Grandmaster Repertoire 12 - The Modern Benoni by Marian Petrov

PDF excerpt

The Modern Benoni arises after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6. It leads to unbalanced structures and exciting play, so it has naturally been a favourite of ambitious attacking players such as Tal, Fischer and, more recently, Topalov, Ivanchuk and Gashimov.

The Modern Benoni is a bold answer to 1.d4 and GM Marian Petrov shows it is possible to play this line confidently without memorizing extreme levels of theory. Black must certainly be well prepared, but the workload is less than most aggressive defences – this book supplies all Black needs to know.

Marian Petrov is a grandmaster and former Bulgarian Champion. He has great experience in the Modern Benoni and has used it to win many international events.

ISBN 978-1-907982-59-0 - 304 pages - Published 15 March 2013

Reviews

"I have in my now 15-year-long career as a trainer enjoyed abusing the Modern Benoni, but recently I have had second thoughts. It is enjoyable how powerful the written word can be. After having read Marian Petrov’s 'The Modern Benoni' from Quality Chess I am seriously contemplating playing the opening myself – with Black!

Also, I could not help noticing that a number of the top stars have this opening in their repertoire, especially when they need to win. For we are really talking about an opening for fighters."

GM Simen Agdestein, Verdens Gang

"The coverage that Petrov extends to the Flick-Knife Attack is typical of what he offers throughout the book. He gives the essentials – the lines he feels are most pertinent and suggests improvements, but goes well beyond this with much original analysis. Petrov also points out positions that bear further investigation and may become important in the future. To make the book accessible to non GM/IMs the author includes plenty of explanatory prose and summarizes his findings at the end of each chapter."

IM John Donaldson, Chess Today

"There is an abundance of original analysis, author input, and moves that overturn existing theory, as well as many suggestions that change the direction of the game just a bit. I like that in a book, especially one that is written for strong and ambitious players.

My assessment of this book: 5/6"

Carsten Hansen, ChessCafe

"Fortunately, Petrov often does explain more about the why’s and wherefore’s of the moves he recommends...

This fragment has everything I like about opening books: clear explanation of positional ideas and linking it to concrete examples; an outspoken preference for certain ideas over others; and practical recommendations that are useful not only to Black but also to White."

Arne Moll, Chess Vibes (full review)

"Marian Petrov managed to write a fine opening manual on the Benoni and I would even dare to say, that thanks to this book the Modern Benoni will crop up even more frequently in both, amateur and professional chess!... Many players might find his recommendations against Boris Avrukh’s suggestion (GM Repertoire 1.d4 Vol. 2) especially interesting.

Conclusion: A fine book!... I liked the material presented and the layout of the book. Both will suit the audience and should give you a dangerous weapon to play for a win!"

Lukas Wedrychowski, DailyChess.org (full review)

"The Bulgarian Benoni expert Grandmaster Marian Petrov provides the reader of this book with a impressive move to move repertoire book on the Modern Benoni where the author is not afraid to cover more than one line...

Conclusion: This is a very important book on the Benoni!"

John Elburg (full review)

“"In large part this book is excellent and can be considered as the current standard work for this opening”."

Klaus Koegler, “Kaissiber

"I take each new book written in the Grandmaster Repertoire series always in the hope and expectation that it will match the high quality of its predecessor. "The Modern Benoni" does what it promises as a member of the outstanding opening series...

Conclusion: From me there is a very strong recommendation to buy."

Uwe Bekemann, www.bdf-fernschachbund.de