I have always liked the Benoni formations although they have never liked me. I've tried it on-and-off for many years. When I get Benoni Fever, I play over some of Gligoric's games against it; that usuallycures me and I move on to the likes of the Stonewall Dutch or QGD Tarrasch.

The Benoni was first mentioned in a book by Aaron Reinganum, Ben-Oni, oder der vertiedigungen gegen die Gambitzuge in Schache (1825). Here it is:

https://books.google.com/books?id=w...

As every Russian schoolboy knows, ‘Ben-Oni' means ‘son of sorrow' in Hebrew. Indeed, sorrow is a constant companion to Benoni players.

The first recorded Benoni:
W Hanstein vs von der Lasa, 1841

Followed by:
Staunton vs Saint-Amant, 1843 A Clarendon Court Defense with enough holes for a family of moles!

No wonder it went to sleep for 75 years until Alekhine rolled it out several times delaying the KN and playing a fast …f5: Bogoljubov vs Alekhine, 1934

When I've played the Benoni, I've tended to mix plans and confuse move orders. Before giving it one more go, I decided to categorize the Benonis with a coding system, find examples of each and go from there in my study.

Here is my coding method for the Benonis sans Snakes and Gambits which I will cover separately.

For White:

e-pawn and c-pawn Development
‘A' - c4(cd) and e4 Kings Full
‘B' - c4 and e4(ed) Queens Full
‘C' - e4 only(ed) Kings Semi
‘D' - c4 only(cd) Queens Semi

(ed and cd when …e6 is played)
An alternative coding is A-c4/e4, B-c4, C-e4 and a separate category for ed or cd. Either way there are minor exceptions. I opted for less categories.

For Black:

Be7 or Bg7
1 – Bg7 Modern
2 – Be7 Old

e-Pawn Development
a e6 Open
b e7 Semi-Open
c, ‘Closed' e5

Of course, ‘b' may become ‘a' or ‘c' at some point. In my collection I reference the coding with the final status of the e-pawn. In Meet the Benonis – Part II I will endeavor to sort out the various move orders, pros-cons of each. It didn't seem to make sense to study move orders until I knew what it was and what it could become!

KN Development
x Early Nf6
y ~Early Nf6

The development of the KN. Needless to say this could be further divided as games are found: …Ne7 …Nh6 and perhaps even …Nf6->h5->g7. Again, delaying the development of the KN offers some move order opportunities.

Thus, we can describe the Czech Benoni 1. d4, Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5 e4 Be7 as: A2cx. The exception (see above) in my categorization is that it could also be B2cx.

In this scheme there are 32 possible Benonis. As we'll see, some are impossible. Here is the complete Benoni coding:

A1ax
A1ay
A1bx
A1by
A2ax
A2ay
A2bx
A2by

B1ax
B1ay
B1bx
B1by
B2ax
B2ay
B2bx
B2by

C1ax
C1ay
C1bx
C1by
C2ax
C2ay
C2bx
C2by

D1ax
D1ay
D1bx
D1by
D2ax
D2ay
D2bx
D2by

This coding also allows me to keep my game collection orderly and also allows for placing unusual Benonis. Naming the Benonis is difficult for two reasons – different names have been used for the same variation and the same name has been used for different variations! There is also old/modern, open/closed/semi, Schmid, Hromadka, etc. Of course, Knoch's - Full Benoni Major,Minor, Spanish Part Benoni Blitz, Wing, Gambit, Rex.

My primary References:
Play Against 1. d4 – Palliser
Starting Out: Benoni Systems - Raetsky
Benoni – Gelenczei
Benoni – Hartston
Czech Benoni – Hoffman
Modern Benoni - Zuethen
Modern Benoni Dynamics - Zuethen
Wing Benoni: A Key to Structures - Zuethen
Wing Benoni Gambit - Zuethen
Franco-Benoni Defense – Soltis
Barcza-Larsen Defense - Fields
Die Komplette Moderne Benoni 1 – Schneider
Die Komplette Moderne Benoni 2 – Schneider
Die Komplette Moderne Benoni 3 – Schneider
Alt Benoni Verteidigung –Stoljar/Kondratjew
Theorie der Schach-Eroffunungen VI-VII - Euwe
Pawn Power in Chess (Benoni Formations) - Kmoch
(Indische Spezialitaten)
Indicka Plukovnika Hromadky
Trends Czech Benoni 1 – Hodgson
Trends Czech Benoni 2 – Sher
Trends in the Modern Benoni 1 – Norwood
Trends in the Modern Benoni 2 – Norwood
Trends in the Modern Benoni 3 - Ward
Randspringer 1 to 6 (1982-1987)
ChessPublishing.com – 2011 to2016

Here are examples of each Benoni Code with names where they exist and brief notes:

TBC