Ne8 1 4. exd6 Nxd6 1 5 . Qe2 ?
( 1 5 .Nf3 ) 1 5 . . . Qd7 1 6.f4? Nc6 1 7 .Nf3 Nd4, and White's King was already very
exposed in the early Benko Gambit game Avram-Benko, USA 1 968.
Alternatively, 9.Nge2 Bg7 l O.g3 0-0 I l .Kg2 Qb6 1 2 .Rb l Na6 intending a quick
. . . e6 is seen in Game 7 3 . As indicated in the notes, an alternative is 1 1 . . .Nbd7
1 2 . Qc2 Ra6 1 3 . Rd l Qa8 1 4.b3 e6 ! W Schmidt-Conquest, Poznan 1 986. I like
this example because Black combines attack down the queenside files with pres
sure along the h l -a8 diagonal.
BENKO AS BLACK
549
1 2 .Qe2 An unusual move. After the normal 1 2 .h3 ( 1 2 .Re l is probably the most
accurate move, as has only lately been established.), Benko's 1 2 . . . Nb6 is still con
sidered unorthodox, but has done quite well, as shown by Jacobs and Kinsman
in their book (without crediting Benko, of course) . Mter B .Re l Qd7, both the
Gligoric and Taylor games given in Game 79 are still relevant to theory. Benko's
notes to the Gligoric game are particularly insightful and revealing. 1 2 ... Qb6
1 3 .Rb l Rfe8 ! With this creative move, Benko prepares . . . c4 and . . . Nc5 . For
most players, 1 3 . . .Rfb8 would be automatic. 1 4.b3 Ng4 1 5 .h3 Nge5 1 6.Nxe5
Bxe5 1 7 .Bd2 e4! 1 8.Rhc 1 exb3 1 9.axb3 Qb4 20.Nd l Rxe2 , liz_ liz, Donner
Benko, Palma de Mallorea 1 97 1 . See Benko's comments in Game 79 regard
ing his small advantage in the final position. This is another example of his ten
dency to take draws as Black when he wouldn't do so as White. But it is also an
example of his extraordinary ability to find compensation, and often more, in
the opening that bears his name.
Naturally, any consideration of Benko defending against l .d4 should first re
fer to the B enko Gambit. But Benko wasn't the type of player to specialize in
one opening and never stray from it. Not only before but also after he "discov
ered" and played his gambit, Benko employed a remarkable range of other de
fenses. These included many Griinfeld and King's Indian defenses, but in addi
tion occasional forays into the Nimzo-Indian ind Queen's Indian defenses. With
the classical l .d4 d 5 , B enko played both the Slav Defense and Queen's Gambit
Declined. In the following game, Uhlmann-Benko, Buenos Aires 1 960, he
experiments with the Queen's Gambit Accepted, and ends up advancing the most
advanced theory that existed at the time: I .d4 d5 2 .e4 dxe4 3 .Nfl Nf6 4.e3 e6
5 .Bxe4 e5 6.0-0 a6 7.Qe2 b5 8.Bb3 Bb7 9.a4 Nbd7 All book so far. This
active move is the preferred solution for Black. 1 0.axb5 axb5 I 1 .Rxa8 Qxa8
1 2 .Nc3 b4 1 3 .Nb5 Qa5
PAL BENKO: M Y LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
550
Benko call this more aggressive than 1 3" .Qb8 but riskier. The verdict between
the two is unresolved to this day. Both 1 3" .Qa5 and 1 3 , . . Qb8 are still played,
1 3 , . .Qb8 more often, although Black has had clearly better results with 1 3 , . . Qa5 .
I think that the next note is critical in this regard. 1 4.e4 Benko mentions 1 4.Ne 5 ,
a very interesting and extremely rare move ( 1 4.e4 i s normal) . It i s even possible
that 1 4.Ne5 casts 1 3 , . .Qa5 into doubt. For example: 1 4, ..Nxe5 ( 1 4, . .Be7 ? ? 1 5.Nc4!;
1 4, . .Ba6 1 5 .Nc7+ ! and White must be somewhat better) 1 5 . dxe5 Nd7 , and now
a fascinating line is 1 6.Rd l , when 1 6, . .Nxe5 is given a " ? " by what little theory
there is due to 1 7 .Qd2 " ! " , but the ever alert computer finds the only move (and
refutation) right off: 1 7 , . .BB ! . Yeesh - don't you hate these things? Instead, White
should try the promising 1 7 .f4! with the idea f5 . I'm surprised that there hasn't
been more investigation of 1 4.Ne 5 . 1 4 . . . Be7 Capture of the e-pawn by 1 4, . . Bxe4
is punished by 1 5 .Ng5 according to ECO, but that would take a lot of proving. I
think that 1 5 .Bf4 is very strong instead. Similarly, ECO gives 1 4, . .Nxe4 1 5 .Ng5 ,
but once again I like 1 5 .Bf4 ! . In any case, it's hardly conceivable that Black would
capture the pawn.
BENKO AS BLACK
551
1 5 .e5 An example with 1 5 .d5 went 1 5 . . . exd5 1 6.exd5 0-0 1 7 .Rd l Ba6 1 8 . Bc4
Nb6 1 9.d6! Bd8 2 0.b3 Nxc4 2 1 .bxc4 Re8 , Ruzhele-Howell, Gelsenkirchen 1 99 5 ;
and now according t o ECO, 2 2 .Qd3 ! ? leads t o a small advantage for White, but
I'm doubtful that this is the case. 1 5 ... Ne4! This game might well have been
either the first or second with 1 5 . . . Ne4, and it's still considered equal. Writing
at the time, without the help of hindsight, Benko said "Better than 1 5 . . . Nd5
because 1 6.Bg5 would then be strong. " But in fact, 1 5 . . . Nd5 1 6 .Bg5 Bc6 ! has
fared very well, even better than 1 5 . . . Ne4. Probably the options 1 4.Ne5 and
1 5 .d5 have to be reexamined if White wants to get anything out of this line.
1 6.Bc2 ? ! 1 6.Rd l became the normal move later, with Black gaining equality in
most games. 16 ... Bc6. Now Black seems better. For the rest of this original game,
complete with other opening notes, see Game 34.
As shown above with regard to the Queen's Gambit Accepted, Benko some
times entered "high theory" in openings he seldom played. The Queen's Gam
bit Semi-Slav Defense was a rare choice and played only in his early years as far
as I can make out. In any case, the following opening is conducted interestingly
by both sides and is still relevant: l .d4 d5 2 .c4 c6 3 .NB Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5 .e3 In
Game 2 , Benko uses the "Botvinnik" System: 5 .Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7 .e5 h6 8. Bh4
g5 etc. I would only note in passing that, despite the note indicating earlier games
with this system, Botvinnik deserves its appellation because he was the first lead
ing player to employ it consistently: first in 1 94 1 , twice in 1 944, then in 1 945 , as
well as in two World Championship games (Bronstein 1 95 1 and Smyslov 1 954).
Benko's argument for the name "Benko Gambit" certainly applies to this case as
well. 5 ... Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
552
Benko says "At the time, this was a new idea," and I'm sure that it was from his
point of view. Interestingly, the Semi-Slav is one of the few modern dynamic
openings that already had a well-established body of theory, and S . . . Bb7 even
had its precedents in the late 1 9 3 0s, e.g., Kashdan played it. Wade (after whom
the variation is named) and Donner both used it in 1 950, a year before this game.
Today, it is an extremely popular alternative to S . . . a6. 9.0-0 9.e4 is most often
played, but the text has its supporters. 9 . . . b4 1 0.Ne4 c5 ! ? 1 0 . . . Be7 is the main
line here. Sometimes played is 1 O . . . Nxe4 1 1 . Bxe4 Be7, but White retains the
advantage. I I .N:xf6+ gxf6 1 2.Qe2 1 2 .e4 cxd4 1 3 .Nxd4 is the most frequent choice,
thought to give White a small advantage. 12 . . . Qb6
The Queen's Gambit D eclined wasn't a real favorite of Benko's, but he used it
in some key contests, and insightfully played the variation that is now used by
most grandmasters. One example of this is Spassky-Benko, Winnipeg 1 967:
BENKO AS BLACK
l .d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3 .Nc3 Be7 4.NB Nf6 5 . Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 b6
553
This is the Tartakower Defense, which served Benko well on the rare occasions
he employed it. When Benko first used it, of course, the setup had by no means
gained the popularity it did later. He succeeded in neutralizing some big-name
players with the Tartakower, for example, Benko drew Gligoric in 1 963 , Spassky
in 1 967, Larsen in 1 968, and Reshevsky in 1 969, with no losses that I can locate.
Given his difficulties with the black pieces versus elite players, he might have
done well to keep the Tartakower in his repertoire. S.Re l A couple of other
examples from Benko games:
(a) 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0-0 Nbd7 1 O.Qe2 cS ( 1 O . . . Ne4 is also played) I l .Rae I dxc4
1 2 .Bxc4 Ne4 1 3 .Bg3 ( 1 3 .Bxe7 Qxe7 1 4.Nxe4 Bxe4 =; 1 3 Nxe4 Bxh4 1 4.Nd6 Bxf3 !
I S .Qxf3 cxd4 1 6. exd4 Qe7 is equal-among other factors, note the opposite
colored Bishops.) 1 3 . . .Nxg3 1 4.hxg3 cxd4 I S Nxd4 NeS 1 6 .Ba6 Bxa6 1 7 . Qxa6
BcS 1 8 .Rfd l Qc8 1 9 . Qe2 Qb7, '12_ '12, Reshevsky-Benko, Netanya 1 969.
(b) 8.cxdS NxdS 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 (For historical reasons, this line still uses up an
entire ECO code, yet it has faded in importance as Black has learned how to
equalize.) 1 0NxdS exdS I l .Re I Be6 1 2 .Bd3 (the move that to this day is consid
ered the most promising) 1 2 . . . cS 1 3 .dxcS bxcS 1 4.0-0
14 ... Rc8 ! ? (This move, unmentioned in ECO or Janjgava's recent book, has a re
spectable score in practice. Nevertheless, the main line with 14 . . . Nd7 I S .e4 d4 is
easier to play and doing excellently at present, in particular after 1 6.Bb l as ! , and
even 14 . . . aS is fully playable.) I S .e4 Qb7 ! ? ( 1 S . . . d4 isn't bad) 1 6.exdS BxdS 1 7.Re l ! ?
Nd7 ( 1 7 . . . Bxf3 1 8 .Qxf3 Qxf3 1 9.9xf3 will win a pawn) 1 8 .Ba6? ! ( 1 8.BfS Re8 !)
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
I S . . . Qxa6 1 9. Qxd5 Nb6 2 0.Qb3 c4 2 1 .Qc2 Qxa2 2 2 .Ra l Qb3 2 3 .Qxb3 cxb 3 ,
112 _ 112 Larsen-Benko, Aspen 1 965. Black has a n optical advantage after 24.Re3 Rc2
2 5 .Rxb3 Nc4 2 6.Rc3 ! Rxc3 2 7 .bxc3 , but White can just bring his King over to the
554 queenside. 8 . . . Bb7 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 1 0.exd5 exd5 I l .Be2 Qe7 1 2 .0-0 Nd7 Or
12 . . . RdS = . White's line is considered harmless. 1 3 .Qa4 a6 1 4.Bd3 e5
1 5 .Bb l ? ! White is wasting some time here. 1 5 ... Rfd8 1 6.Qe2 ? ! g6 1 7.Rfe l
Rae8 1 8.Red l ? White continues to mess around while Black expands. Better
was I S .Qd2 . 1 8 . . .b 5 ! 1 9.dxe5 Nxe5 20.Nd4 Ne4 2 1 .Qb3 Nxc3 22 .bxc3 Re4! ?
2 2 . . . Rc5 ! intending . . . RdcS and . . . Qc7 would have been very strong, probably
winning. 2 3 .Bd3 Ra4 24.Re2 Re8 2 5 .Re2 Qa3 ! ? Black should also consider
2 5 . . . Qc5 . 26.Rdc l Bxd4 27.exd4, 112 _ 112 . As noted before, Benko had a ten
dency to take draws as Black even if he was better; hence 2 6 . . . Bxd4. His ability
to outplay these elite players, however, demands our admiration.
T he Grunfeld Defense
1 O . . . Na5 1 1 .Qc2 (The preferred move is 1 1 . Qa3 , but this yields nothing after
1 1 . . .cxd4 1 2 .cxd4 Be6.) 1 1 . . .cxd4 1 2 .cxd4 Be6 (hitting c4) 1 3 .Rd 1 Qd7 1 4.Ne5
Rfc8! 1 5 .Qb2 Qa4 (Black's pressure on the light squares grows) 1 6.Qb5 Qxb5
1 7 .Bxb5 Nc4 1 8 .Bxc4 Bxc4 1 9.Nxc4 Rxc4 20.Bb2 Rc2 2 1 .Rab 1 b6, Kramer-Benko, 555
New York 1 96 1 , and Black has considerable pressure in the ending. He went on
to win. 4 ... Nxd5 5 .g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.e3 0-0 8.Nge2 c6 9.0-0 e5 1 0.d5
cxd5 I l .Nxd5 Bg4! 1 2 .e4 Nc6 1 3 .h3 Be6 1 4.Be3 f5 ! 1 5 .Bxb6 axb6
Black has a very nice game and it's hard for White to find a move . But the end
ing is cute 1 6.Qb3 ? ? fxe4 1 7.Bxe4 Nd4 1 8 .Nxd4 exd4, 0- 1 . Soos-Benko,
Havana (Olympiad) 1 966. The move . . . Ra 5 will win a piece !
Here are a few examples of Benko playing against a system that he himself
used. We feature Petrosian-Benko, Cura�ao (Candidates) 1 962 : l .d4 Nf6
2 .c4 g6 3 .Nc3 d5 4.Nfl Bg7 5 .Bg5 Ne4 6.cxd5 Benko played 6.Bh4 here, as
discussed in our opening survey for White . 6 ... Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e6
8.Nfl 8.Qd2 h6 9.Nf3 exd5 1 O.e3 0-0 1 1 .b4 b6 ! ? (This move isn't mentioned in
ECO or in my database, but it doesn't seem bad.) 1 2 .Rc 1 Bb7 1 3 .Be2 a6 1 4.a4
c6 (so that b5 can be met with . . . c5) 1 5 .0-0 Nd7 1 6.Rfd 1 Re8 1 7 . Qc2 Rc8, with
a solid position (Black might follow up with . . . Nf8-e6), Saidy-Benko, New York
1 966. The game was drawn. 8 . . . exd5 9.e3 0-0 1 0.Bd3 b6 ! ? The same idea,
again unknown to theory. 1O . . . c6 is the normal move, as Benko himself played
against Saidy in New York 1 963 : 1 1 .h3 (" ? ! " ECO) 1 1 . . .Qe7 1 2 .0-0 Nd7 1 3 . Qc2
Nb6 ! ? 1 4.Na4 ! ? Nxa4 1 5 . Qxa4 f5 ! 1 6.Rfe 1 g5 ! (Now ECO says that Black is
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
clearly better; perhaps not, but at any rate, White will have a hard time on the
kingside.) 1 7 . Qc2 Kh8 1 8 .Nh2 Be6 1 9.Rab l as 2 0 .Rbe l Rf7 ! intending . . . Rg8 .
White can probably defend with accurate play, but in practice, that will be diffi-
556 cult. Indeed, Benko won with a very nice kingside attack involving a sacrifice of
the Exchange. 1 1 .0-0 eS 1 2 .Be2 Ne6 ! ? Perhaps better is 12 ... Be6 B .Re l Nd7
= . 1 3 .Re l exd4? A real concession: although Black retains his Bishop pair, he
cedes central squares and isolates his d-pawn. Instead, 1 3 . . . Be6 intending 1 4.dxc5
bxc5 1 5 .Na4 c4 was feasible due to the play down the open b-file and the strength
of the Bishop on g7 . 1 4.NbS ! Bb7 1 S .Nbxd4 Nxd4 1 6.Nxd4 Re8 1 7.Qa4 Rxe l
1 8 .Rxe l Qb8 1 9.93 Bxd4 20.Qxd4. This is pretty bad for Black, but Benko
ouplayed his famous opponent to weasel into a Bishop ending with only one
weakness. He managed to draw.
Nimzo-Indian Defense
It's surprising that B enko didn't use l .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 e6 more often, since it is
one of the most solid and positional of d-pawn defenses. He did play the Nimzo
Indian (3 .Nc3 Bb4) in about 4% of his database games versus l .d4, and the or
der 3 .Nfl d5 led to some Queen's Gambits Declined (he rarely played the Bogo
or Queen's Indian). In the Nimzo-Indian, Benko may have been put off by some
early defeats against lines such as 4.a3 and 4.Bg5 . He lost Nimzos to Petrosian
twice, for example, although in the game that follows it was not due to the open
ing. In fact, Petrosian-Benko, BledlZagreblBelgrade (Candidates) 1 9S9 shows
a modern positional method of playing against 4.Bg5 that only caught on many
years later: 1 .d4 Nf6 2.e4 e6 3 .Nc3 Bb4 4.BgS eS S .dS Bxe3 + ! 6.bxc3
6 . . . e S ! ? The right idea, but later it was decided that 6 . . . d6 and 7 . . . e5 was a better
order, with or without . . . h6 thrown in. 7.Re l ? ! Not a very useful move. Petrosian
is worried about 7 . . . Qa5, which can no longer be answered by 8 .Bxf6, but 7 .Nfl
d6 (7 . . . Qa5 8.Qc2 ! ? Ne4 9.Re l Nxg5 1 0.Nxg5 is awkward for Black.) 8 .Nd2 !
intending e3 and Bd3 is a known reorganization that probably favors White.
7 ... d6 8.e3 Nbd7 9.£3 h6 1 0.Bh4 Now we're in a position that is a main line
today except that Re l is really a waste of time. Again, Benko demonstrates a
subtle understanding of a complex positional opening, in this case outmatching
Petrosian, who was a great genius of such positions. 1 0 ... gS Other good moves
BENKO AS BLACK
are 1 O . . . Qe7 and 1 O . . . e4. I l .Bg3 Qe7 1 2 .e4 Nf8 1 3 .Bf2 Ng6 1 4.Ne2 Bd7
I S .Rb l Rb8 ! In fact, Black could have played 14 . . . Kd8 and then . . . Kc7 j but it's
instructive that he resists . . . 0-0-0 and realizes that he needs the Rook for queenside
defense. 1 6.Be3 557
1 6 ... Kd8 ! 1 7.Qc 1 Kc7 1 8 .Qa3 Ra8 Now Black has consolidated and can slowly
organize an attack on the kingside. His own queenside is perfectly secure. This
. . . Kd8-c7 strategy in conjunction with . . . Bxc3 and . . . e5 was only rediscovered
many years later, and in my opinion this is Benko's most creative idea in the
Nimzo-Indian. The fact that he went on to lose the game (in fact blundering)
kept it from receiving the notice it deserved.
Finally, we examine Benko's games with the King's Indian Defense ("KID"),
an aggressive and tactical opening that really doesn't seem to fit his positional
style. And yet he defended with the KID against 1 .d4 as often as he did with the
Griinfeld Defense. I think that Benko trusted the character of the tactics that
arise in this opening (perhaps due to his expertise with the King's Indian At
tack), and he also managed to find positional ways to proceed in several impor
tant variations.
With no weaknesses, Black has little to worry about. 9.c4 9.0-0-0 QaS (9 . . . Nc6
1 0.Qd2 dS ! ? with the idea 1 1 . QxdS Qc7 is also a promising line) 1 O.Kb l Nc6
I l .Qd2 Qxd2 1 2 .Rxd2 d6, and Black has the slightly more comfortable position.
558 9 ...Nc6 1 0.Qd2 d6 1 1 .e3 1 1 .Nc3 Be6 1 2 .e4 Qb6 was fine for Black in Spiridonov
Kasparov, Skara 1 980. 1 1 . ..Be6 1 2 .Be2 Qa5 ! ? Heading for another Queenless
middlegame ! Nevertheless, 1 2 . . . NeS ! was probably objectively better, for example,
1 3 .b3 ( 1 3 .Re l Rc8 1 4.b3 d S ; 1 3 . Qd4 QaS+ 1 4.Nd2 Nc6) 1 3 . . . dS 1 4.NgS dxc4
I S .Nxe6 fxe6 (threatening . . .Nd 3 +) 1 6. Qxd8 Rfxd8 1 7 .bxc4 Rac8 1 8 .Re l RcS !
with the idea of . . . b S or . . . Rdc8. This continuation would justify Black's opening
strategy and then some. 1 3 .0-0 Better 1 3 . Qxa S ! NxaS 1 4.b 3 , with a small ad
vantage. 1 3 . . . Qxd2 1 4.Nxd2 Rac8 1 5 .Rfc 1 1 S .b3 dS =. 1 5 . . . b6 ! ? I S . . . Rfd8 in
tending . . . dS would fully equalize. 16.NB Rc7 1 7.b3 Bg4 1 8.Nd4 Nxd4 1 9.Bxg4
Nc6 20.Rd l . White has a fairly standard slight advantage, but difficulties mak
ing progress. Benko was happy to maneuver for a while and he eventually won
when his opponent pushed too hard and created weaknesses.
It's interesting that in the databases, the idea o f . . . Nc6-aS a s played here ex
ploded at about the time of this game. There were a few precedents, e.g., games
with obscure players as Black in 1 93 9 and 1 942 , and undoubtedly a few others,
although 6 . . . Nc6 was extremely rare until the 1 9 S0s. Moving to top-level play
ers, Borisenko tried . . . Nc6-aS in two games in 1 9S0, and in the same year the
idea was seen in the USSR Championship in Smyslov-Lublinsky. But it was in
1 9S 2 that numerous high-level games occurred, so it's hard to say whether Benko
inspired those efforts or if they occurred independently. See his comments in
Game 3 1 versus Fischer (Buenos Aires 1 960). In any case, Benko was once again
at the forefront of the development of a new and extremely important system.
Indeed, the ... NaS idea revived 6 ... Nc6 (now called the "Panno System", with
little justification), and it is now arguably the main line versus g3 in the King's
BENKO AS BLACK
Indian. I give the whole game because the finish relates directly to the opening.
8.Qd3 The preferred move in the first few years, since White didn't want to
expose himself to long-diagonal tactics after b 3 , or retreat by Nd2 . Benko later
lost a game after 8.b3 cS 9.Bb2 a6 1 O. Qc2 BfS ? ( 1 0 . . . Bd7 =) l 1 . e4! Nxe4 1 2 .g4! 559
Ng3 1 3 .gxfS Nxh l 1 4.Bxh l Qd7 I S .fxg6 hxg6, Pupols-Benko, Lincoln 1 969,
and now, although 1 6.Ne2 was fine and would have yielded an edge with accu-
rate play, 1 6.Ne4! Bxb2 1 7 . Qxb2 was quite strong, for example, 1 7 . . . QfS ! ( 1 7 . . . bS
1 8 .Qc3 QfS 1 9.Nfd2 ! , and Black's queenside play is stalled whereas White's Queen
can run to the kingside to support an attack.) 1 8 .Nfd2 Qf4 ! ? 1 9 .0-0-0 favors
White in view of 1 9 .. .fS ( 1 9 . . . Qxh2 2 0 .b4! cxb4 2 1 . Qxb4) 2 0.Qc3 ! intending
20 . . . fxe4 2 1 .QxaS Qxf2 2 2 .Bxe4, with a big advantage.
The natural 8 .Nd2 cS 9.0-0 a6 transposes to the line which is played almost
exclusively today-see the note to 7 . d S . But with this order (7 .dS instead of 7 .0-
0), Black can play 8 . . . c6 ! instead of 8 . . . cS, equalizing. All this was recognized
within a few years after this game. 8 ... c5 ! This looks self-evident to modern
eyes, but the inferior moves 8 . . . eS and 8 . . . b6 had been played in three earlier
games with this variation. 9.0-0 a6
1 0.Rb l Avoiding 1 0 .b3 ? BfS ! . 1 0 ... Qc7 1 O . . . Bd7 and 1 0 . . . bS ! ? l 1 .cxbS c4 are
more dynamic options. l 1 .b3 Bd7 1 2 .Bd2 Here 1 2 .Bb2 Rfb8 1 3 .Nd2 is about
equal. 12 . . . Rfb8 1 3 .a4 b 5 ! At least equalizing. Black doesn't even have to invest
a pawn to achieve this thematic break. 1 4.axb5 axb5 1 5 .cxb 5 ? A mistake. On
the other hand, I S .NxbS Rxb S ! 1 6.cxbS BfS not only regains the Exchange for
Black, but he also wins the d-pawn (or e-pawn, in the case of 1 7. e4). 1 5 . . . Nxb3 !
Platz probably missed this. Instead of losing the other b-pawn for nothing, he
vainly tries to sacrifice the Exchange: 1 6.Rxb 3 ? c4 1 7.Qb l cxb3 1 8.Qxb3 Qc5 !
1 9 .Rb l Ra3 2 0.Qb4 Qxb4 2 1 .Rxb4 Rxc3 2 2 .Bxc3 Nxd5, 0- 1 . A nice recom
mendation for . . . Nc6-aS !
In Bilek-Benko, Budapest 1 956 White plays a line of the Four Pawns At
tack that has only become popular in this decade, and Benko responds with a
thoroughly modern idea: l .c4 Nf6 2 .Nc3 g6 3 .e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.f4 c5 6.dxc5
Qa5 7.Bd3 Qxc5
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
5 60
A standard opening position that only in the last few years has been considered a
serious winning try for White. 8.NB Nc6 9.Qe2 0-0 1 O.Be3 Qa5 1 1 .0-0 Nd7
1 2 .Rac 1 Nc5 1 3 .Bb l Bg4 1 4.Rfd l This remains a major book line today, al
though Black can also throw in . . . Rac8. 14 . . .Na4!
This is Kasparov's "new" idea from a very similar position in this variation. It
was also played recently by Aaron Summerscale and Tiger Hillarp Persson.
1 5 .Nxa4 Qxa4 1 6.Rd2 Qb4 The aforementioned Hillarp Persson game con
tinued with 16 . . . Rac8 instead. 1 7.Khl Rad8 1 8.b3 e5 1 9.Rcd l Nd4, l/z-Ih.
Black's strong Knight on d4 and poor position of the Bishop on b 1 yield ap
proximate equality. This game could have been played in 2 00 1 !
B enko played the King's Indian Defense a lot during the '40s, ' 5 0s, and early
'60s, but occasionally all the way up to the '80s. Here he chooses a particularly
sharp line versus the S amisch Variation: I .d4 Nf6 2 .c4 g6 3 .Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6
5.B 0-0 6.Nge2 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 Bd7 ! ?
BENKO AS BLACK
56 1
Often played in the early days of the . . . Nc6 line. Today 8 . . . Rb8 or 8 . . . Re8 is
preferred. 9.Nc 1 In order to develop the King's Bishop. One reason that 8 . . . Bd7
is considered a bit slow is the dynamic 9.h4, but that is also complex and difficult
for both sides. 9 ... eS 10.Nb3 The other possibility is 1 O.d5 Nd4 1 1 .Nb3 Nxb3
1 2 .axb 3 . 1 0 ... exd4 I l .Nxd4 ReS 1 2 .Be2 NhS ! ?
I n his notes, Benko explains the virtues o f this move and h e i s o f course correct.
Nevertheless, White's position is solid and he has space. The objective assess-
/ ment of 1 2 . . . Nh5 probably depends upon my suggestion in the next note .
1 3 .0-0 The notes to the game demonstrate how theory's 1 3 .Nxc6 is not so clear.
But 1 3 .Nc2 ! seems like a very good option since White protects e3 and prevents
exchanges or tactics on d4. Then we have a standard Maroczy Bind position in
which the moves . . . Nc6, . . . Bd7, and . . . Nh5 don't seem to coordinate. Black can
try 1 3 . . . Qh4+ 1 4.Bf2 Qf4, but White can avoid the exchange of Queens by 1 5 .Ne3 ,
when Ncd5 is a problem, as is 0-0-0 followed by a kingside pawn storm. Con
tinuing along this line, 1 5 . . . Qg5 is well answered by 1 6.g4! with the idea 16 . . . Nf4
1 7 .Ned5 Ng2 + 1 8 .Kd 1 Qxd2 + 1 9.Kxd2 and the g2 Knight is trapped, among
other problems. 1 3 ...Nf4! Benko's notes point out that 1 3 . . .Nxd4 1 4.Bxd4 Bxd4+
1 5 . Qxd4 Nf4 is also quite playable. 14.Bxf4 Nxd4 I S .BgS Nxe2 + 1 6.Nxe2
QbS ? ! . Preparing . . . b5 in some lines. Probably 1 6 . . .f6 1 7 .Be3 Be6 = was safer
however, because Benko points out that instead of 1 7 .Nc3 Be6 = , White could
now play 1 7 .c5 with some advantage. At any rate, the opening is now over, but
the game, Filip-Benko, Cura�ao (Candidates) 1 962 , is just beginning! See
Game 45 for its fascinating course.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
1 3 .NxeS ? ! The computer likes this, grabbing pawns, but 1 3 .Rfd 1 was better.
1 3 ... NcS 1 4.Bxf6 Bxf6 I S .f4 Rad8 1 6.Rfd l Rxd6 1 7.Rxd6 Bxe S ! 1 8 .fxeS Kf8
1 9 .b4 White is counting on the following tactic: 1 9 ... Nd7 2 0.Nd5? But other
wise . . . Nxe5 leaves Black with a positionally ideal game. 20 . . . cxd5 2 1 .cxd5 Or
2 1 .exd5 Bf5 2 2 .g4 Rxe 5 . 2 1 . . .Bg4! White must have missed this - easy to do
so! 2 2 .e6 The point is that after 2 2 .Bxg4 Nxe 5 , the move . . . Ke7 will trap the
Rook! 2 2 . ..Bxe2 2 3 .Rxd7 fxe6, and Black won shortly.
Our last game, van Scheltinga-Benko, Dublin (Zonal) 1 957, shows the other
side of the King's Indian-Benko attacks in the opening! It is fun to conclude
with such a venturesome effort: l .d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3 .Nc3 eS 4.NB Nbd7 5 .e4
g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.d5 Nc5 A standard . . . Nbd7 King's Indian line has
arisen which can also occur via the "Petrosian System" in the Main Line (6 . . . e5
7 . d 5 Na6 8 . 0-0 Nc5). It is considered solid and equal. 9.Nd2
9 ... a5 1 0.Qc2 Bh6 1 O . . .Ne8 is also played, preparing .. .f5 . The idea of . . . Bh6 is
to exchange Black's bad Bishop for White's good one. I 1 .Nb3 Bxc 1 1 2 .Raxc 1
We're still in the (modern-day) books. 1 2 ...Nfd7 1 3 .Bg4 ! ?
BENKO AS BLACK
563
This odd-looking move aims to prevent . . .fS . Instead, 1 3 .Nd2 fS ( 1 3 . . .b6) 1 4.exfS
gxfS I S .f4 exf4 1 6.Rxf4 NeS is considered equal by theory. 1 3 . . . f5 ! Anyway!
14.exf5 Qg5 ! ? Admirably aggressive, if not very Benko-like ! Safer was 1 4 . . . Nxb3
I S .axb3 NcS (a position also reached by 1 4 . . . Nxb3 I S .axb3 fS) . Over a decade
later, this solution was used by Petrosian versus Bobotsov at Kapfenberg 1 970,
which continued 1 6 .Na4? ! ( 1 6.f4 Qh4 1 7.Bh3 BxfS 1 8 .BxfS RxfS is fine for Black)
1 6 . . . Na6 ! , and Black was already somewhat better.
Benko's 1 4 . . . QgS , even if second best, nevertheless required the courage to
sacrifice a few pawns for attack. 1 5 .Bh3 ? ! Trying to stay a pawn up, but I S .Be2 !
Nxb3 1 6.axb3 gxfS 1 7.f4! favors White to some extent, in view of 1 7 . . . exf4? 1 8 .NbS .
1 5 , . .Nxb3 1 6.axb3 Nc5 1 7.Nb5 Qe7
1 8.f4 ! ? White could temporarily win some pawns by 1 8.fxg6 Bxh3 1 9.9xh7+ Qxh7
2 0 . Qxh7+ Kxh7 2 1 . gxh 3 , but 2 1 . . .Nxb3 2 2 .Rc3 Nd2 is okay. Also interesting
would be 1 9 . . . Kh8 ! ? 2 0 .gxh3 Rf3 , with attack. 1 8,..Bxf5 1 9.Bxf5 Rxf5 ! 2 0.fxe5
Rxe5
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
5 64
2 1 .Nd4 Re3 Suddenly Black is better! 22 .Qd2 ? ! Rd3 2 3 .Qf4 Rf8 24.Qxf8+
Qxf8 2 5 .Rxf8+ Kxf8 26.Nb5 Rxb3 2 7.Nxc7 Rxb2 , and Black was winning easily.
(Photo by Demeter Balla.)
�tte d the 6"t ch,,, pcobl,m, ;n my Hf, ;n , "ud,nt m'gavn, 7AMZlnnk
(Our Flag) when I was about thirteen years old. I got interested and soon sent in
my first composition. As a beginner, I didn't know the special rules and require
ments that are so much a part of this chess "offshoot. " I recall submitting a two
mover in which the black Bishop was on h8 and the black pawn on g7 . The
columnist wrote to me and said that he couldn't accept it because the position
has to be legal- that it could really happen in a game. He sent some problems
to me from famous composers and I studied them. After that I tried again (see
problem 1 ) , and a year later one of my compositions actually won an award at
the yearly composers' tournament.
My composition "career" was put on hold when I got more involved with tour
nament chess - for a while I didn't have the time to create many new problems.
However, I still enjoyed solving them and, after the war, I won several solving
contests.
It was only many years later, in the United States, that I was able to let my
desire to compose run free. Already a seasoned composer, I started a column in
Chess Life that explored chess problems in several ways: well-known composi
tions were offered to the readers, my own work was published, and I explained
to the interested readership proper composition rules (this allowed them to bet
ter understand and appreciate the inner beauty of chess problems) .
Since you're about to be exposed to 3 00 problems, compositions, and puzzles,
many of them extremely subtle and difficult, I think it would be useful to list the
basic rules of problems here:
5 67
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
Naturally, anyone who aspires to be a great chess composer can't fall victim
to dogmatism. Chess problems display so much beauty that a dependence on
rigid rules would stifle their diversity. Nevertheless, the basic rules are impor
tant! The following anecdote about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart sheds light on
this subject:
A young musician who longed to create beautiful music once asked Mozart
how to become a great composer. "It is first necessary to play an instrument
well, " said Mozart. "Of course, one must also learn the basic rules of composing
and be familiar with the work of all the great composers of the past. "
"But, you were only six when you began to write music! " interjected the young
mUSICIan.
Mozart replied: "That's true, but I never thought to ask anyone as you're do
ing now. "
Not everyone can be a Mozart, but it doesn't take any training or talent to
enjoy and appreciate his music. The same can be said of chess compositions.
Creating a top-notch problem is extremely difficult, but having fun with that
same composition is easy, relaxing and, hopefully, fulfilling.
I've never been particularly excited about this kind of problem. They always seemed
to be too easy to construct and too easy to solve. Perhaps it's precisely these facts
that have made two-movers the most popular kind of problem. In fact, there are
so many of them that almost every conceivable idea has been employed.
Though most players like problems with a minimal number of pieces, the short,
two-move solution often forces the composer to use a whole armada of men!
This adds to the complexity, inj ects a bit of confusion and enriches the whole
composition with many interesting variations.
Even though I'm not a fan of this problem "genre," I've still created quite a
few of them. Here I offer no less than forty-eight, all varying in degrees of diffi
culty. Most likely the highlight of this group is problem 7, where I further de
velop Sam Loyd's idea of the Organ Pipes (a formation where Black has Bishops
on c8 and f8 , and Rooks on d8 and e8. The idea is that each Bishop interferes
with each Rook and vice versa). Here I managed to double the Organ Pipe theme,
giving both sides the same setup of Bishops and Rooks.
I have to mention that the famous English two-mover specialist C. Mansfield
congratulated my effort. He wrote that he had also tried his hand at the Organ
Pipe and couldn't make it work. He added that besides me, the only other grand
master who could create good two-movers was the great Paul Keres !
Another two-mover I'm partial to is problem 1 0 , my Christmas Tree problem
(A glance will show you why it's called a Christmas Tree!). The Hungarian grand
master G. Paros told me that this problem is the best he's ever seen of its kind. I
recall starting to compose the Christmas Tree in the early evening and only fin
ishing when the morning's light began to pour through my window!
For comparison, I created problem 9 in a Hungarian composing contest (the
theme was mate by promotion). We were given a maximum of three hours to com
plete the job, and I managed to do it in two .
Two dozen of these two-movers were made especially for Chess Life magazine's
crossword puzzles. My friend Charles Schafer wrote the text and I, of course,
did the composing. I didn't care about originality or economy too much; instead
I concentrated on making them fit (a task that was far from easy!) and making
them as exciting and sharp as possible. The rest of these problems were written
for Blitz magazine, for Chess Life and for my own amusement.
A few Twins have been included in this two-move mate group. Each offshoot
of a Twin differs from the preceeding position by a change in the placement of
only one piece (or, on occasion, the addition or deletion of one piece).
Usually, when showing a Twin I will diagram the main position and then, un
der (b), will show the different piece placement that creates the Twin. Thus in
problem 3 0 (our first Twin), the original problem has a Knight on g3 . In the
Twin, we take the Knight off g3 and place it on d .
5 69
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
l .Qc6 ! , 1 -0.
1 3 .Qf4!, 1 -0.
l .d7 ! , 1 -0.
l .Qc5 ! , 1 -0.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
l .d4! , 1 -0.
l .Qc2 ! , 1 -0.
l.B g l ! , 1 -0.
l .Ra7 ! , 1 -0.
1WO- MOV E MATES
l .Qe8 ! , 1 -0.
l .Qxf4! , 1 -0.
l .Qc1 ! , 1 -0.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
l .Nc7 ! , 1 -0.
l .Qe3 ! , 1 -0.
l .B g4!, 1 -0.
l .Qc 1 ! , 1 -0.
TWO- MOV E MATES
l .Ne2 ! , 1 -0.
l .Ne8 ! , 1 -0.
l .Qb4!, 1 -0.
l .Nd3 ! , 1 -0.
l .Ng3 ! , 1 -0.
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
l .Qe l ! , 1 -0.
l .d3 ! , 1 -0.
l .Qb4!, 1 -0.
TWO- MOV E MATES
l .Bb l ! , 1 -0.
(b) Remove b3 -pawn: l .Bb3 .
l .Qa2 ! , 1 -0.
l .Rg4!, 1 -0.
l .Qhl ! , 1 -0.
(b) Ra7 now stands on b7 : l .Qal ! .
l .Qb4 ! , 1 -0.
(b) Relocate the a7-pawn to a3 : l .Qa4 ! .
PAL BENKO: MY LIF E, GAMES AND COMPOSITIONS
l .Nb5 ! , 1 -0.
l .Bc l ! , 1 -0.
l .Rg7 ! , 1 -0.
l .Bb6! , 1 -0.
l .Bal ! , 1 -0.
l .Qd6+ ! , 1 -0.
When I first started composing chess problems, my interest was mainly directed
at compositions that were three moves deep or longer. One of them, number 5 3 ,
was the last problem I composed as a teenager. It was published many times be
cause its original setup appealed to problem-solvers and tournament players alike.
During the Lugano Olympiad, which Bobby Fischer attended as a spectator, I
made a bet with him that he couldn't solve it in thirty minutes. As time ran out,
he became irritated and demanded to see the answer. When I showed it to him,
he insisted that other solutions had to exist. Naturally, this led to another bet!
After more time passed, he was forced to settle both wagers. The teenage Pal
Benko never would have guessed how much mileage he was going to get out of
that little problem!
For those that find problem 53 difficult, let me give you a BIG hint (I'll put it
in the form of a riddle): Why did Bobby have so much trouble solving this prob
lem? Because he always played the Ruy Lopez instead of the Giuoco Piano.
I've found that this kind of problem (mate in three or more moves) is very
conducive to the creation of a Twin. Problem 5 2 is a Twin and problem 5 5 has
six Twin solutions. There are many other Twins, and also quite a few Excelsior
themes (a pawn standing on its original square that marches down the board and
promotes -problem 62 is an excellent example of a Twin Excelsior) .
I should add that the culmination of my work with Twins featured a problem
with 1 0 Twins (problem 82), and another that had a world record 40 Twins (prob
lem 8 3 ) ! I'm very proud of both of them.
l .Nd4 a3 2.Bb3 , 1 -0 .
58 1
PAL BENKO: MY LIFE, GAMES AND COMPOS ITIONS
593
PAL B E N KO: MY L I F E, GAM ES A N D CO M POSITIO N S
607
PAL B E N KO: MY L I F E. GAM ES AN D CO M POSITIO N S
60 8
Re2 S.BhS ReS 6.Bg3 Kxg3 , 1/2_112. Stalemate! Thus, after 2 00 years, there is a
new contribution to the del Rio position. As a matter of fact, it was published as a
study in Magyar Sakkelet magazine in 1 967 and won a prize.
E N DGAM ES
that they are the only moves to hold the draw. Here, for example, if 1 4.Kc4??
Nas+ I S .KbS Kxg4 1 6.KxaS hS wins for Black since he queens first and simulta
neously stops the white pawn from safely promoting. 14 ...Nd4 1 5.Kc5 ! Of course,
61 0 I S .aS?? loses to I S,. .Nc6+. 1 5 . . . Ke4! The best try. Bad is I S,. .Ne6+? I 6.Kb6.
The new danger is that Black might be able to stop White's a-pawn with his
King and win the g-pawn with his Knight. At the same time, White must not
allow Black to sacrifice his Knight for White's a-pawn. It seems too much to ask
the white King to deal with all of this, but there is still a narrow path across the
abyss. 1 6.Kc4! Avoiding I 6.aS?? Nbh. 16 . . . Nc6 1 7 .Kc5 ! Instead, I 7 .KbS??
loses to I 7,. .KdS I 8 .Kb6 ( 1 8.aS NxaS I 9.KxaS Ke4 wins for Black) I 8,. .NeS I 9.aS
(any King move is met by , . .Nxg4) I 9,. .Nc4+ followed by 2 0, . .NxaS . 17 ... Na5
An important sub-variation is I 7,. .Nb8 I 8 .aS KeS I 9.Kb6 Kd6 20.Kb7 Nd7
2 I .Kc8! (The White King goes on a long journey. Its goal: kill the remaining
black pawn!) 2 1 . . .NcS n.Kd8! Nd3 (or n, . .KeS 2 3 .Kf7 KdS 24.Kd8 ) 2 3 .a6!
=
Kc6 24.Ke7 NeS 2 S .Kf6 Nxg4+ 2 6.Kg6, when 2 7 .KhS will force a draw. 1 8.Kb5 !
Bad i s I 8 .Kb4?? Nb7! I 9.KbS KdS 20.Kb6 Nd6. The same goes for I 8 .Kb6??
Nb3 . 18 ... Nb3 1 9.Kb4 Nd2 ! After 1 9, . .Nd4 2 0.Kc4 Nc6, we reach a previous
position (meaning that Black hasn't made any progress). The text presents new
problems for White to solve. 20.Kc3 ! ! It seems strange, but this is the only move
that holds, as we can see from the following variations: 20.aS?? KdS 2 1 .KbS Kd6!
n.a6 Kc7 2 3 .KcS Ne4+ 24.Kd4 Nf6! 2 S .KeS Nxg4+ 2 6.KfS hS 2 7 .KgS Nf6! ,
and Black wins; 2 0.KbS KdS leads to the same variation; 2 0.KcS KeS 2 1 .Kc6
Nb3 n.KbS KdS 2 3 .Kb6 Kd6 24.KbS Nd4+ 2 S .Kb6 Nc6 2 6.Kb7 KcS , and Black
wins again. 20 . . .Nf3 2 1 .Kc4! Ke5 The last try. Instead, if 2 1 . . .NeS+, winning
the g-pawn, Black will be unable to catch the a-pawn. 22.a5 ! Kd6 22,. .Nh2 2 3 .a6.
2 3 .a6 Kc6 24.a7 ! Kb7 2 5 .Kd5! Nh2 It looks like White has finally run out of
miracles, since 2 6.Ke4? Nxg4 n.KcS hS 2 8 .KgS Nf6 wins (a similar variation
was given earlier). 26.g5 ! ! The last point. White barely manages to draw the
game. 26 . . . hxg5 2 7.Ke4 Kxa7 28.Kf5 g4 29.Kf4 Kb6 3 0.Kg3 , Y2- Y2 .
E N DGAMES
6.h7 c2 7 .RfS+ Kg6. So many complications, and we're still on the first move!
1 .. .Kd3 ! It might seem that Black would fare better with 1 . . .Kd2 ! ? , because he
wins easily after 2 . RdS+ Ke2 ! (threatening . . . RgS + followed by . . . RxhS+) 3 .ReS+
Kd3 4.h6 c2 . However, White can save the game by meeting 1 . . .Kd2 !? with 2 .h6 621
c2 (Black also doesn't win after either 2 . . . RhS 3 .RdS+ Kc l 4.Rd6 c2 S .Kg2 ! or
2 . . . Rf7 3 .RdS+ Kc l 4.RcS! [White must avoid 4.Kg2? Rc7 ! S .Kg3 c2 6.Kg4 Kb2 ]
4 . . . c 2 S .Kg2 Rd7 6.Kg3 Kd2 7 .Kg4) 3 .h7 RfS!? 4.RxfS! c l =Q+ S . Rfl QcS (Black
must not fall for S . . . QcS+? 6.Rf2 + !) 6.Rf7! (Later, in the note to White's main
line 4th move, we will see why White loses after 6.Rf2 + Ke3 7.Rh2 .) when we
reach a very interesting position, known to be a theoretical draw. Black can nei
ther win one of the white pieces nor launch a meaningful attack on the white
King. 2 .h6 c2 We have already discussed the shortcomings of such moves as
2 . . . Rf7 and 2 . . . RhS . 3 .h7 Rf8! Black keeps his winning chances alive with this
timely resource. 4.Re7! Black wins after 4.Rc6? RdS S .Kf2 Kd2 6.Rd6+ Rxd6
7 .hS=Q c l =Q, since White can't give a reasonable check. It would also be a mis
take for White to play 4.RxfS? , because the stationing of the black King on d3
permits the second player, appropriately enough, a problem-like victory. Black's
winning line runs 4 . . . c l =Q+ S .Kg2 Qd2 + ! (The only good check since Black
achieves nothing on S . . . QgS+ [worse are S . . . Qb2 +? 6.Kh3 and S . . . Qc6+? 6.RB+!]
6.Kfl .) 6.Rf2 (Other moves let Black win the Rook or the pawn by a series of
checks.) 6 ... QgS+ 7 .Kh 1 ! (The pawn falls after 7 .Kf1 QhS ! .) 7 ... QdS+! (Black
must carefully avoid theoretical draws like 7 . . . QhS+? S.Rh2 .) S.Rg2 (on S.Kg 1
Qd4, Black will be able to force the win o f the pawn by . . . Qg7+) S . . . QaS! 9.Kh2
QbS+ 1 O.Kh 1 (White's position is hopeless after 1 0.Rg3 + Ke2) 1O . . . Ke3 ! , and
White is lost since the black King and Queen will combine to form a mating net
( 1 1 .Rh2 KB! or 1 1 .Rg3 + Kf2 1 2 .Rg2 + Kf3 ). 4 . . . RhS Black can't win by 4 . . . RdS,
since the Rook would be lost after 5 .Kf2 ! Kd2 (There is also no black win after
S . . . RhS 6.KB! Rxh7 7.Rxh7 c l =Q S.Rd7+.) 6.Rd7+! Rxd7 7 .hS=Q c l =Q (The
Rook also goes after 7 . . . Rf7+ S.Kg3 c l =Q 9.Qh6+ followed by either Qg6+ or
QhS+.) S.Qh6+ Kd 1 9.Qh 1 + ! Kc2 1 0 .Qc6+. If Black tries 4 . . . RbS, White draws
by S .Kf2! Kd2 6.Rd7+ Kc3 (6 . . . Kcl 7.Rb7 ! =) 7.Rc7+ Kb2 S.Rb7+! . 5.Rd7+ White
must meet the immediate threat of S . . . Rxh7. The moves that follow are forced.
5 . . .Ke2 6.Re7 Kd2 7.Rd7+ Kc 1 So far, so good. White has temporarily com
pelled Black to block his own pawn. Still, it's far from easy to see how White will
proceed. S.Rg7 ! ! All White's other tries fall short: I) S.Kf2 ? Kb2 9.Rb7+ Kc3
1 0.Rc7+ Kb3 ! (Our earlier analysis showed that 1 O . . . Kd3 ? 1 1 .Kf3 ! is a draw.)
1 1 .Rb7+ Ka4 1 2 .Ra7+ KbS 1 3 .Rc7 Rxh7 ! . II) S.Kg2? RbS 9.Rb7 Rxb7 1 O.hS=Q
Kb 1 ! . Although White has queened and is on the move, he still loses, e.g., 1 1 .QcS
Rg7+ 1 2 .Kh3 c l =Q 1 3 .QfS + Qc2 1 4.QbS+ Ka2 1 S .QaS+ Kb2 1 6.QeS+ Qc3 +.
III) S.Kh2? (a poor try) S . . . Kb2 9.Rb7+ Ka3 , and as soon as White plays Rc7 he
will be dispatched by . . . Rxh7+. IV) S.Rb7? (to prevent S . . . RbS) S . . . RdS 9.Kf2
Kd 1 ! 1 0.Rd7+ Rxd7 1 1 .hS=Q Rd2 +. Note how, in this last variation, Black's
9 . . . Kd 1 ! left the d2 -square open for his Rook so that White could not win it by
checking with the new Queen. S ... RbS We have already discussed how White
PAL B E N KO: MY LIFE, GAM ES A N D CO M POSITIO N S
would win the black Rook after S . . . RdS 9.Kf2! Kd2 1 O.Rd7+ ! Rxd7 1 1 .hS=Q
c l =Q 1 2 .Qh6+. 9.Kh2 Kb 1 Black does not win after 9 . . . Kd2 1 O.Rg2 + Kd3
1 1 .Rg3 + Kc4 1 2 .Rg4+, when White can meet 1 2 . . . Kb3 ? with B.RgS. 1 0.RgS
622 Rb2 1 1 .hS=Q c 1 =Q+ 1 2 .Rg2 Qf4+ 1 3 .Kh1 , Yz- Yz . Black has no more good
checks and must acquiesce to a draw (B . . . Rxg2) since 1 3 . . . Qfl +? ? even loses to
1 4.Rg l .
(b) Relocate Rh7 to hS. 1 .Kf8 KgS 2.Kf7! White must preserve the e-pawn so
Black won't have any stalemate possibilities. 2 . . .h4 3 .Ke6 Kg4 4.KeS h3 S.Ke4
Kg3 6.Ke3 Kg2 7.Ke2 h2 S.RgS+ Kh3 9.Kf2 hl =N+ 1 0.Kf3 Kh2 1 1 .Rg2 +
Kh3 1 2 .Rg7 Kh2 1 3 .Rxe7, 1 -0. It's interesting to see that a small change led to
a completely different solution.
8 . . . Ka6 9.Kh3 Kb6 1 O.Kg3 or 8 . . . Rg4+ 9.Kf3 Rf4+ 1 0.Kg3 Ka6 1 1 .aS . 9.Rxg5+
Kxa4 1 O.Rg4 Rxg4+ 1 1 .Kf3 Rgl 1 2 .Kf2 , 1 -0.
White would lose after the obvious 1O.Kf5? RaS 1 1 .Kg6 ( 1 l .g6 Ra 5+ 1 2 .Kg4
Ke6) 1 1 . . .Ke6 1 2 .Kh6 Kf7. 10 . . . Ke6 White also saves the game after 1 0 . . . Rxf6+
I l .Kg5 Rfl 1 2 .g7 Ke7, when 1 3 .gS=N+ ! is a draw, and not 1 3 .gS=Q?? Rg l +,
and Black wins. 1 l .KgS RbS 1 2 .£7 Ke7 1 3 .Kh6 An amazing position that was I 625
already shown to be drawn by Cozio in 1 7 76. Black would win if we shifted the
position to the left by placing the pawns on e7 and f6. The reason for this will
soon become clear. l L .Kf8 1 4.Kh7 RaS I S .KhS Ke7+ 1 6.Kg7 RbS 1 7 .Kh7
Kf6 Black appears to be winning, but that assessment turns out to be superficial.
I S.fB=Q+ ! Rxf8 1 9.97 Rf7 20.KhS Rxg7, Yz - Yz .
h7xh6, drawing. 4 ... Kf6 S .Kd7 hS 6.KeS Kg7 Or 6 ...h4 7.Kf8 h3 8.g7 h2 9.NhS+,
and 1 O.Ng3 . 7.Ke7 h4 S.Ke6 h3 9.KfS h2 lO.NhS + Kf8 1 1 .Ng3 , 1 -0. The
win is clear: 1 1 . . .Kg8 1 2 .Kf6 Kf8 1 3 .g7+ Kg8, and now both 1 4.Nh l and 1 4.NfS
626 end the game.
Ke6 1 0.KdS Kd6 I 1 .KeS Ke6 1 2 .KbS, 1 -0. Not falling for 1 2 .e4? Kd6 =.
(2 1 S) Draw.
(Chess Life 1 996.)
(2 3 5) Helpmate in two.
TWIN.
639
PAL B E N KO: MY LIFE, GAM ES A N D CO M POSITI O N S
(2 3 6) Helpmate in two.
SET.
640 (Strate Gem 2 002 .)
(2 3 7) Helpmate in two.
(Honorable Mention, Zaszlonk 1 942 .)
(2 3 8) Helpmate in two.
SET.
(Honorable Mention, Zaszlonk 1 942 .)
(2 3 9) Helpmate in two.
SET.
(2 5 0) Helpmate in two.
SET.
(Chess Life 1 97 1 .)
(2 5 2 ) Helpmate in three.
TWIN.
(Honorary Mention, Magyar Sakkelet
1 97 3 .)
(2 5 3 ) Helpmate in two.
DUPLEX: 2 -2 solutions.
(Honorary Mention, Magyar Sakkelet
1 974.)
(2 5 5) Helpmate in three.
SET: Black moves, two solutions.
(Chess Life 1 974.)
(2 5 7) Helpmate in two.
DUPLEX.
(Chess Life 1 974).
(2 5 8) Helpmate in four.
TWIN.
646
(Honorary Mention, Magyar Sakkelet,
1 97 5 .)
(2 6 1 ) Helpmate in two.
SET.
(Die Schwalbe 1 97 7 .) 647
(2 7 1 ) Helpmate in two.
TWIN: Four parts.
650 (Chess Life 1 98 1 .)
(2 7 3 ) Helpmate in two.
(Chess Life 1 98 1 .)
(2 7 5 Helpmate in five.
TWIN: Six parts.
65 1
(Benko and A. Kalotay, 1 984.)
(2 8 1 ) Helpmate in two.
SET: Two Black moves solutions.
65 3
PAL B E N KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES AN D CO M POSITI O N S
(2 98 ) Selfmate in three.
(Benko and G. Bakcsi, Sachova Skladba
1 994.)
659
PAL B E N KO : MY LIFE, GAM ES AN D CO M POSITI O N S
Eight time U . S . Open Champion: 1 96 1 , 1 964, 1 965, 1 966, 1 967, 1 969, 1 974, and
1975.
Matches
66 1
PAL B E N KO : MY LI FE, GAM ES AND COM POSITI O N S
Uhlmann, Wolfgang, 1 1 5 , 1 1 7 , 1 3 1 , 1 3 2 ,
1 74, 3 1 2 , 46 5 , 467, 494, 549
Unzicker, Wolfgang, 6 , 2 7 , 5 0 3
Vaganian, Rafael, 48, 2 5 1 , 5 2 8
Van Riemsdijk, Herman, 3 48 , 5 3 9
Van Scheltinga, Theo, 1 0, 1 1 , 5 62
Van Wely, Loek, 5 3 2 , 5 3 9
Varga , Zoltan , 6
Vasiukov, Evgeni, 2 5 3 , 472
Vaulin, Alexander, 2 6 5
Velikzhan, 1 0 1
Visier, Segovia, 2 3 6, 548
Numbers refer to game. Numbers in bold indicate a game where Benko was
White.
668
I"
545 00
J
9 781890 0850 .�