Theoria
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Benoni Defense

Knight's Tour Variation

A61positional

  1. 1.d4Nf6
  2. 2.c4e6
  3. 3.Nf3c5
  4. 4.d5exd5
  5. 5.cxd5d6
  6. 6.Nc3g6
  7. 7.Nd2
746 games54%42%

Modern Benoni line in which White plays 7. Nd2, rerouting the knight to c4 to pressure the d6-pawn; a positional test that Nimzowitsch used in 1927.

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About the Knight's Tour Variation

The Knight's Tour Variation, 7. Nd2, sends the f3-knight toward c4, where it attacks the backward d6-pawn, often with support from Bf4. Black usually answers 7...Bg7. After 8. Nc4 O-O 9. Bf4, Black either defends d6 with 9...Ne8 or gives it up with 9...Na6. Against 7...Nbd7, 8. Nc4 is met by 8...Nb6. Engines give White a slight edge. Nimzowitsch beat Marshall with this line at New York 1927.

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