Andrew Martin: The ABC of the Czech Benoni

ChessBase Fritztrainer Eröffnung, Englisch, ISBN: 978-3-86681-029-7, 2007.

Niveau: Anfänger, Fortgeschritten

The Czech Benoni has never quite made it to the top of the charts as a reply to 1 d4. Perhaps it‘s the very nature of blocked central positions which put people off. Thus after 1. d4 Sf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 the first impression is that the Black position could become rather passive and it‘s not difficult to find excellent games by White where he stifles all the life out of Black‘s game. Repertoire books are similarly pessimistic about Black‘s chances. But it seems to me that the best Black wins have been forgotten and I‘m in good company here, with players of the calibre of Nisipeanu, Ivan Sokolov, Milidanovic taking a fresh look at the opening and using the Czech Benoni with success in recent games. Thus by playing 3...e5, you angle the game into a path of YOUR choosing, which is very much the modern style and very diffi cult to do with Black. We are going to see some fascinating chess here and by the end of the DVD I hope to have convinced you that the Czech Benoni is well-worth playing. (Video playing time: 4 h)

Andrew Martin, geboren 1957, ist ein englischer Schachspieler mit dem Titel eines Internationalen Meisters. Martin ist Sieger verschiedener internationaler und nationaler Turniere. Er spielt seit Jahren in der Four Nations Chess League, aktuell (Stand: Juli 2009) für Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher, zuvor für den Chamberley Chess Club. Seinen Titel als Internationaler Meister erhielt Martin im Jahre 1984. Seine erste Großmeister-Norm konnte er bei der Britischen Meisterschaft in Brighton im Jahre 1997 erkämpfen. Martin war Kommentator der Schachweltmeisterschaft zwischen Kasparow und Kramnik im Jahre 2000.