Veriying Schandorff: The Benko Gambit 5.f3

GM Schandorff proposes the line 5.f3 for the task of beating up the Benko Gambit in Playing 1.d4 The Indian Defences(Quality Chess 2012). There is a key sacrificial (12.Nfd5!?) idea at the heart of the active 5...e6 response that needs close checking.

He devotes three games to this idea and has some far reaching analysis that I checked as part of the analysis of the following recent game.


Croad,N (2255) - Samhouri,B (2244)
5.f3 e6[A57]
40th Olympiad Open Istanbul TUR (7.43), 04.09.2012[Yip]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.f3 Key point. This line is not so popular but Schandorff believes it is due for a comeback.[Yip] 5...e6 The most challenging defence.[Yip] 6.e4 exd5 7.e5 Qe7 8.Qe2 Ng8 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.Nh3 c4 11.Nf4 Qc5 Diagram

12.Nfxd5!?
Key point. This is a fantastic idea that is analyzed in games 59-61 in Playing 1.d4: Indian Defences by Schandorff(Quality Chess 2012). This sacrificial idea is one of the backbone ideas behind the f3 repertoire.

Key Position 1
White is indicating an attack with his last move. White has the strong bishops and mobile pawns for the piece while black has trouble getting the queenside pieces to coordinate. What do you think black should do? Here I am proposing  a small improvement for black. Maybe you will find it too.

Black to Play

24.f4