http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kibitz13.txt
The Kibitzer
by Tim Harding
Anyone for the Franco-Benoni?
Why play a main line defence that your opponent may know well
beyond move 20 when you may be able to surprise him at move
two with 1 e4 e6 2 d4 c5!?
Black's chief expectation is that White will reply 3 d5, leading to
Benoni-like central pawn structures, which is why if this defence
has any accepted name, it's the Franco-Benoni.
It was played against me in the preliminary round of the 5th
European Team Correspondence Championship, which obliged me
to research it in depth.
I soon found that authors writing on the French Defence do not
consider 2...c5 part of their brief; you won't find it, for example, in
"The Complete French" by Lev Psakhis. Benoni books do not
bother with it either, for White need not play c2-c4 and if the e-file
is opened (which often happens) the central pawn structure is quite
different. The line can also arise via 1 e4 c5 2 d4 e6 but again there
is little help to be had. In his 1981 book "The Morra (Smith)
Gambit", Hungarian IM Janos Flesch did give a brief discussion of
the line, pointing out the trap 3 c3 d5 4 exd5? Qxd5! and saying
that 3 c3 d5 4 e5 is a French Defence, Advanced Variation: that's
true, but Black has alternatives at move three, perhaps 3...cxd4.
...
Ausschnitt
