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 Joel Benjamin
Selected Games of the United States Champion

Bill Haines & Eric Schiller

Chess Enterprises
1998
Chess Enterprises, Moon Township PA 15108

© Copyright 1998 by Eric Schiller. All rights reserved.

ISBN 0-945470-73-8

Produced by Chessworks Unlimited, El Granada CA 94018

using the following software:
Zurich Chess Fonts
ChessBase 6.0
Microsoft Word for Windows 97
Caxton Chess Template

Editor: B. G. Dudley
Photo by Elizabeth Karnazes
Book design: Chessworks Unlimited
Cover Design: E. F. Witalis, Jr.

Printed in Canada
Contents
Contents 3
Introduction 4
Early years 4
IM 4
GM 4
US Championships 4
World Championship Cycles s
Games 6
Index 41

3
 His father, Alan, is a noted
Introduction chess organizer and his
By Eric Schiller mother is also an active chess
Joel Benjamin is player. Benjamin quickly
indisputably one of the established a relationship with
greatest American players in the famed Manhattan Chess
history. He has set records in Club. There he faced top
the U.S. Championship, and competition, even in the
has represented the United weekly rapids competitions.
States in many Olympiads and
World Team Championships. Early years
He was selected as the
grandmaster consultant on Joel rose quickly through
the Deeper Blue project, and the ranks, enjoying the rich
his contributions helped the chess culture of his native
computer defeat Garry New York. He made National
Kasparov in 1997. Master in 1977 at the age of
13.
Benjamin is also a highly
respected author, with many
articles in Chess Life and IM
other prestigious publications. His participation in many
He edited the delightful international events gave him
magazine Chess Chow opportunities for norms, and
throughout its existence. He in 1980 he got the
co-authored (with me) International Master Title at
Unorthodox Openings 16, which was still an
published by Batsford, and is impressive achievement at the
working on two new volumes time.
on "new wave" openings.
He will eventually get GM
around to producing a critical
It took six years for Joel to
analysis of his own games. At
earn his Grandmaster title,
present, however, there are
which he received in 1986 at
no available collections of his
the age 22.
games, so this little booklet is
offered as an introduction to
the play of the United States US Championships
Champion.
Benjamin has played in a
Joel was born November 3, record 16 consecutive US
1964 in Brooklyn, New York. Championships, and after this
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin
year's competition he will be World Championship
tie Robert Byrne for second Cycles
place behind Sammy
Reshevsky, whose mark of 21 Benjamin's first attempt
is likely to fall early next was at the Interzonal in
century. Szirak,1987. It was not a
great success.
He is in the top ten for
He suffered bad luck at
most finishes in the top 3
Groningen, both in the 1993
places, tied with Benko and
Professional Chess Association
Kavalek at 5 for 8th place.
competition and at the 1997
Here is his amazing record, FIDE World Championship
from his debut as a 17-year qualifier. The more recent
old to his latest championship. event saw him battle valiantly
For each year we give his through the tie-breaks, only
place and the number of to fall in the end.
participants. No other player
Nevertheless, one suspects
managed to qualify even to
he will make more of his
take part in all of these
future opportunities. He'll be
championships!
back in the United States
1981 13th/15 Championship this year, and
1982 (no championship) no doubt for many years to
1983 S th -/14 come.
1984 9th -/18
Bill Haines, editor of many
1985 Second/14
important tournament
1986 2 nd =/16
bulletins, has selected 64
1987 First/14
games which are
1988 4th =/12
representative of Benjamin's
1989 S th =/16
play. I've added some light
1990 S th =/16 1
notes. We hope you'll enjoy
1991 Second/16 2
playing over these fascinating
1992 7th =/16
struggles.
1993 8th =/12
1994 4th =/14
1995 7th =/14
1996 6th =/14
1997 First/16
1 Eliminated second round of
knockout by Christiansen.
2 Eliminated in final round of
knockout by Kamsky.
5
 19.Nf3 QgS 20.Bd2 RcS 21.a3 Nc6
Games 22.Rcl Rc7 23.Ba2 KdS

1 Benjamin 2320 - Feuerstein,A 2305

[A04] New York, 1976
Every aspiring master in New York had
to get past Manhattan Chess Club
stalwart Arthur Feuerstein at some
point. It didn't take Joel long! 1.Nf3 £5
2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.63 Bg7 5.Bb2 0-
0 6.0-0 d6 7.d3 e5 8.Nbd2 e4? 9.dxe4
fxe4 10.Nxe4! Nxe4 11.Qd5+ Rf7
12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Qxe4 Nc6 14.Nd4
Bd7 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.Qd4+ KgS 24.Rxc6 bxc6 25.Bxa5 Rb7 26.a4
l 7.e4 Qg5 18.£4 Qa5 19.Rfel ReS Ba6 27.64 QeS 28.65 cxb5 29.Nxe6+
20.Bfl Rfe7 21.e5 dxe5? fxe6 30.Qxe6 Qd7 31.Bxb6+ KcS
32.Bxd5 Qxe6 33.Bxe6+ KbS 34.axb5
Bxb5 35.Bd5 1-0

3 Browne,W 2540 - Benjamin mo

[B38] Lone Pine, 1980
Six-time US Champion Walter Browne
found a new rival in this game. 1.d4
Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 c5 4.Nc3 cxd4
5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.e4 0-0 7.Be2 Nc6
8.Be3 66 9.0-0 Bb7 10.£3 RcS 11.Rcl
Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bh6 13.Rc2 Nh5
22.Bc4+ KfS 23.Rxe5 Rxe5 24.fxe5 14.g3 Ng7 15.£4 £5 16.Rd2 Bc6 l 7.e5
Qb6 25.Rfl + 1-0 Ne6 18.Be3 g5 19.Bf3 QeS 20.Bh5
QdS 21.Bf3 QeS 22.Bh5 QdS 23.Nb5
2 Benjamin 2320 - Seirawan,Y 24s5 gxf4 24.gxf4 KhS 25.Rff2 RgS+
[COS] USA, 1979 26.Kfl Rg7 27.Nxa7 QgS 28.Ke2
Nxf4+ 29.Bxf4 Qxc4+ 30.Rd3 Bxf4
Joel defeats rival Yasser Seirawan, one 31.Nxc6 Qe4+ 32.Kfl RcgS 33.Rg3
of America's stars. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 Rxg3 34.hxg3 Qhl + 35.Ke2 Qxh5+
3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 36.Rf3 Rxg3 37.Nd4 Rg2+ 38.Kd3
Nc6 7.Ngf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nb6 9.0-0 Rd2+ 39.QxdZ Bxd2 40.Kxd2 Qh2+
Bd7 IO.Rel Nb4 II.Bbl Bb5 12.Nfl 41.Kd3 e6 0-1
Be7 13.Ng3 a5 14.Nh5 KfS 15.h4 h6
16.Nh2 g6 17.Nf4 KeS 18.Qg4 Kd7
6
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin

4 Rajkovic,D 2••5 - Benjamin mo 5 Benjamin 2405 - Browne, W mo

[E61] Lone Pine, 1980 [E12] U.S. Championship, 1981
After queenside play is locked, Joel This rime the battle with Browne takes
turns to the kingside and gets into a place in rhe championship, which was
tactical melee, where his deep also a qualifier for the World
understanding of the position prevails. Championship. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 cS 3.e3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 3.c4 66 4.a3 cS S.d5 Ba6 6.Qc2 exdS
5.Nc3 0-0 6.Be2 Na6 7.0-0 d6 8.63 7.cxd5 d6 S.Nc3 g6 9.g3 Bg7 l0.Bg2
66 9.B62 B67 10.Qd2 Nc7 11.Rfdl 0-0 l1.0-0 ReS 12.Bf4 NhS 13.BgS
a6 12.h3 Q68 13.a4 RcS 14.dS 65 Qc7 14.Rfel Nd7 IS.Rael RacS 16.a4
15.Bd3 64 16.Ne4 ReS l7.Ng3 es Nhf6 l 7.h3 Ne5 18.NxeS RxeS
18.e4 QdS l9.Rfl BcS 20.Rael a5 19.Qd2 ReeS 20.Bh6 Bxh6 21.Qxh6
21.Qdl Na6 22.Bcl N68 23.Nh2 Qe7 Qe7 22.QdZ Nd7 23.63 QeS 24.e3 fs
24.f3 h5 25.BgS QfS 26.Qd2 Nh7 25.f4 Qg7 26.Ndl Nf6 27.NfZ Rc7
27.Be3 Nd7 28.Khl Qe7 29.Ne2 Bf6
30.g4 hxg4 31.fxg4 Bh4 32.Rdl NgS
33.Ngl Kg7 34.Kg2 RhS 35.Nhf3
Nxf3 36.Nxf3 KgS 37.BgS BxgS
38.QxgS QeS 39.Nh4 NfS 40.NfS
Nh7

ZS.e4 Rce7 29.eS dxeS 30.d6 Re6

31.fxeS RxeS 32.RxeS RxeS 33.64
Qd7 34.Rdl cx64 35.Qx64 Re6
36.Q63 BcS 37.Rcl KfS 3S.Rc7 QdS
39.QcJ Bd7 40.Rxa7 BeS 41.Qcl gS
42.QxgS Rel+ 43.Bfl B£7 44.Qd2
41.Nxd6 NxgS 42.NxeS Nxh3 43.Rhl Res 45.BgZ Ras 46.RxaS 6xa5
Nf4+ 44.Kgl Rxhl+ 45.Kxhl KfS 47.Qd4 BdS 4S.Qe5 Bxg2 49.Kxg2
46.Nf6 Ke7 47.gS Nh3 48.d6+ Ke6 KgS 50.Qe6+ Kg7 51.QxfS Qxd6
49.Kg2 NxgS 50.NdS Kxd6 51.Be2 52.QxaS Qc6+ 53.Kh2 Kg6 54.Q64
Bh3+ 52.Kgl Kc6 53.Ne7+ Kc7 0-1 Qd5 SS.Qc3 Kf7 56.Qc7+ Kg6
57.Qc3 Qa2 58.Qd4 hS 59.Kg2 Kf7
60.Kgl 1-0

7
 11.Nxe6 bxc6 12.Na4 Ba6 13.Rel
6 Kupreichik,V 2430 - Benjamin 2520
QaS 14.Bd6 Rfc8 15.b4 Qd8 16.NeS
(B60) Hastings, 1984 Bc4 !7.Qd2 B£8 18.Bxf8 Kxf8
In the venerable Hastings tournament 19.Nb7 Qe7 20.NaS Nb6 21.e3 BbS
Benjamin rakes out a famous 22.Bfl Rc7 23.a3 hS 24.h4 Kg7
Grandmaster. l.e4 cS 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 2S.Racl Rac8 26.Kh2 Nd7 27.£3 Nf6
exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 S.Nc3 d6 6.BgS 28.BhJ Ba4 29.e4 dxe4 30.fxe4 Rd8
Qb6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 Qc7 9.NdS 31.eS Ng8 32.Qf2 Nh6 33.RcJ Rcd7
NxdS 10.exdS NeS 11.0-0-0 Bd7 34.Rd3 RdS JS.Rd2 R8d7 36.Nc4
12.h3 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Qxe4 14.Nb3 BfS BbS 37.Nd6 R5xd6 38.exd6 Qxd6
IS.Rhel Re8 !6.Re2 hS 17.Kbl Be4 39.QeJ Ng8 40.Rf2 Nf6
18.B£4 Bxd5 !9.Qe3 Be6 20.Rd4 Qe6
21.Re4 Qd7 22.BgS BdS 23.Rd4 Bc4
24.Red2 Be6 2S.Re4 BfS

41.dS Qxd5 42.a4 Bc4 43.Rcl Qd4

44.Qf4 Ne4 4S.Rfc2 BdS 46.bS?
26.Rh4 £6 27.Nd4 fxg5 28.QxgS ReS 46.Re2 would still have been ugly for
29.Qe3 g5 30.NxfS Qxf5 31.Rhd4 White, bur the text loses quickly.
Re5 32.Qc3 Bg7 33.Qe7 Res 46...eS 47.Qfl Nd2 48.Qe2 NfJ+ 0-1
34.QbS+ Re8 3S.Qxb7 Bxd4 36.g4
hxg4 37.hxg4 Qe6 38.a4 Bf6 39.£4 8 Henley,R ms - Benjamin ,szo
gxf4 40.gS Bxg5 0-1 (E45] U.S. Championship, 1984

7 Dzindzichashvili,R 2520 - Benjamin 2520 Joel has to wait patiently until a chance
presents itself as time control is
[D79] U.S. Championship, 1984 reached. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4
Again Benjamin emerges from a 4.eJ b6 5.Nge2 Ba6 6.a3 Be7 7.Nf4
blocked position to fight a tactical d6 8.b4 c6 9.Bb2 0-0 10.Be2 eS
brawl. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 dS 3.Bg2 c6 11.NhJ Nbd7 12.0-0 Re8 13.Rel B£8
4.c4 g6 S.cxdS cxdS 6.d4 Bg7 7.0-0 14.Qa4 Bb7 l S.Radl a6 16.QbJ h6
0-0 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.NeS e6 10.B£4 Nd7 17.a4 aS 18.bS exd4 19.exd4 cxbS
20.cxb5 dS 21.Nf4 Bb4 22.NdJ BxcJ
8
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin

23.Bxc3 Ne4 24.Bb2 Res 25.Bfl Qf6 Qf7 2S.Qc2 RfS 29.Rdfl Bh6 30.cS
26.f3 Nd6 27.NeS NfS ZS.Rel Ne6 dxcS 3 !.Qc3 QeS 32.bxcS bS 33.g3
29.Nc6 QgS 30.ReS NfS 31.Rcel Bg7 34.Bd4 R6f7 35.Nxg6 Nxg6
Bxc6 32.bxc6 Reds 33.Qd3 g6 34.g4 36.Bxg7 Rxg7 37.BxhS Rxf2 38.Rxf2
Nf4 35.QbS h5 36.c7 Rxc7 Bc8 39.Qf6 Kh7 40.eS Be6 41.Rf4
Kg8 42.a4 bxa4 43.Rxa4

37.ReS+? 37.Qxb6 hxg4 38.Qxc7

gxf3+ 39.Khl f2 40.QxdS+ Qxd8 43...Qe7! The pin on the knight is
41.Re8+ Kg7 1 Black wins 1 37...RxeS broken. 44.Rd4 44.Bxg6 Qxf6 45.exf6
3S.Qxe8+? 38.Rxe8+ Kh7 39.Qxb6 Rxg6 could not be held, as the bishop
hxg4 40.Qxc7 gxf3+ 41.Khl and Black can protect the c-pawn. 46.g4 Rxf6
cannot continue the attack. 3S...Kh7 47.Rxa7 Rf3 will win. 44...NfS 45.Rd6
39.QeS 39.h3 Nh41 40.Re3 Ne61 Whie Rxg3+ 46.Kf2 Qxf6+ 47.exf6 Rg5
is busted, since Black's queen will 4S.Be8 Rxc5 49.Bxc6 Kf7 50.Ke3
sneak in on the dark squares. 39 ...Re7! Kxf6 5 I.Kd4 Rc4+ 52.Kd3 Rh4
0-1 53.RdS Ng6 54.KcJ 0-1

9 Gurevich,D 2sos - Benjamin mo 10 Browne,W mo - Benjamin 2s-.o

[E92] U.S. Championship, 1984 [E12) U.S. Championship, 1985
Another adventure in the land past Browne has not had an easy time
time control. I.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 playing against Benjamin. Here he
Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 loses a theoretical battle. I.d4 Nf6 2.c4
7.Be3 h6 S.dxe5 Ng4 9.Bf4 Nxe5 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 c5 5.ds Ba6 6.Qc2
IO.Qd2 Kh7 11.0-0 Nbc6 12.Racl exd5 7.cxd5 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.g3 0-0
Re8 13.h3 b6 14.Be3 Bb7 I5.Nh2 IO.Bg2 d6 l1.0-0 ReS 12.Rel Nbd7
Nd7 I6.Ng4 h5 17.Nh2 Nc5 18.£3 £5 13.Bf4 Qe7 14.hJ Ne4 15.Nxe4 Qxe4
19.NdS fxe4 20.64 Ne6 2!.fxe4 Ne5 16.Qd2 Nf6 17.Rad! Rads 18.Nh2
22.Nf3 Kg8 23.NgS Qd7 24.Nxe6 Qc4 19.BgS Res 20.Bxf6 Bxf6
Rxe6 25.Rf2 c6 26.Nf4 Rf6 27.Rdl 21.Ng4 Bg7 Black has full equality, at

9
least. 22.e4 22.Nh6+ Bxh6 23.Qxh6 19.BgS Bf8 20.h4 axb4 2 l.axb4 Qc4
Rxe2 24.Rxe2 Qxe2 is already better 22.cJ Ra2 23.Qcl Rca8 24.NgJ h6
for Black. 22 ... Qa4 23.Qf4 Be2 25.hS Ne7 26.Bf4 QdJ 27.ReJ
24.Rd2 Bxg4! 2S.hxg4 Bes 26.QeJ c4
27.Rc ! RcS 28.Rdc2 QbJ!

27 ... Qh7! Retreating along the fl-a6

diagonal would seem more logical, but
29.Rxc4 29.QeZ would have been Benjamin appreciates the importance
better. 29 ... QxeJ 30.fxeJ Bxb2 of the b l square. 28.Nel cS 29.bxcS
3 1 .RxcS bxcS 32.Rb ! Bxa3 33.Ral bxcS 30.Rb7 NbS 3 1 .Qb l Qxb l !
Bb2 34.Rxa7 BeS Bishops of opposite 3 2.Rxbl Ra i 33.Rxal Rxal 34.Kh2
color can't save this one. 3S.Kf2 c4 The pin is broken, but control of the
36.Bfl c3 37.BdJ Rb8 38.Ra2 Rb2+ 8th rank, pressure at d4, and a much
39.Rxb2 cxb2 40.gS 0- 1 berrer bishop add up to a decisive
advantage. 34 ... Nec6 3 S.Nf3 Nd7
36.Re2 Nb6 37.BeJ c4! The pawn
1 1 Hansson,D - Benjamin mo
structure is set in concrete, and
[C 1 6] Reykjavik, 1 986 White's bishop is terrible. JS.Re l Ra3
The Reykjavik Grand Open was not 39.Ne2 Na4 40.Rcl Ra2 4 l .Bd2 NaS
one of Joel's career highlights, but he 42.Rbl Nb3 43.Bei ? A tactical
did play a few good games. l .e4 e6 blunder, bur the game was beyond
2.d4 dS 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.eS b6 S.a3 Bf8 salvation. 43 ... Rxe2! 0- 1
6.Nf3 Qd7 7.Bf4 A new move, but
Joel had no problem reacting properly. 1 2 Gurevich,D 2so, - Benjamin 254-0
7 ... Ne7 8.b4 c6 9.Bd3 Ba6 10.0-0
[B06] U.S. Championship, 1 986
Ng6 1 l .Be3 Be7 ! 2.Ne2 Qb7 1 3.NgJ
Nd7 14.NhS 0-0 I S .Rel Bxd3 l .d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.c3 d6 4.£4 Nf6
1 6.QxdJ aS Black is better, with S.eS NdS 6.Nf3 0-0 7.Bd3 cS 8.0-0
pressure at b4 and a strong queenside Nc6 9.Be4 dxeS 10.dxeS Nb6 1 1 .NaJ
initiative. 1 7 .Rab l 1 7 . Bg S might have Be6 1 2.Qe2 Qc8 1 3 .QbS Nb8 14.BeJ
been tried. 1 7 ... Qa6 J 8.Qd2 Rfc8 Na6 1 5 .Radl Rb8 1 6.NgS Bg4

10
 Selected Games of Joel Benj a m i n
l7.Rd2 f6 l8.Nf3 B£5 l9.Qb3+ Be6 3l.Rxg4 Rxg4 32.Qe2 Qc6 33.dS Qd7
20.Qdl fS 21.Bc2 Qc6 22.B63 Nc7 34.dxe6 Qxe6 35.RdS NgS 36.Rd4 cS
37.Rxg4 fxg4 38.e4 Nf3+ 39.Kf2 Qf6
40.Kg2 Qh6 41.h4 gxh3+ 42.Khl
NeS 43.Bd2 Qe6 44.Bf4 Nxc4
45.Kh2 65 46.axbS Kb6 47.Qc2 KxbS
48.Qb3+ Ka6 49.Qc2 Na3 50.Qd3+
NbS

Benjamin's defensive formation is

original, but qt1ite solid. 23.Bxe6+
Nxe6 24.Qb3 Kh8 25.Kf2 g5 26.g3
gxf4 27.gxf4 Bh6 28.QbS Qe4
29.Rel? 29.BxcS Nxc5 30.QxcS Qxf4
is unclear. 29...Bxf4 30.Bxf4 Qxf4
31.Qb3 NgS! 32.c4 Black wins a rook, White is fighting to st1rvive, bt1t shot1ld
and the game. 32...Nxf3 33.Qxf3 have tried 5 l .c4 followed by Bd 2.
Qxd2+ 34.Re2 Qd4+ 35.Kfl Rg8 51.Qe3 5 1 .Qd5 7 QxdS 52.exdS Nxc3
36.Rf2 Nxc4 0-1 5 3.Bxd6 Kb S 5 4.g4 NxdS 5 5 .gS a4
56.g6 a3 5 7 .g? Nf6 58.BeS Ng8
59.Kxh3 Kc4 and Black wins the race
1 3 Rohde ,M 2soo - Benjamin 2s.o
by a hair. 60. Kg4 a2 6 1 . KfS Kd3
[E1 3] U.S. Championship, 1986 62.Ke6 c4 63.Ba I c3 64.Kf7 c2
Benjamin preserves a healthier pawn 65.Kxg8 c lQ 66.Kf7 Qxal 67.g8Q
structure into an endgame, where he Qfl + 68. Ke7 a IQ 51...Kb6 52.eS dS
soon gains material advantage. l.d4 53.Qd3 d4 54.c4 Nc3 5 5.Bd2 Na2
Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 66 4.Nc3 B64 56.BxaS+ Kxa5 57.Qa3+ Kb6
5.BgS h6 6.Bh4 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 B67 58.Qxa2 QxeS 59.Kxh3 QfS+ 60.Kg2
8.e3 d6 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.0-0 Qe7 Qe4+ 61.Kh3 d3 62.Qb2+ Kc7
11.Nd2 gS 12.Bg3 h5 13.f3 h4 14.Bf2 63.Qg7+ Kc6 64.Qg8 Kd7 65.g4 Qd4
0-0-0 15.a4 aS 16.Rbl g4 l7.fxg4 h3 66.Qf7+ Kd8 67.Qf3 d2 0-1
18.g3 Rhg8 l9.Be2 Ne4 20.B!3 Nxd2
21.Bxb7+ Kxb7 22.Qxd2 Rxg4
23.Qe2 fS 24.Qf3+ Re4 25.QhS Nf6
26.Qxh3 Rg4 27.Qg2+ Ne4 28.Bel
Qd7 29.RbS Ka7 30.Rf4 Rdg8

11
1 4 Gurevich,D zm - Benjamin zm Nf6+ 64.Kf3 Ng4 65.Nc4 d S 66.Nb6
Nf6 67.NcS KfS 68.Ne7+ Ke6 69.Nc6
(A57] Chicago Open, 1986 Ne4 70.Nd4+ Kd6 71.NfS+ KcS
Joel show his technique in a knight 72.Ng7 h4 73.NfS h3 74.Nh6 f6
and pawn endgame. l .d4 Nf6 2.c4 cS 75.Nfs Kc4 76.Ne3+ Kd4 77.Nfl
3.dS 65 4.cxbS a6 5.e3 Bb7 6.Nc3 Kd3 78.Nh2 fS 0-1
axbS 7.BxbS QaS 8.Bd2 Qb6 9.Qb3
e6 I0.Bc4 Qxb3 l l.Bxb3 Na6 12.Nf3 15 Benjamin zm - Nunn,J ms
exdS 13.0-0 Be7 14.Rfdl 0-0 IS.Bel [E99] Hastings, 1987
Nc7 16.Nh4 g6 17.g3 Rfb8 18.Ng2
Bc6 19.Rabl c4 20.Bc2 Ne6 21.Nf4 Another battle in the theoretical
d4 22.exd4 Bf3 23.Nfe2 Bb4 24.dS trenches, this time in the King's
NgS 25.h4 Bxe2 26.hxgS Bxdl Indian. t .Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7
27.Rxdl Ne8µ 28.a4 Be7 29.NbS 4.e4 d6 S.d4 0-0 6.Be2 eS 7.0-0 Nc6
BxgS 30.Bc3 Bf6 31.Bxf6 Nxf6 8.ds Ne7 9.Nel Nd7 l0.Be3 fS 1 l .f3
32.Rd4 Re8 33.Rxc4 NxdS 34.Rd4 £4 12.Bf2 gS 13.NbS Nf6 14.Nxa7
Re l + 35.Kh2 Nf6 36.Bdl Kg7 37.b4 Bd7 15.cS Rxa7 16.cxd6 Nc8 l 7.dxc7
Rc8 38.Nd6 Re l 39.Bf3 Rc2 40.Kg2 Qxc7 18.Bxa7 Nxa7 19.Qb3 QcS+
Ra l 4 l .Rf4 gS 42.RfS h6 43.bS g4 20.Khl Nhs 21.Nd3 Qe3 22.Nf2
44.b6 gxf3+ 45.Kxf3 Rb2 46.67 Rb3+ Qxe2 23.Qxb7 Rf7 24.Qxa7 g4
47.Kg2 25.Rfel QbS 26.fxg4

Tactical play leads to a knight and The pawn is taboo, so Black is busted.
pawn endgame with an extra pawn for 26...Nf6 26... 13xg41 ? 27 .Qa8+ Rf8
Black. 47...Rxb7 48.Nxb7 Rxa4 28.Qc6 and the queens come off with
49.Nd6 Rd4 50.Nbs Rds 5 1 .RxdS an easy endgame win thanks to the
NxdS 52.Kf3 Kf6 53.Ke4 Ne7 54.Nc7 queenside pawns. There is no way to
hS 55.NeS+ KgS 56.f4+ Kg6 57.KeS save the bishop without allowing the
NfS 58.Nc7 Nxg3 59.NdS Nfs 60.Ke4 exchange. 27.a4 Qb3 28.a5 f3 29.Qb6
d6 61.Kf3 Nh6 62.Ke4 Ng8 63.Ne3 fxg2+ 30.Kg l Qf3 31.Qe3 Qxe3

12
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin
32.RxeJ B£8 33.RcJ Bb4 34.Rc2 36.bS Rxa4 37.Rel+ Re4 38.Rxe4+
Nxg4 35.a6 Nxf2 36.a7 Nh3+ fxe4 39.NeS Ke6 40.Nc6 Rdl 4 I.66
37.Kxg2 Rg7+ 38.Khl Bg4 39.aSQ+ e3 42.Nd4+ Kds 43.b7 Rbl 44.Nb3?
B£8 40.Kg2 1-0 44.c6 e2 45.Nxe2 Kxc6 would,
however, only have prolonged the
16 De la Villa Garcia,! 2485 - Benjamin agony. 44 ...e2 0-1
2575

[B66] Szirak lnterzonal, 1 987 1 7 Benjamin m5 - Nunn,] ms

Benjamin could not qualify for the [A00] Lloyds Bank Masters, 1 987
Candidates matches, but he did play Joel experiments in the opening
some strong chess at the lnterzonal. against the formidable British
l .e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 theoretician. In the end, it is endgame
Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0- theory, not opening theory, that
0-0 h6 9.Be3 Be7 10.Be2 Nxd4 prevails. I.Nc3 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4
l 1.Qxd4 Bd7!? 12.£4 Bc6 13.g4 Nd7 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.Nxc6
14.B£3?! Joel found a stronger line 6xc6 7.Qd4 Be7 8.e4 0-0 9.Bd3 h6
after the game: 14.h4 Bf6 1 5.Qxd6 10.Bh4 d5 11.eS Ng4 I 2.Bxe7 Qxe7
Bxc3 1 6.bxc3 Bxe4 1 7 .Rhe l . 14...65 l 3.f4 f6 14.0-0 fxeS 15.fxeS Rx.fl+
15.h4 Qa5 16.aJ Rb8 l 7.Qd2 Nc5 16.Rxfl QxeS 17.QxeS NxeS 18.Rel
18.Rhel 64 l 9.Na2 The pieces come Nxd3 19.cxdJ Kf7 20.d4 Rb8 21.63
flying off the board, leaving Benjamin Bf5
with a winning endgame. 19...Bxe4!
20.BxcS Bxf3 2l .Bxb4 Qd8 22.Bxd6
Bxdl 23.Rxdl R66 24.Bxe7 Qxd2+
25.Kxd2 Kxe7 26.N64

22.Na4 Be4 23.NcS Re8 24.Kf2 g5

25.Rcl BfS 26.Rc3 Kg7 27.b4 hS
28.RaJ R68 29.Ra4 Bc2 30.Rxa7
Rxb4 3I.Rxc7+ Kg8 32.Ke3 R62
Carnage complete, time for finesse' 33.a4 Ra2 34.Rxc6 h4 35.Rd6 Bdl
26... g5! 27.fxgS hxg5 28.h5 £5 29.gxf5 36.Rg6+ Kf7 37.RxgS h3 38.gxhJ
Rd6+ 30.NdJ exf5 31.c4 Rxh5 32.c5 Rxh2 39.RxdS Rxh3+ 40.Kf4 RaJ
Rd8 33.64 Rh4 34.KcJ Re4 35.a4 a5
13
 1 8 Barlov,D 2495 - Benjamin 2555
[E1 5] New York Open, 1987

Benjamin combines a kingside attack

with effective use of the c-file to create
a nice win. l .Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.c4 66
4.g3 Ba6 5.Q63 Nc6 6.N6d2 B67
7.e4 NaS S.Qc2 B64 9.Bd3 cS
10.dxcS BxcS 1 1 .0-0 RcS 12.Qdl
Ng4 13.a3 Qf6 14.R6! Nc6 15.64
Bd6 !6.B62 Qh6 17.Rel B6S IS.Bf!
0-0 I9.h3 NgeS 20.NxeS NxeS 21.£4
Not an easy endgame, by any means,
Ng6 22.NfJ
but Benpmin squeezes out a win.
4 ! .Rd7+ Kf6 42.Rd6+ Ke7 43.Ra6
KdS 44.aS Be2 45.Re6 Bc4 46.Rc6
B65 47.Re6 Bc4 4S.Re3 Ra2 49.Rc3
Bfl 50.dS Bg2 5 1 .a6 BxdS 52.Rd3
Kc7 53.RxdS K66 54.Ke4 Ral
55.Rhs Re l + 56.Kd4 Rd l+ 57.Kc4
Re l + 58.K64 R61+ 59.Kc3 Re l +
60.K63 R61+ 6 l .Kc3 Rel + 62.K62
Rg l 63.RhS Rg7 64.RhS Rg3 65.RdS
Rh3 66.Kc2 Rg3 67.Kd2 Ra3 6S.Ke2
Rh3 69.Kf2 Rh4 70.Kg3 R64 71.RdS
Rc4 72.R6S+ Ka7 73.R67+ KaS 22...Nxf4!! 23.gxf4 Bxf4 24.Qe2 fS
74.Rc7 K68 75.R67+ KaS 76.R65 25.eS gS! 26.Bg2 g4! The Black attack
Ka7 77.KfJ Rd4 7S.Ke3 RdS 79.Ke4 breaks through. Later, the king can
Rd l 80.KeS Rd2 8l.R67+ KaS move to hS and the rook will come
S2.Rd7 Rh2 S3.Kd5 Rh6 84.Rd6 storming in. 27.Nh2 Bxg2 2S.Qxg2
RhS+ 85.Kc6 Rh l S6.RdS+ Ka7 Rxc4 29.R6dl KhS 30.Rxd7 RgS
S7.Rd7+ KaS 88.Nd3 Rh6+ S9.Rd6 3 !.h4 Be3+ 32.Kh ! g3 33.Rxe3 Qxe3
RhS 90.N64 RcS+ 9l.K66 R6S+ 34.NfJ Rf4 0-1
92.KaS RhS 93.NdS RgS 94.Nc7+
Ka7 95.N65+ KaS 96.a7 RcS 97.R66
Faced with mate in three, Black 1 9 Kuczynski,R 2•s5 - Benjamin 2565
resigned. The theme is Ka6, then RbS+ [B30] St John, 1 988
and after the rook is captured, Nc7
mate! 1-0 Joel plays too ambitiously in the
opening and suffers from structural
weaknesses, but in the end, tactics
prevail. 1.e4 cS 2.Nf3 Nc6 3 .B65 e6
14
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin
4.0-0 Nge7 5.Nc3 Nd4 6.Nxd4 cxd4
20 Djuric,S ws - Benjamin 2565
7.Ne2 a6 8.Ba4 bS 9.Bb3 Qb6 1 0.d3
Bb7 1 1 .Ng3 g6 1 2.BgS 8g7 1 3.Qd2 £6 (E11] St John, 1 988
1 4.Bh4 0-0 1 5.£4 Rae8 1 6.a4 b4 The delayed kingside attack is a
17.Ne2 fS 1 8.Bxe7 Rxe7 19.exfS gxfS
Benjamin speciality. 1 .Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6
20.aS QcS 2 1.Ra4 Bf6 22.Rxb4 QxaS
3.d4 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2
23.Qel Ba8 24.Rc4 Rg7 25.Ng3 Qb6
Bxd2+ 7.Nbxd2 d6 8.0-0 0-0 9.e4 eS
26.Qb4 Qd8 27.Rf2 Bh4 28.Rxd4
1 0.dS Nb8 l l.b4 aS l 2.a3 Na6
Qf6 29.Rd6 Qh6 30.Qd4 8£6 3 1 .Qe3
l3.Nb3 Nxe4 1 4.NxaS £5 15.Qc2
Kh8 32.d4 Rfg8 33.dS Bxb2 34.dxe6 Naes 1 6.Nh4 RxaS 1 7.£3 NgS 1 8.bxaS
Qf6 35.Rd3 dxe6 36.Qxe6 Qxe6
f4 19.Rabl Qf6 20.RbS Nf7 2 1.RxcS
37.Bxe6 Re8 38.BdS a5 39.Bxa8 Rxa8 dxc5 22.Bhl Bh3 23.Rel Nd6
40.c4 Rb7 4 1 .NxfS a4 24.Qc3

Benjamin has some counterplay, but 24...gS This might have been even
White has back rank mate threats, srronger a move earlier. 25.Ng2 e4!
which are overlooked. 42.Nd6? 26.Qxf6 Rxf6 27.Nxf4 27.fxe4 f3
42.Rfd2 Bf6 43.Rd6 a3 (43 .. Bc3! 1 28.eS f2+ 1 29.Kfl fxe I Q+ 30.Kxe l Rf3
44.RdS+ Rxd8 45. RxdS#) 44.Rxf6 a2 and Black wins. 27...gxf4 28.fxe4 f3
4 5 . Ra6! a I Q+ 46. Rxa l Rxa l + 47.Kf2 29.Kf2 Nxc4 30.eS RfS 3l.e6 Kf8
Ra8 is clearly better for White. 32.Rbl Nxa5 33.RbS b6 34.d6 cxd6
42...Rb3! 43.NbS 43.Rxb31 axb3 35.Rxb6 Ke7 36.Ra6 c4 37.Ra7+
44.Rxb2 Ra I + ! 45. Kf2 Ra2 ! would K"e6 38.Rxh7 Bg2 0-1
have been cute finish. 43...Rxd3
44.Rxb2 Rdl + ! 45.Kf2 Ral! The
2 1 Benjamin mo - Rohde,M 2565
pawn marches on. 0- 1
[B81] U.S. Championship, 1988
Benjamin uses the king as a blockader
in the middlegame, and then builds up
an attack on the enemy position. l .e4
15
cS 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 2 2 Benjamin ms - Dlugy,M zsso
5.Nc3 e6 6.g4 Nc6 7.gS Nd7 8.Be3
Be7 9.h4 a6 10.Qe2 Nxd4 l l .Bxd4 [D94) Chicago Open, 1 988
0-0 12.0-0-0 65 13.£4 64 14.N61 eS Old rivals meet with Benjamin
15.fxeS dxeS 16.Bf2 Qc7 17.Nd2 NcS chalking up another win. l.d4 Nf6
18.Bh3 a5 19.BxcS Rfxc8 20.BxcS 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 dS 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 0-0
QxcS 21.N63 Qc7 22.K61 a4 23.Ncl 6.Bd2 c6 7.Rel Bg4 8.cxdS NxdS
a3 24.63 Ra6 25.Rh3 Rc6 26.c4 6xc3 9.Be2 Nxc3 10.Bxc3 Nd7 11.0-0 N66
27.Kc2 Bes 28.RdS Bd4 29.Qg4 Rd8 12.h3 Be6 13.63 h6 14.Qc2 a5
30.Ne2 Rcd6 31.Rxd6 Rxd6 32.Rd3 15.Rfdl a4 16.64 QdS 17.Rd2 BfS
g6 33.Qf3 Qd8 34.Qh3 Kg7 35.Qf3 18.Bd3 Bxh3 19.65 Bg4 20.NeS Bd7
£6 36.Qg3 Qe7 37.gxf6+ Qxf6 38.Rf3 21.B64 cx65 22.Be4! Qe6 23.Bxb7
Qe7 39.QgS Qe6 40.hS B66 41.Nxc3 Ra68 24.Nxd7 Nxd7 25.Qc7 Qb6?!
h6 42.Qg3 gS 43.NdS Bd4 44.Rfl 25 ... RfeS would have overprotected e7
Qc8+ 45.K61 Rd8 and created a useful post at f8. 26.Bf3
Rfc8

46.Qf3 Qe6 46 ... RfS 47.QxfS+ QxfS

48.RxfS Kxf8 49.Nf6 Kg7 50.Ng4 and 27.QxcS+ Rxc8 28.RxcS+ Kh7
White wins. 47.Nc7! Qc6 47 ... Qe7 29.Rdc2! eS? Black was in trouble
48.QfS!! The twin threat of Ne6+ and
anyway, but this insures the loss of the
Qg6+ are overpowering. 48... Qxc7
knight at d7. 30.R2c6 Qa7 31.R8c7
49.Qg6+ Kh8 50.Qxh6+ Kg8
Q68 32.Rxd7 exd4 33.exd4 Qf4
5 1 .QxgS+ KhS 52.Rf6 wins. 48.QfS!!
34.Rcc7 Qfs 35.Rxf7 Q61+ 36.Kh2
Rg8 49.Ne6+ Kh8 50.Qf6+ Kh7 Qx64 37.Rxg7+ Kh8 38.Rh7+ 1-0
51.NxgS+! 1-0

23 Benjamin zs•s - Georgiev,K mo

[E41] Wijk aan Zee, 1989
Kiri! Georgiev was one of the world's
top players in the late 1 980s. l .d4 e6
16
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin
2.c4 Nf6 3.NcJ Bb4 4.e3 cS S.Bd3 3S...Kg7 36.Kfl Bg4? 36.. .£4 mighr
Nc6 6.Nge2 cxd4 7.exd4 dS 8.cxdS have saved rhe day. 3 7 .gxh3 fxe3
NxdS 9.a3 Bd6 10.Be4 Nf6 11.BgS 0- 38.Re2 Qf5+ 39.Ke I Qxh3 40.Nxe3
0 1 2.BcZ h6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Ne4 Qf3 4 l . Bc2 h3 42.NdS Qxa3 43.Bxe4
Qe7 1S.Qd3 g6 16.Qe3 Kg7 17.0-0 b6 will be hard ro crack. 37.Rc7+ Kh6
Bd7 18.Radl Rad8 19.N2c3 Bc8 38.Rf7! White indirectly controls f4.
20.Ba4 Bc7 21.b4 eS 22.dS Nd4 38...BhS 39.KfZ a6 40.g3! Whire
23.NbS RxdS 24.NecJ needs rhe f4 square to be covered, so
rhe knight can leave dS. 40...bS
41.Nf6! 1-0

24 Benjamin mo - Rohde,M mo
[A34] U.S. Championship (2) , 1989
Benjamin and Rohde have played
many rimes. This game featured a wild
endgame, which Rohde should have
won. I.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 cS 3.Nc3 b6 4.e4
d6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Bb7 7.BdJ g6
24...Rdd8 Black should have 8.0-0 Bg7 9.BgS Nbd7 IO.Rel a6
considered sacrificing rhe exchange 11.Bfl h6 l 2.Bh4 0-0 13.QdZ NcS
here. 24 ... Rxb5 2 5.NxbS NxbS 14.£3 eS 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.NcZ BgS
26.BxbS a6 27.Be2 fS would give 17.QfZ fS! 18.exfS RxfS 19.NdS BxdS
considerable compensation for the 20.cxdS Qf6 2I.b4 Na4 22.NeJ Rf4
exchange. 25.Rxd4 Bb6 25 ... Rxd4 23.Ng4 Rxg4 24.fxg4 Qxf2+ 25.KxfZ
26.Nxd4 and the e-pawn is pinned. NcJ
26.Rxd8 Bxe3 27.Rxf8 Bxf2+ 28.RxfZ
Kxf8 White could grab the a-pawn
now, with a rook and two knights for
queen and pawn. Instead, Joel
launches an attack. 29.NdS!? QgS
30.Bb3 Bh3? This accomplishes
nothing. 31.Nbc3 fS The knight must
not be allowed to use e4. 32.ReZ e4
33.Ne3 h5 33 ... Bxg2 34.Nxg2 Qc l +
35.Nd l Qxa3 gives Black a queen and
6 pawns against a rook, three minor
pieces and one pawn, after the b-pawn Black has a pawn and a knight for the
falls. This would have been better for rook, with more active pieces.
Black than in the game. 34.NcdS h4 Benjamin must concentrate on
35.RcZ Black is now in serious trouble.
17
defense. 26.Bd3 Kg7 27.g3 Bd2 28.a3
28.Rf l e4" 28...Rf8+ 29.Kg2 Bxel
30.Rxel aS 31 .bxaS bxaS 32.Rc!
NxdS 33.Rc6 Ne3+ 34.Kh3 Rf6
35.Be4 Nd l !? White would have ha<l
to play carefully after .15...d5 1 36.Rd
dxe4 3 7 . Rxe3 Rf3 38.Rxe4 Rxa3
39.Rxe5 Kf6 with a diffirnlr endgame.
36.Kh4 Ne3 36 ... Rf2 should still win'
37.gS! hxgS+ 38.KxgS White doesn't
seem to have any threats, but they are
there. 38...NfS?? 38 ... Nfl 39.Rc7+ Rf7
31.g4! Rh7 32.Rd6 Kf7 33.Rd8 Ke7
40.Rxf7+ Kxf7 4 1 . Bxg6+ Kg7 42.Be4
34.Rg8 Bd7 35.Rb8 Bc6 36.Rc8 Black
Nxh2 43.Bg2 traps rhe knighr. 43 ... Kf7
must be careful nor to drop something
44.Kh4 e4 is forced. 45. Bxe4 Nf l is
to rhe marauding rooks. 36...Rf7
likely to be a draw. 39.Rc7+ Rf7
37.Rdl hS? 37 .. .fS 38.Rc?+ Kf6
40.Rxf7+ Kxf7 41.BxfS gxfS 42.KxfS
The king and pawn endgame is a 39.Rxf7 + Kxf7 40.Kg3 is difficult for
simple win for White. 42...Kg7 43.g4 Black, bur not hopeless. 38.gxhS fS
The pawns cannot ger moving.
Kh6 44.a4 Kg7 45.gS Kf7 46.h4 Kg7
47.hS Kh7 48.h6 Kh8 49.g6 Kg8 39.Rc7+ Kf6 40.Rxf7+ Kxf7 4 1 .Rgl
50.Kf6 e4 5 1.h7+ 1 -0 The rest was simple. 41...eJ 42.h6 e2
43.h7 elQ 44.Rxel Kg7 45.Rxe6
Kxh7 46.Kg3 Kg7 47.Kf4 Kf7
25 Benjamin mo - Schroer,! mo 48.Rxc6 bxc6 49.Kxfs 1-0
(B85)Bermuda Commonwealth, 1990
Benjamin gives up a bishop and two 26 Benjamin mo - Brookshear,T
pawns for a rook, but active use of the [A09) U.S. Open Jacksonville FL, 1 990
rooks breaks down the barriers. 1.e4
cS 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 The opening veers slightly from rhe
S.Nc3 a6 6.a4 e6 7.Be2 Be7 8.0-0 0- common paths, and Black is unable to
0 9.f4 Nc6 10.Kh l Nxd4 11.Qxd4 cope afrer just a few moves. I.NB dS
Bd7 12.B£3 Bc6 13.aS dS 14.eS Ne4 2.c4 d4 3.64 f6 4.e3 dxe3 5.fxe3 eS
15.Bxe4 dxe4 16.Qf2 B64 17.Be3 6.cS e4 7.Nd4 Nc6? 8.Nxc6 bxc6
BxaS 18.Rfdl Qc7 19.BcS Bxc3 9.Bc4 Nh6 10.0-0 Qe7 1 1.Nc3 g6
20.Bxf8 BxeS 21.fxeS Rxf8 22.QcS 12.B62 Bg7
Rc8 23.c4 h6 24.63 Re8 25.Rd2 Qe7
26.Qxe7 Rxe7 27.Rf l Kh7 28.h4 Kg6
29.Kh2 fS 30.exf6 gxf6

18
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin

2 4 . . Kf7 25 .g4± 2S.g4 hxg4 26.hxg4

fxg4

13.Nxe4!! Qxe4 14.Rf4 Qe7 15.Qf3

Qf8 1 6.Re4+ Kd8 17.Rd4+ 1 -0
27.fS! Nb4? 27 ... exfS 28.BxdS Nxd5
27 Benjamin mo - Alburt,L 2565 29.RxdS g6 30.Re7! 28.fxe6 Qc6
29.d7+ KgS 30.dxc8Q+ Qxc8 31.Bxb4
[803] New York, 1990
gxf3 32.Bc3 Ne4 33.Rxe4 dxe4
Alburt was one of Benjamin's teacher, 34.Qd4 QfS 35.Qxe4 f2 36.e7 1-0
but the pupil soon learned how to
defeat his master. 1.e4 Nf6 2.eS NdS 28 Benjamin 2560 - Machulsky,A mo
3.d4 Nb6?! Alburt tries an New York Open, 1990
[A80]
experimental move order, but Joel
pounces on the inaccuracy. 4.a4 aS The opening is exciting, but the
S.Nf3 dS 6.Bd3 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 endgame is where the battle really
8.Qxf3 e6 9.Qg3± cS 10.dxcS N6d7 takes place. 1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 fS 3.e4!?
1 1.Nc3 Nc6 1 2.NbS!? NdxeS 1 3.B£4 fxe4 4.NgS Nf6 5.f3 cS!? 6.fxe4 cxd4
f6 14.0-0-0f Qd7 IS.Be3 RcS 1 6.Be2 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.0-0 d6 8 ... Bd6!! is
. . . f4 16 ...Qf7 17.£4 Nd7 18.Rhel Be7 interesting. 9.e5 Nxe5 I0.Bxh7 Nxh7
1 9.Bg I I 9.£5 would be premature. 1 1 .QhS+ g6 I Z.Qh611 9.c3! h6 10.Nf3
l 9 ... e5 20.Qh4 Kf8 1 (20 .0-0 1 Be7 1 1.cxd4 0-0 12.Nc3 eS 13.Bc4+
2 1 . Rxd5) 2 1 .Bc4 NIA would be roughly Kh7 14.Khl Bg4 1 S.Be3 2 RcS
level, if complex. 19...fS 20.B£3 KfS 16.dxeS dxeS 17.BdS Bb4 18.h3 Bxf3
20 ...0-0 11 allows 2 1 . Rxe6 but 2 l ...Nb4 19.Rxf3 Qe7 20.Rcl BcS 2 1.BxcS
provides a little counterplay. White can QxcS 22.Be6 Rcd8 23.NdS Qd6
try 2 2.Rxe7 Qxe7 2 3 . Nd6 , which 24.Nxf6+ Rxf6 2S.Qxd6 Rxd6
looks quite strong. 2 1 .Nd6 Bxd6 26.Rxf6 gxf6
22.cxd6 Nf6 23.BcS Qd7 24.Qf2
24.Rxe6 Qxe6 2 5.d7+ Kf7 26.dxcSQ
Rxc8 is nothing special. 24... hS?

19
27.Bc8 b6 28.Bb7 Nb4? 28 .. Nd4 Black's pieces are mostly passive and
29.Rc7+ Kg6 30.BdS a6 was a stronger defensive, so Benjamin activates them,
defense. 29.Rc7+ Kg6 Into the fire. even at the cost of a pawn. 27.exfS
30.Bc8! KgS 3l .g3 fS This is needed Ne7! 28.fxg6 Nxg6 29.g3 A necessary
sooner or later to break the mating weakness, as otherwise f4 is vulnerable.
net. Black could have tossed in a few 29...Rd4 30.Rc2 NgS The arrack
checks first. 32.BxfS Rd2 33.Rf7 Nc2 explodes. 3 !.Khl Nh3 32.BbS NgS
34.h4+ Khs 35.Rg7 Ne3 36.Be6 Rf2 33.Be2 Nh3 34.Ba6 Qd7 35.Qc3 NgS
37.Bf7+ Rxf7 38.Rxf7 Kg4 39.Kh2 aS 36.Bc8 QbS 37.Kg2 Rd3 38.Qel Qb3
40.Rf6 bS 4l.Rg6+ Kf3 42.hS Kxe4 0-1
43.Kh3 KfS 44.g4+ Kf4 45.Rf6+ KgS
46.Rf3 1 -0 30 Dlugy,M 25•5 - Benjamin mo
[A54] USA, 1990
29 Schussler,H mo - Benjamin 25,o
[EG 1 ] Reykjavik, 1990 Rivals meet again, in a tactical brawl.
I.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 eS 4.Nf3 e4
Another strong counter-punching 5.NgS Qe7 6.Qc2 BfS 7.g4 Bg6 8.Bg2
game from Benjamin. l.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e3 9.Qa4+ c6 I0.Bxe3 Nxg4 1 1.8£4
d6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bfs 5.Nh4 Bd7 6.e4 Nf6 12.0-0-0 h6 13.Nh3 Qd8 1 4.e4
eS 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.Be2 Bg7 9.Be3 Ng4 Be7 15.eS dxeS 1 6.dxeS Nfd7 l 7.Be4
10.BgS f6 1 I.Bel 0-0 12.dS Ne7 BhS 18.Rd2 Bg4 1 9.Ngl Qb6
13.Nd2 Nh6 14.cS Nf7 1 5.Qb3 Rb8 20.Nge2 NcS 2 1.Qc2 Nba6 22.Rg!
1 6.cxd6 cxd6 17.a4 fs 18.£3 Bh6 Nb4 23.Qbl Be6 24.b3 Rd8
19.Nc4 Bxcl 20.Rxcl Nc8 21.0-0 a6
22.Qb4 bS 23.axbS BxbS 24.NxbS
RxbS 25.Qa3 aS 26.Ne3 Rb4

20
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin

dS 18.Qh4 e6 19.c3 Nd3!? 20.Re2

QdS 2 1 .Qd4

25.RxdS+ 2 5 . Rxg7 Nxa 2 + ! 26.Rxa2

Bf8 2 7 . Rg3 Nxb3+ 28.Kc2 Bxc4 would
have given Black a dangerous attack. Black is pretty much obliged to sac the
25 ... QxdS 26.Rd l QaS! 27.Kb2 Nba6 exchange here. 2 1 . ..Rxf3 2 1 . . .cS
28.Nd4 0-0 29.Rgl KhS 30.a4 22.Qxd3 c4 23.Bxc4 Nxc4 24.b3 Nb6
30.Bf5! 1 30 ... RdS! 3 1 .Bxh6 2 5 . Rd l is crushing. 22.gxf3 Nc l ! A
Desperation. 3 l . .. gxh6 32.Qcl BgS little tactic. 23.Rxcl QgS+ 24.Qg4
3 3.RxgS hxgS 34.QxgS White Qxcl + 25.Kg2 ReS 26.B£4 Q6 I
threatens a perpetual, but there is no 27.Bc2 Black got the exchange back,
time. 34 ... Qxc3+! Dlugy gave up, since but a fierce kingside attack is looming.
if the queen is captured, the bishop at 27 ... Qa2 To get the queen our via c4.
e4 falls to a checking fork. 0- 1 28.63! Qa3 On 28 . . . Qa l Benjamin
planned a strong sacrifice. 29. Bxg6 1 l
31 Benjamin mo - Alburt,L ,sGs hxg6 30.Qxg6 Black does not seem ro
be in imminent danger of anything
[B04] World Open, 1 990 worse than a draw, but the position is
Alburt won the I 990 U.S. actually perilous. perhaps even
Championship, but earlier in the hopeless. For example 30 ... Re7
summer Benjamin hammered his (30 ... RgB 3 l . Bg5! RfB 32 Bf6 Bxf6
beloved Alekhine Defense. l .e4 Nf6 33. Qh6+ 1 Kg8 34.exf6 Rf? 35. Rxe6;
2.eS NdS 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bc4 N66 30 ... RfB 3 1 .Bh6 Bxh6 32.Qxh6+ Kg8
6.863 Bg7 7.a4 aS 8.Qe2 0-0 9.h3 33. Qxe6+ Rf? 34.QeB+ Kg? 3 5 e6 Rf5
Nc6 10.0-0 B£5 l l.Nc3 KhS!? A new 36.Qe?+ Kg6 3 7.QdB Kh7 38.Qxc?+
move, but it didn't make much of an Kh6 3 9.e? RgS+ 40.Qg3) 3 1 .BgS Rd7
32.Qxe6! and the queen infiltrates.
impression. 1 2.B£4 N64 1 3.Rfel The
"right rook", since 1 3. Radl would be 32 . . Bf8 (3 2Qa3 33 b4 1) 33 .Qf6+ Kg8
34.e6 Re7 3 .5 . Bh6 1 Bxh6 36.Qxe? with
mer by 1 3 ... d5 1 13 ...QcS 1 4.Ne4 £6
an easy win. 29.h4! The attack cannot
1 5.Bh2 fxeS 1 6.dxeS Bxe4 1 7.Qxe4
be repulsed. 29 ... QfS 30.hS Bh6
30 ... gxhS 3 1 .QxhS h6 3 2 . Re I and the
21
h-pawn tails anyway. 3 2 ... Rd8 3 3 . Bxh6 mate in four: 2 7 . Rfxg6+ fxg6 28.Qxg6+
Bxh6 34.Rh l . 3 1 .Bxh6 Qxh6 32.hxg6 Kh8 29.Qxh6+ Qh7 30.Qxh7# 24.QeZ
hxg6 33.Re l Kg8 34.Rhl Qg7 Rd7 24 ... b4 2 5.BhS RfS 26.Rgf3 bxc3
35.Bxg6 Re7 36.Rh7! Qf8 36 . . . Qxh? 2 7 . Bxf7 + Kh8 28.Rxd Rxf7 29.Rxf7
loses to 3 7 . Bxh7+ Kxh7 38.Qh4+ . Qxf7 30.Rxc4 RfS is dearly better for
37.Qh4! 1 -0 White. 25.BhS! Qh4 Passive defense
with 2 5 . . . QfS leads to 26.Rgf3 Rcc7
2 7 . Kh l a6 28.d5 1 and d6 follows, since
32 Benjamin mo - Dzindzichashvili,R
2555
28 ... exdS loses to 29.e6 1 Re7 30.Bxf7+
Kh8 3 l .Bg6; 25 ... QeS allows the break
[B1 2] U.S. Championship, 1 991
immediately. 26.d5 exdS (26 ... Rc5
1 .e4 c 6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.c3 e6 2 7dxe6 Qxe6 28. Bg4) 2 7 .e6! (2 7. Bg4
5.Be2 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.0-0 Bg4 8.Be3 Qxe5 28. Qxe5 Nxe5 2 9. Bxd? Nxd? is
Bxf3 9.Bxf3 cxd4 10.cxd4 Nge7 about even.) 27 ...Qxe6 28. Bxf7+ Qxf7
l 1 .Nc3 Nf5 1 2.Bg4 Nxe3 1 3.fxeJZ 'f 29.Rxf7 Rxf7 30.Rxg7+ 1 Rxg7 3 1 .Qe6+
13 ... B64 1 3 . . . Be7 would have Rf7 3 2 .QxcS+ Kg7 33 Qa6 Nd2
preserved the bishop. 14.Rf4 0-0 34.QxbS will win in the endgame.;
1 5.Qf3 Bxc3 1 6.bxc3 Qe7 1 7 .Rfl 25 ... g6 1 is dis!llissed by 26. Bxg6 fxg6
Rac8 18.e4! dxe4 l 9.Qxe4 White has 2 7 . Rxg6+ Kh7 28.QhS; 2 5 . . . Qd8 is a
opened up the game to his advantage. variation on the fallliliar theme 26.d5 !
19 ... NaS 20.R4f3 Nc4 2 1 .Rh3 h6 Rc5 (26 . . . exd5 fails to the simple
2 l . . .g6 22.Qf4 invades the dark 2 7. Bg4 .) 2 7 . Qg4 QfS 28.dxe6 Nxe5
squares. 22.Qd3 65 23.Rg3 (2 8 .. .fxe6 2 9. Qxe6+ mates in four.)
29.exf7 + KhS 30.Qe6 RdS perlllits a
brilliant finish with 3 l . Rf61! 26.Rg4
Qd8 26 . . . QxhS drops the queen to
2 7 . Rxg7 + . 27.QfZ Qf8 28.Qg3 64?!
28 . . . Nb6 1 1 might have given Black
more counterplay. 29.Rg/4 Rcc7
30.Rf6 can be met by 30 ... Qa3 with
problems on the queenside and no
breakthrough on the kingside. 29.cxb4
Nd2? 29 ... Nb6 was essential now.
30.Rd l £5?" A blunder in time
pressure. 30 . . . Nc4 was necessary, but
23...RfdS 2 3 . . . b4 seems stronger but
3 I .Re l Rdc7 32.a3 is still very difficult
24.Bd l threatens to set up a
for Black. 31.exf6 Qxf6 32.Rf4 QgS
checkmating battery on the b 1 - h 7
diagonal. 24 . . . bxd (2 4 ... Nb2 25. Qd2
33.Bg4! Kh8 34.Bxe6 Qhs 35.Qg4
Notes after Ftacnik and Blatny. 1 -0
bxc3 26.Qxh6 g6 2 7. RhJ mates in
three.) 2 5 . Bc2 g6 26. Rf6 1 Nb2 allows

22
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin

33 Benjamin mo - Seirawan,Y 2.,5 QxgS 24.f6!? 24.Nd6 looks stronger.

24 ...g6 24 ... gxf6 2 5 .Nd6 Ne7 26.Rd4
[B 1 2] U.S. Championship, 1 991 fS 2 7 . Rb4 and White is better. 25.Nd6
Seirawan is the higher ranked player, Qe3+ 26.Kh l Qxc3 27.Nxe4 Qb4??
but Benjamin outflanks him. 1 .e4 c6 27 ... Qe3 28.Nd6 Nb4 29.Rd4 Nbc6
2.d4 dS 3 .eS Bfs 4.c3 e6 s.Be2 Nd7 30.Re4 and Black is in a bad way.
6.Nf3 Ne7 7 .0-0 cS 8.dxcS Nc6 9.b4 28.Qcl The queen gets to h6. 1 -0
NdxeS 10.Nd4 Bxb l 1 1 .Rxb l Be7
1 2.f4 Nd7 1 3.fS eS 14.Nf3 e4 1 5.Nd4 34 Benjamin 2540 - Gulko,B 2m
NdeS 1 6.Bf4 a6 1 7 .RbZ Bf6 18.RdZ
[B66] U.S. Championship, 1 991
Qd7
1 .e4 Before running into Kamsky,
Benjamin ran over former US
Champion Culko. l...cS 2.Nf3 Nc6
3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6
6.BgS e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 h6 9.Bf4
Bd7 10.Nxc6 Bxc6 l l .f3 dS 1 2.Qel
B64 1 3.a3 Bas 14.BdZ Qe7 1 5.eS
Nd7 1 6.Kb l Bb6 1 7.f4 f6 18.exf6
gxf6 19.BeZ 0-0-0 20.Bf3 Qf7
2 1 .Be3 RheS 22.Qe2 Qh7 23.Rhel
KbS 24.Bg4 Bc7 2S.Qf2 Re7?!

1 9.bS! Benjamin is not afraid of the

resulting weak pawns on the c-file.
19 ... axbS 20.NxbS 0-0 2 1.RxdS This
secures a serious advantage for White.
2 1...Qe7 22.a4!

The e-pawn is now executed. 25 ... Qf7

was required. 26.Bxe6! Rxe6 27.Ba7+
KaS 28.Rxe6 QfS 29.Rdel Qxf4
30.ReS RxeS 3 1.RxeS+ NbS 32.RhS
Qxh2 33.Bd4 BeS 34.BxeS fxeS
35.QfS e4 36.Ne2 hS 37.g3 1 -0
Black tries to release the pressure at g S ,
b u t it backfires. 22. . .BgS 23.BxgS
23
 Black. 20... RbS! 21.NgS? 2 1. Nf2 Rxb2
35 Santo Roman,M m5 - Benjamin m5
22.Nd l Nxd3' 23.cxd3 Bc5+ 24.Kh l
[B82] Cannes, 1992 Rb8 i s nor quite a s bad, but Black i s a
Joel doesn't fall for a deep trap, and pawn up. 21...Nf6 22.bJ Nfg4 Black's
quickly turns the tables. l .e4 cS 2.Nf3 attack is stronger. 23.QgJ Bd6! 24.hJ
Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 S.Nb3 Nxd3 2S.Qxd3 BcS+ 0-1
Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Be3 Qc7 8.f4 d6
9.Bd3 a6 10.a4 b6 11.0-0 Be7 12.QfJ 36 Ivanov.A z545 - Benjamin mo
0-0 1 3.aS A new move, bur after the [C65] U.S. Championship, 1 992
next few obvious moves it becomes
dear that Santo Roman had missed l .e4 eS 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.BbS Nf6 4.Qe2
something. 13...bxaS 14.eS dxeS a6 s.Bxc6 dxc6 6.b3 Bd6 7.Bb2 Qe7
lS.fxeS Nd7 16.QhJ g6 17.Bh6 8.d3 Bg4 9.Nbd2 Nd7 10.hJ Bh5
l 1.g4 Bg6 l 2.d4 0-0-0 13.0-0-0
Rhe8 14.dxeS Nxe5 IS.Ne! f6 16.Ng2
Bb4 17.Nbl

This looks strong, since if rhe rook

moves White will crash in. But the
pawn at eS is left undefended, and that
is worth the exchange. 17...NcxeS! Joel could just retreat the knight, bur
l7 ...Re8 1 8.Rxf7 1 Kxf7 1 9.Qxe6+ 1 ! gives in to a temptation to get into a
wins spectacularly. l 9 ... Kxe6 20.Bc4+ tactical me lee. 17 ... Nf3!? 18.aJ!?
mates elegantly. A) 20 ...KxeS 2 I .Re I + 1 8.Qxf3 Bxe4 1 9.Qg3 Bd6 forces
Kf6 (2 1 . . . K/5 22.Be6+ K/6 23 Nd5#; White to five up the exchange.
2 1 . . . Kd6 22. Re6#) 22.NdS+ Kf5 20.Rxd6 (20./4 Bxg2 2 1 .Qxg2 Bx/4 +
23.Ne3+ KeS 24.Ng4+ Kd6 25.Re6# 2 2 . Nd2 Rxd2!) 20 ... Qxd6 2 1 .Qxd6
Perhaps this is what Santo Roman had cxd6 and Black wins. 18...Bd6
hoped for.; B) 20 ... KfS 2 1 .Rfl + Kxe5 19.Nc3? 1 9.Rd3 was correct. 1 9 ... Qxe4
22.Re I+ Kf6 23.NdS+ KfS 24.Ne3+ ( 1 9. . . Ng5 20./3 Be5 is a an alternative
Kf6 25.Ng4+ Kf5 26 Be6# 18.BxfS strategy.) 20.QxfJ Qxf3 2 1 .RxfJ Be4
Bxf8 19.Ne4 fS 20.Nxa5?! 20.NgS 22.Nd2 1 Bxf3 23.Nxf3 Re2 may not be
Qb6+ 2 1.Kh I h6 is also good for enough. 24.Rfl Bc5 25 .Nf4 Rxf2
24
 Selected Games of Joel Benj a m i n
26.Rxf2 Be3+ 27 .Rd2 Bxf4 28.Kd l
Bxd2 29.Nxd2 is not likely to be won
by Black. 19...Bxe4 20.Nxe4 Qxe4
21.Qxe4 Rxe4 22.Rd3 NgS 23.h4 Ne6
24.gS White runs out of patience.
24 ...fxgS 25.hxgS Rg4 26.Ne3 Rxg5
27.Rxh7 Rgl + 28.Rdl Rxdl+
29.Nxdl B£4+ 30.Ne3 Bh6! 31.Kbl
Ng5 3 2.Bxg7 Nxh7 33.Bxh6 0-1

37 Ivanov,! zs,o - Benjamin 2570

[A 1 6] U.S. Championship, 1992 A last trick, before acknowledging that
the sacrifice is only good for half a
Having dispatch Alexander Ivanov in
point. 20.Qg4?? 20.Qe3 draws.
round two, Igor Ivanov is taken down
20... Nf3+ 2 1 . Kg2 Nh4+ 2 2 . Kg l
in the 1 4th round. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6
(22 Kh3 ? 1 Qxfl + 2 3 Kxh4 Qg2 !)
3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 22 ... Nf3+ etc. 20 ...Nf3+ 0-1
6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.eS 0-0 9.Qe2
Nc6 10.e6 Bxe6 l l .Bxe6 fxe6
12.Qxe6+ Kh8 13.0-0 38 lbragimov,J mo - Benjamin 2570
[E52] Marshall Chess Club lnt'I., 1992
More counter-punching as Benjamin
defends his home turn in New York
City. I.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3
0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.a3 Bxc3+
8.bxc3 Ba6 9.cxdS exd5 10.0-0 cS
l 1.Bb2 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nbd7 13.c4
cxd4 14.Qxd4 dxc4 15.Qxc4 Rc8
1 6.Qh4 Rc2 17.Rabl Qc7 I8.e4 Qc4
19.Rfel Re8 20.Bd4 Re2 21.Rxe2
Qxe2 22.Rel Qd3 23.eS NdS 24.Qg4
Even without the participation of the Re7 25.h3 NfS
rook at a8, the kingside attack looks
promising enough for Joel to invest the
exchange. 13 ... Rxf3!? 14.gxf3 Ne5
15.f4 Nf3+ 1 6.Kg2 Nh4+ 17.Kgl
Nf3+ 18.Kg2 Nh4+ 19.Kgl Qd3

25
 19.f3 Rxd l + 20.Rxdl Rd8 21.RxdS+
Bxd8 22.Qd2 Bg5 23.Qd4 Qxd4
24.Nxd4

Benjamin has a solid defense and a

queenside majority. lbragimov decides
to let the a-pawn go but gets little in
return. 26.QcS 26.Bb2 was wiser. The knight is every bir the march of
26...QxaJ 27.Rci Nf4 28.Kh2 N4e6 rhe bishop here, and the queenside
The defense cannot be penetrated, and majority is cause for concern. 24...B£4
the extra pawns proved decisive. 25.h3 Be3 26.NbS Kg7 27.Nd6 b6
29.Be3 Qa4 30.Rc4 Qd7 31.Nh4 Re8 28.c3 Kf6 29.Kc2 B£4 30.NbS a6
32.Qa6 Ng6 33.Nxg6 hxg6 34.Ra4 3l.Nd4 Bd6 32.Kd3 e5 33.Ne2 Ke6
Qc7 35.f4 Re7 36.Rc4 Qb7 37.RcS+ 34.c4 f4 A risky move. 35.Nc3 Bc5
Kh7 38.Qxb7 Rxb7 39.g4 Rc7 40.RaS 36.64 Bgl 37.NdS a5 38.Ke4 fS+
Rc3 41.fS Rxe3 42.fxe6 fxe6 43.Rxa7 39.Kd3 axb4 40.axb4 Kd6 40 ... bS
Rxe5 44.Rb7 b5 45.h4 g5 46.hxgS 4 1 .Nc7+ 41.Kc3 B£2 42.Kb3 b5
Rxg5 47.Kg3 Kg6 48.Rb6 Kf6 43.Nc3 bxc4+ 44.Kxc4 Bh4 45.bS
49.Kh4 Rd5 50.RbS g6 5 1 .Rf8+ Ke7 Bd8 46.NdS Bg5 47.66 Kc6 Psakhis
52.RgS g5+ 53.KhS Kd6 54.RbS Kc5 allowed the pawn to advance this far,
55.ReS b4 0-1 so that the knight is tied to its defense,
and the king must guard the knight.
39 Benjamin 2570 - Psakhis,l 2570 Benjamin lets the pawn go so that the
king can infiltrate. 48.Nb4+ Kxb6
((1 OJ Reshevsky Memorial, 1992
49.KdS e4 50.fxe4 fxe4 51.Kxe4 Kc7
A bit of endgame wizardry against a 52.KfS Kd7 53.Nd3 Ke8 54.Kg6 Joel
Soviet and Israeli champion. l .e4 e6 wisely goes after the h-pawn, rather
2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 than the fpawn. 54.Nxf4 Kf7 is
5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Nf3 h6 unlikely to lose. 54...Ke7 55.NeS Ke6
8.Bh4 c5 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.Bxd7+ 56.Nf7 Be7 57.Nxh6 f3! 58.gxf3 KeS
Qxd7 1l.Qe2 Be7 12.0-0-0 0-0 59.NfS Bf8 60.h4 Kf4 61.hS Kxf3
13.dxcS Qa4 14.Kbl Rfd8 15.a3 Bxc5 62.Ng7 1-0
16.Bxf6 gxf6 l 7.Nd2 Be7 18.Nb3 £5

26
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin

40 Gulko,B ms - Benjamin 2620 41.Rc6 Kg7 42.Kc l Kf7 43.Rxb6

Nx66 44.RcJ Bd7 45.Re3 Ne4!
(A54] U.S. Championship, 1 993
46.R63 46.Rxe4 13xb5 46...e3 47.Kd l
Benjamin defeats Gulko yet again, rhis Nd6 4S.Ke2 48.b61 ! hangs the
ti111e in a long and complex endgame. exchange to 48 .. . Ba4; 48.Rd3 Bg4+
l .e4 eS 2.NcJ Nf6 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 e4 49.Ke I Nxb5 50.Rxe.3 Nd4 5 i . Re4
This defense has been under scrutiny Nf3+ 52.Kf2 Nxh2 53.Kg3 BfS! also
by Benjamin for many years, as he is wins. 4S... Bx65+ 49.Kxe3 Kf6 50.Rb4
writing about it in a forthcoming book. KeS 5 I.Kf2 Bd3 52.Ra4 Be4 53.Rb4
5.NgS BfS 6.f3 exf3 7 .gxf3 eS S.dS g6 Bds 54.Ra4 NfS 55.RaS gS 56.RbS
9.e4 BeS 10.Be3 Bg7 l 1.Qd2 N6d7 hS 57.Ras Ke4 5S.Ra4+ KeS 59.RaS
12.f4 0-0 13.Rgl a6 14.a4 ReS g4 60.R65 h4 6 1 .RaS Nd6 62.Kg i
1 5.Bd3 NfS 16.Rg3 Ng4 I7.Bg l h6 Ne4 63.Ra4 Kf4 64.Kg2 Ke3 65.Ra3+
IS.Nh3 fs I9.0-0-0 BxcJ 20.QxcJ Ke2 66.RaS NcJ+ 67.Kg l Ke !
fxe4 2 1 .Be2 Nf6 22.fS BxfS 23.Be3 6S.Ra I+ Kd2 69.Kf2 Ne4+ 70.Kfl
Kh7 24.Nf4 Qe7 25.Rfl QeS 26.Qel NgS 71.RaS Be4+ 72.Kf2 Nh3+
65 27.ex65 ax65 2S.Bx65 Re6S 73.Kg2 Nf4+ 74.Kf2 Nh3+ 75.Kg2
29.Qf2 29.Qd2 gets demolished by Bd3 76.Ra4 Be2 77.Ra2+ Ke3
29 ... Rxb5 30.axb5 Ra l + 3 1 .Kc2 Rxfl 7S.Ra3+ Bd3 79.Ra7 Be4+ S0.Kf l
29...RxbS 30.axbS NxdS 3 1 .K6 1 Nxf4 Bd3+ Sl.Kg2 Nf4+ S2.Kg l Kf3
32.Qxf4 Qxf4 33.Rxf4 3 3 . Bxf4 11 is SJ.Rf7 Be4 S4.Rf5 BdS SS.RfS gJ
blown away by 3 3 ... e3+ 34.Kc l Ra ] # Finally, Black can break through'
33...Ne6 34.Rf2 dS S6.hxg3 hxg3 S7.Kf l Kg4 0-1

4 1 Wojtkiewicz,A mo - Benjamin ms
(D78] Hudson International, 1 993
Another example of maneuvering in
home territory until opportunity
presents itself. 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3
Bg7 4.Bg2 e6 5.d4 dS 6.Q63 0-0
7.Nc3 dxe4 S.Qxe4 BfS 9.0-0 N6d7
10.eJ N66 l I.Qe2 Ne4 12.Rdl NxcJ
13.6xc3 Na4 14.Bd2 Be4 15.Bel Qc7
16.Bf l h6 17.Raci eS IS.c4 66
The situation is very bad for White, so ! 9.Nd2 B67 20.N61 exd4 21.exd4
Gulko tries to shake things up. 35.64!? Raes 22.NcJ NxcJ 23.Bxc3 e6
d4 36.6xe5 dxe3 37.Rxe3 NxcS Black 24.B62 Rfe8 25.Bg2 Bxg2 26.Kxg2
has a large 111aterial advantage, but the Q67+ 27.f3 Qa6 2S.Rd3 Re7 29.Ra3
endgame is nevertheless nor so simple. Qb7 30.Rb3 Rd8 J l .Rd3 Qa6
3S.Re2 Nd7 39.Re7 RbS 40.Rb3 Rb6

27
32.Kh3? An incomprehensible move. White now offers a pawn, but the
One nf the kingsidc pawns should penal ty would be tripled pawns, too
have advanced. 32 ... QcS! The threat of high a price. 1 6.eS Nc6 1 6 ... BxeS
disnwncd check, combined with the I 7 . Bxe.5 dxe5 1 8.QgS Qb6 1 9 . Qxe S
real threat of Rxc4, brings the point Rh7 20.QgS! is very strong.; 1 6 . . . dxeS
h"me quickly. 33.Rddl eS+ 34.KgZ is similarly met by 1 7.QgS . l 7.exd6
cxd4 J S.Qd3 Re7 36.Re l Re3 37.QdZ exd6 1 8.0-0 1 8.0-0-0 would also have
hS JS.Red ! Rxe l 39.Rxel Qxc4 been good, since 1 8 ... Bh6 J 9.Bf4 Qf6
40.Re7 Qxa2 0-1 20. Bxh6 Qxh6 2 l .Qxh6 Rxh6
2 2 . Rxd6 is a superior endgame for
42 Benjamin ms - Kaidanov,G 2620
White. 18 ... Qb6+ 1 9.Bf2 Qc7
l 9 ... Qxb2 ZO.Qxd6 Qxc3 2 1 . Rad I is a
[B90] Hudson International, 1 993 killer. 20.QgS Be5 20 ... NeS allows an
13cnjamin was an early battler in the attack from the flank with 2 l .Bh4 1
wars surrounding the 6.Be3 Ng4 2 1 .BgJ Qh7 2 1 . . . Qb6+ 1 1 2 2 Rf2 Qxb2
variation of the Najdorf, which is still 2 3 . BxeS Qxa l + 24. Rtl Qxf l + 2 5 . Kxfl
all the rage. The game heats up Nxe5 26.Qg7 0-0-0 2 7 .Ne4 is not so
quickly. l . e4 cS 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 clear. 22.Qxg4! Bxg3 23.Qxg3 0-0-0
4.Nxd4 Nf6 S.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 24.Rae l eS 25.Ne4 dS 26.NgS Qxc2?!
7 .BgS h6 8.Bh4 gS 9.Be2 Bg7 10.Bg3 27.Rf2 Qa4 28.Nf7! RdgS 29.Qf3 RfS
hS l l .Bxg4 Bxg4 1 2.0 Be6 1 3 .QdZ 30.QxdS Qb4 J 1 .Ref l Nd4 3 2.Nd6+
g4 14.Nxe6 fxe6 1 5.fxg4 hxg4 Kc7 33.Rf7+ Rxf7 34.Rxf7+ KdS
35.Nb S + ! 1 -0

43 Bareyev,E mo - Benjamin 2620

[E38] PCA Qualifier, 1993

l .d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3 .Nc3 B64 4.Qc2 c5
5.dxc5 Na6 6.a3 Qa5 7 .Bd2 Nxc5

28
 Selected Games of J oel Benjamin
8.b3 dS!? Benjamin's innovation. 32.h3 Bxg2 ,32 ... Bd S' 33.Kxg2 Qf4
9.Ra2 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Qb6 l l.b4? 34.Qxf4? White had to try 34.Qe2
Taking up the challenge with l l . Bxf6 though 34 . . .Qd4 35.Nc4 QdS+ 36.Kg3
would have been wiser. l 1...Nce4 b6 is still a probable win as the rook
12.cS Qc7 13.Bal ? 1 3 . Bxf6 was still gains more open files. 34...Rxf4 The
correct. 13...Ng4! endgame is a clear win. 35.c6 bxc6
36.Nxc6 a6 37.NdS eS 38.Nc6 e4
39.Ne7+ Kf7 40.NfS Ke6 0-1

44 Finegold,B wo - Benjamin ,.,o

[E33) U.S. Championship, 1994
White plays too ambitiously in the
center and pays the price. l.d4 Nf6
2.c4 e6 3.NcJ Bb4 4.Qc2 Nc6 5.Nf3
d6 6.BgS h6 7.Bd2 Qe7 8.a3 Bxc3
9.Bxc3 0-0 10.e3 aS l l.Be2 a4 12.h3
14.Bxg7 1 4.Nh3 Nxh2 1 5.Bxg? RgS eS 13.dS NbS 14.g4 Nfd7 15.0-0-0
1 6.Ba l Nxf l 1 7 . Kxfl e5 would have NcS 16.Rdgl g6 17.Nd2 Nba6 18.h4
been clearly better for Black. Bd7 19.gS h5 20.e4 c6 21.£4 cxdS
14...Ngxf2 15.BxhS Nxhl 16.Nf3 £6 22.cxdS Nb3+ 23.Nxb3 axb3 24.Qdl
Black stands better. Of course the NcS 25.fxeS Nxe4 26.Qxb3 Nxc3
trapped minor pieces puts a lot of 27.bxc3 QxeS
tactics on the board. 17.e3 Kf7 18.g4!
The best practical chance. 18...Bd?
19.Bxf6 Kxf6 20.Qb2+ Kf7 21.Qd4
KgS 22.Bg2 Nhf2 23.Rxf2 Nxf2
24.Kxf2 RfS 25.Kgl BbS 26.NgS ReS
26 ... Qe7?? would lose the queen to
2 7.Nxe6 1 27.Nf3 27.BxdS ' ? exdS
28.QxdS+ is not dangerous if Black
plays carefully, for example 28 ... Kg?
29.QfS Qd7 1 30.Qxh?+ Kf6 3 1 .Qh6+
Ke5 . 27...Qf7 28.e4?! 28.NeS Qf6
29.Nf3 Qg6 30.h3 Rf8 3 l .Kh2 was White's pawns are very weak and care
relatively best. 28...dxe4 29.Qxe4 is needed. 28.Bdl ? 28.Re l Qe3+
29.NeS? loses quickly to 29 ... Qf4 29.Kb2 Qd2+ is also difficult for
30.Qxe4 Qc l + 3 l . Kf2 Qxa3-+ ; White. 28...RfcS 29.Kb2 RcS 30.Rel
29.NgS Qf4 is also good for Black. Qf4 31.Rhfl Qd2+ 32.Qc2 QxdS
29...Bc6 30.Qe3 Qf6 30 ... eS! would
have been more efficient. 31.NeS! RfS
29
33. Rf4 RcaS 34.Rd4 QcS 35.a4 Bxa4 O Be7 8.Be3 N6d7 9.g4 Bg6 10.Nd2
0-1 dS J ! .13 Qc7 I 2.eS hS 1 3 . £4 hxg4
14.hxg4 The open h-file will lead to
Browne's defeat. 1 4... Ne4 1 5.Ncxe4
45 Benjamin 2610 - Seirawan,Y m1
dxe4
[B 1 2) U.S. Championship, 1 994
Benjamin steals a µawn and grinds
Seirawan in the endgame. 1 .e4 c6 2.d4
dS 3.eS BfS 4.h4 hS S.c4 e6 6.Nc3
Ne7 7 .Nge2 Nd7 8.Ng3 Bg6 9.BgS £6
10.exf6 gxf6 l 1 .Be3 N66 1 2.63 dxc4
1 3.6xc4 Qc7 1 4.a4 0-0-0 1 5.aS Nd7
!6.Be2 NfS I 7.NxfS BxfS ! 8.a6 66
I 9.0-0 NeS 20.cS 6xc5 2 1 .Q63 Ng4
22.Bf4 Bd6 23.Bxd6 Rxd6 24.dxcS
Rd4 25.g3 Q68 26.Rf6 I Qx63
27.Rxb3 eS 28.Bf3 e4 29.Ra6! Kd7 1 6.£5 exfS 1 7.gxfS NxeS! A surprising
shot. l8.Nxe4 1 8. B1411; 1 8.dxeS QxeS
gets ro the White king quickly.
!8 ... Nd3 19.Rf3 Qh2+ 20.Kfl Nxb2
2 1 .Qb l BxfS 22.Nf2 Bh3+ 23.Rxh3
Rxh3 24.Qx62 Rxe3 25.Qxb7 RdS
26.Bc4 KfS 27.Qxc6 Qf4 28.Rdl Rf3
0- 1

47 Benjamin 2s10 - Shabalov,A 2•00

[B0 1 ] U.S. Championship, 1 994
30.R67+ Ke6 3 1 .Re ! NeS 32.Bxe4 Benjamin's unusual a nti-Scandinavian
Bxe4 33.Rxe4 Rd3 34.Ne2 KdS strategy pays off when he builds uµ a
35.Rf4 ReS 36.Kg2 KxcS 37.Rxf6 tremendous arrack. l . e4 dS 2.exdS
Ra3 38.RfS Kc4 39.Rxhs Rxa6 QxdS 3.Nc3 QaS 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.g3 c6
40.Rc7 Time 1-0 6.Bg2 Bg4 7 .0-0 e6 8.h3 BhS 9.d3
Nbd7 10.Ne2 Be7 ! 1 .Bd2 Qc7 1 2.64
46 Browne,W m1 - Benjamin 2610 0-0 1 3.Rb l RadS l4.Nf4 Bg6 I S.Rel
RfeS 1 6.Qe2 BfS I 7 .Nh4 gS 1 8.NxfS
(B07) U.S. Championship, 1 994
exfS l 9.Ne6 fxe6 20.Qxe6+ Kg7
Another game with Browne, another 2 1 .QxfS h6 22.Bc3 Nf8 23.Re3 Rd6
win for Joel' 1 .d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 24.Rbel KgS 25.h4
c6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.h3 BhS 7.0-

30
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin

A rense siruarion. Perhaps Shabalov Black rries ro gain mobiliry by trading a

should have rerreared rhe queen ro d8 pair of rooks, but rhe consequences are
here, overprorecring imporranr dark serious. 28 ...Rc6 29.Rael Nd3
squares. 25... N6h7?! 26.QeS! Nf6 The 30.Rxc6 Kxc6 3l .Re6+ Kd7 32.Rxa6
loss of rime cosrs Shabalov dearly. Nxb2 33.BdS! Black's minor piece
27.hxgS Bd8 28.QfS Rxe3 29.Rxe3 cannot help defend. 33...Rb8 34.Bc6+
hxg5 30 Qxg: • Qg7 31.QfS Rd7 Kc7 35.dS fS 36.Nr, :, ' A slight
32.Bh3 Rf7 33.Qc8 Bb6 34.Rf3 N6d7 diversion ro reach e6. 36...Bh6
1-0 .
37.Ne6+ Kd6 38.f4 Nc4 39.B67+ Kd7
40.Bc6+ Kd6 41.BxbS+ Nb6 42.Bc6
f
48 Benjamin 2610 - Gavrikov,V 2600 Bbck is sufocating, and blunders.
42... NxdS?? 43.B67+ 1-0
(BZZ] Credit Suisse, 1 994
A nke arrack in rhe endgame brings 49 Benjamin mo - Sokolov,1 zm
home rhe point. l .e4 cS 2.c3 Nf6 3.eS Donner Memorial, 1 994
[(69]
Nds 4.Nf3 Nc6 s.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 dS
7.exd6 Qxd6 8.0-0 Be6 9.Na3 c4 1.e4 eS 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.BbS a6 4.Bxc6
IO.Bez g6 l l .d4 cxd3 12.NbS Qd7 dxc6 5.0-0 f6 6.d4 Bg4 7.c3 Bd6
13.Qxd3 Qxd3 14.Bxd3 0-0-0 8.Be3 Ne7 9.Nbd2 Qd7 IO.dxeS fxeS
IS.Bez a6 I6.Nbd4 Nxd4 17.cxd4 f6 10 ... BxeS 1 1 .NxeS fxeS ( 1 L . Bxd l
18.BdZ NdS 19.Rfel Kd7 20.Bdl 1 2. Nxd? Be2 1 3 Rfe 1 ) 12 .f3 Be6
Bg7 21.Ba4+ Kd6 22.BaS Rc8 23.Bb3 l3.Nb3 Qxdl 1 4.Rfxd l 66 l i .h3 Be6
RheS 24.Bb4+ Nxb4 25.Rxe6+ Kc7 1 1 . .. BxtJ l2.Qxf3 0-0-0 1 3.Qg4;
26.Ba4 65 27 .Bb3 Kd7 28.a3 1 1 . . . BhS I 2.NxeS 12.NgS l 2 .c4 Ng6
1 3.cS Be7 1 4.Qc2 0-0 1 5.Qc3
( 1 5 H[d l Bf6 16.Ng5) ! 5 . . Bf6 1 6.Nc4.
12... Bg8 13.QhS+ Ng6 Or 13 ... g6
wirh A) 1 4.Qh6 NcS 1 5.f4 Bf8
( I 5 ... �xf4 1 6. Bd4 BfB l 7.Qh4 Bg7)
31
1 6.Qh4 exf4 l 7.Bd4 Bg7; B) 1 4.Qf3 1 4.QfJ BfS 15.Bd2 N64 1 6.Ne4
1 4. h6 ( 1 4 0-0-0 1 5. Q/6) ! 5.Qf6 N6d5 17.NgJ Nd7 1 8.Radl Qc7
hxg5 1 6.Qxh8 0-0-0 l 7. Bxg5 14.Rfdl 1 9.NhS f6 20.Ng6 Bd6
0-0-0 1 5.Nfl 1 5.Nb3 15...QeS
16.NgJ h6 17.Nf3 Be6 1 7. . . Nf4
18.Qxe8 Rxe8 l 9.Rd2 Be6; l 7 ... Bf7
1 8.NfS Rg8 ( 1 8 ... Nf4 1 9.Qg4) 18.NfS

Black's pieces are not in position to

defend, so Benjamin pounces on his
helpless prey. 2 1.Nxg7! Kxg7 22.QhS
Bxh2+ 23.Kfl Bf4 24.Nxf4 Nxf4
18...Qf7 1 8 .. Rd7 l 9.Rd2 Nf4; 25.Bxf4 Qxf4 26.Bxe6 Re7 27.RdJ
!8 ... Bxf5 1 9.QxfS + Rd7 20.Rd2 Rf8 Raes 28.RgJ+ This effectively ends
was a more promising defense. matters. 28...QxgJ 29.fxgJ Rxe6
19.Rxd6! cxd6 l 9 ... Rxd6 20.Qxg6 30.QxeS RxeS 31.RxeS Kf7 32.RaS
Qxg6 2 1 .Ne7+ Kb8 22.Nxg6 is very Ke6 33.Rxa7 65 34.Ke2 fS 35.KfJ
strong for White. 20.Qxg6 Qxg6 Nf6 36.aJ Ng4 37.63 Nf6 38.a4 Ne4
2 1.Ne7+ Kc7 22.Nxg6 RheS 23.a4 39.aS Nd2+ 40.Kf4 Nx63 4 1.a6 1 -0
Rd7 24.aS BgS 25.Nd2 Bh7 26.Nh4
dS 27.exdS Rxds 27 . . . cxdS 28.Nhf3 is 51 De Firmian,N 25so - Benjamin 2620
also bad for Black. 28.NhfJ Bd3 29.c4
[B40] New York Open, 1994
Rd6 JO.Rel Kd7 3 1 .BcS Rde6
32.ReJ e4 33.Nel 1-0 Joel is down the exchange in the
endgame, but his pawns provide all the
50 Benjamin mo - van der Sterren,P 2•05 force necessary to win. 1.e4 cS 2.Nf3
e6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.g3 Nge7 5.Bg2 dS
[AB] SKA Munich, 1 994
6.0-0 d4 7.Ne2 g6 8.d3 Bg7 9.Nh4 0-
Paul van der Sterren is a theoretician, 0 10.£4 fS 1 1 .eS gS 1 2.NfJ g4 1 3.Nd2
so Joel deviates from his usual play. RbS 14.Nc4 66 1 5.Nd6 Bd7 1 6.cJ
1.c4 e6 2.e4 dS 3.exdS exdS 4.cxdS NcS 17.Nxc8 RxcS 1 8.cxd4 Nxd4
Nf6 5.B65+ N6d7 6.Nc3 Be7 7.d4 0- 19.Nxd4 cxd4 20.Bd2 Bc6 2 1.Qb3
0 8.Nf3 N66 9.0-0 N6xd5 IO.Rel c6 Qd7 22.Racl Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Kf7
11.Bc4 Be6 12.B63 h6 13.NeS Res 24.Kgl hS 25.a4 RfdS 26.B64 Q67

32
 Selected Games of Joel Benjamin
27.Bd6 h4 28.gxh4 Bh6 29.RxcS
52 Benjamin 2565 - Kaidanov,G 25so
Rxc8 30.Bb4 Rc6 3 1 .Bd2 Qc8
3 2.Qdl Qa6 33.Bel Qc8 34.Bd2 Qa6 [B50] U.S. Championship, 1996
3 5.Qb3 Qc8 36.hS Rc2 3 7.Bc3 Re2
Joel has scored well against Kaidanov
38.Qdl Rxh2 39.Kxh2 dxc3 40.bxc3
in recent Championships. 1 .e4 cS
Qxc3
2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 g6 5.0-0
Bg7 6.BbS+ Nc6 7.d4 0-0 8.ds NaS
9.Rel e6 1 0.dxe6 Bxe6 1 1 .Ba4 dS
1 2.eS Ne4 1 3 .Nbd2 B£5 14.Nxe4
dxe4 1 5.QxdS Raxd8 1 6.NgS RdS
1 7 .e6 fxe6 18.Nxe4 a6 19.Ng3 bS
20.Bdl Bd3 2 1 .Bg4

At the end of first time control White

is up a full exchange, but the White
pawns are very weak and the rook
cannot get to a useful open file.
4 1.Kg3 Qd4 42.Qd2 Bf8!? First Joel
activates the bishop. 42 ...Qxa4 was
probably safer. 43.Rdl BcS 44.Qe2 Benjamin has achieved a solid
Kg7 45.Qd2 Kh6! The bold king grabs advantage. 2 1 . ..KhS? Kaidanov
the h-pawn, not fearing the resulting jettisons the pawn, but doesn't get
open files. 46.Rfl 46.Rh l 46 ... KxhS! much in return. 2 1 ...BfS was best.
47.Qh2+ Kg6 48.QhS Playing for 22.Bxe6 ReS 23.RxeS BxeS 24.Bh6
mate at all costs, but the tactics have Re8 25.B£7 Re7 26.Rdl c4 27.BdS
been miscalculated. 48 ... Qxd3+ B£6 28.£3 Rd7 29.Rel Rd8 30.Re6
49.Kh2 Kf7 S0.Qf6+ Ke8 51.Qxe6+ The a-pawn is doomed. 30 ... Bh4
Kd8 52.QgS+ Kc7 53.Qh7+ Kb8 3 1.Rxa6 Rxd5 3 2.RxaS Kg8 33.a4
54.Rgl White enters a hopeless queen Bd8 34.RxbS RxbS 35.axbS B66+
and pawn endgame. 54 ... Bxgl + 36.Kh l Kf7 37.Ne4 Ke6 38.Bg7 KdS
5 5 .Kxgl Qg3+ 56.Khl Qel + 5 7.Kg2 39.Bd4 Bd8 40.Kgl Bc2 4 1 .66 Kc6
Qe2+ 58.Kgl Qe3+ 59.Kg2 Qf3+ 42.Kf2 1 -0
60.Kgl Time conrrol reached, time to
go home. 0 - 1

33
 Qxh3+ 50.Kf2 Qg3+ 51.Kfl Qd3+
53 Svidler,P mo - Benjamin 2sao
52.Kf2 Qe3+ 53.Kfl Qf3+ 54.Kel
(C60)World Team Championship, 1997 Qxe4+ Benjamin has methodically
Svidler is a rising star, now in the top picked off the White pawns and is now
ren in the world. l .e4 eS 2.NfJ Nc6 winning. 55.Kfl QfJ+ 56.Kel Qe3+
3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Bes 6.c3 57.Kfl Qd3+ 58.Kf2 Be3+ 59.Kel h6
bS 7.Bc2 d6 8.a4 Bg4 9.h3 BhS 10.b4 60.QcS+ Kh7 61.QfS+ QxfS 62.gxfS
Bb6 11.axbS axbS 12.RxaS Qxa8 Kg8 63.NaS Kf7 64.Ke2 B66 65.Kd3
13.Na3 Nd8 14.NxbS Nxe4 15.d4 0-0 Kf6 66.Ke4 cS 67.Nc6 c4 68.65 c3
16.dxeS dxeS 17.QeZ fS Black has 69.Nb4 Bas 70.NdS+ KgS 71.KdJ
ad1ieved equality, at least. 18.KhZ c6 e4+ 72.Kc2 KxfS 73.b6 Bxb6
l 9.Na3 Bc7 20.g4 Bf7 20 . . . Nxc3 74.Nxb6 hS 75.NdS h4 76.Kxc3 h3
2 1 .Qc4+ Nd5 22.gxh5 e4+ 1 must have 77.Ne3+ Kf4 78.Nfl gS 0-1
been overlooked. 2 1.Bxe4 fxe4
22.NgS Bg6 23.Qc4+ Kh8 24.Nxe4 54 Benjamin 2sao - Kaidanov,G 1&00
White is clearly better now. 24...Ne6 [C77) U.S. Championship, 1 997
25.fJ Nf4 26.Bxf4 Rxf4 27.Nbl Bb6
28.NbdZ Rf8 29.Kg2 Be3 30.Qe2 Bf4 Another fine endgame win against
31.Nb3 Bxe4 32.fxe4 Qa3 33.QcZ Kaidanov. l.e4 eS 2.NfJ Nc6 3.BbS
Qa6 34.NcS Qc4 35.Qd3 Qg8 36.Qd7 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Nc3 bS 6.B63 Be7
Rd8 37.Qe6 Rd2+ 38.RfZ Qd8 7.d3 d6 8.Nds NaS 9.Nxe7 Qxe7
39.Nb3 Rd3! 10.0-0 0-0 I1.BgS h6 l 2.Bh4 gS
13.Bg3 Bg4 l4.h3 BhS 15.QeZ Kg7
16.QeJ Nd7 17.NdZ Nb6 18.c3 Nxb3
l 9.axb3 aS 20.d4 £6 21.Qd3 c6 22.£3
Bf7 23.Rfdl Rfb8 24.Bf2 Be6 25.b4
a4 26.Qe2 Qc7 27.Be3 Nc4 28.Nxc4
Bxc4 29.Qf2 Qe7 30.RdZ Bb3 31.h4
Rg8 32.dxeS fxeS 33.hxgS hxgS
34.Qg3 Kf7 35.Kf2 Rg7 36.Rhl Qf6
37.RhS Rag8 38.Bb6 Ke8 39.Kgl Qf4
40.Qxf4 gxf4

This move turns the tables, and

Benjamin invades enemy territory
despite the weakness of his own back
rank. 40.Rf3 RxfJ 4 1 .Kxf3 Qd3+
42.KfZ Qe3+ 43.Kfl Qf3+ 44.Kel
Qxc3+ 45.KfZ Qe3+ 46.Kfl QfJ+
47.Kel Qg3+ 48.Ke2 Qe3+ 49.Kfl

34
 Selected Games of Joel Benjam i n

A r rhe start o f rhe second time control 28.Nf6+! KhS 29.Qh4 gxf6 30.Qxh6+
White's advantage is small, bur it KgS 3 I.Rd4 fS 32.QgS+ KfS 33.Qh6+
grows. 41.g4! dS 4 l . ..lxg3 42 .Rxd6 KgS 34.QgS+ KfS 35.Qf6 Bes
Ke7 43.BcS is overpowering. 42.RxeS+ 36.QxeS f6 37.Qxf6+ Rf7 38.Qh6+
Re7 43.Rxe7+ Kxe7 44.Rd4 Kd7 Kg8 39.Qg6+ KfS 40.Qh6+ KgS
45.eS RfS 46.e6+! Kxe6 47.Bc7 ReS 41.RdS Rfe7 42.Qg6+ KfS 43.Qf6+
48.Bxf4 Two connected passed pawns 1-0
are enough. 48 ... Kf6 49.Kf2 Rh8
S0.Rd2 Rh I 5I.BeJ d4 52.Bxd4+ 56 Benjamin �sso - Christiansen, L mo
Kg6 53.KgJ BdS 54.f4 Rel SS.Rh2
[CO2) U.S. U.S. Championship, 1997
Rdl 56.fS+ Kf7 S7.gS Rfl 58.Rf2
Rgl + 59.Kf4 Rel 60.g6+ Ke7 6I.f6+ Larry Christiansen has had great
Ke6 62.£7 1-0 success against Benjamin, but Joel
turned the rabies in the 1 997
55 Benjamin mo - Kaidanov,G 2600 Championship. He let rhe win slip
here bur won rwo larer games, as we
[E03) U .S. Championship, 1997
shall see. l .e4 e6 2.d4 dS 3.eS cS 4.c3
The kingside lies dormant fo r a long Nc6 S.NfJ Bd7 6.Be2 Nh6 7.aJ cxd4
time, but Benjamin eventually gets 8.cxd4 NfS 9.Nc3 Rc8 10.0-0 Be7
around to blowing it up. I.d4 dS 2.c4 11.BdJ!? Ncxd4 A new and
e6 3.NfJ Nf6 4.gJ dxc4 S.Qa4+ Nbd7 complicated plan. IZ.Nxd4 Nxd4
6.Bg2 a6 7.Qxc4 65 8.Qc6 Ra7 9.BeJ 13.Qg4 Nb3 14.Qxg7 RfS IS.Rb!
NdS 10.Qcl cS 11.NcJ NxcJ 12.QxcJ Nxcl 16.Rfxcl Qb6 17.Qg4 KdS
Nb6 13.dxcS NdS 14.Qd2 NxeJ 18.Rc2 £6 19.exf6 Rxf6 I 9 ... Bxf61 1 was
15.QxeJ QaS + 16.Nd2 Qb4 17.Rcl to be considered. 20.Rel h6 2I.h3 a6
Rc7 18.0-0 Qxb2 19.Rfdl Be7 20.c6 22.RceZ RcS 23.Qg7 Qd6 24.ReS
0-0 21.Rbl QaJ 22.NbJ BdS 23.RdJ
Re7 24.Rbdl Bc7 25.NcS Qxa2
26.Nd7 RfeS 27.QgS h6

35
 57 Benjamin mo - lvanov,A 256s
((92) U.S. Championship, 1 997
Joel rakes on Alexander Ivanov on the
latter's home turf, in the main lines of
the Spanish Game. Benjamin applies
the Spanish Inquisition and makes
Ivanov suffer. l . e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6
3.B65 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5 .0-0 Be7 6.Rel
65 7 .B63 d6 S.c3 0-0 9.h3 B67 10.d4
ReS l 1 .N6d2 BfS 1 2.d5 N68 1 3 .Nf!
N6d7 1 4.N3h2 Nc5 1 5 .Bc2 c6
24 ... Rxc3! 25.6xc3 Qxa3 26.Bg6!
16.dxc6 Bxc6 1 7.BgS Be7 1 S.Bxf6
Benjamin offers the remaining c-pawn.
Bxf6 ! 9.Ng4 BgS 20.64 Ne6 2 1 .QfJ
26 ... Qxc3 27 .R5e3 Qd2 2S.Rl e2
a5 22.aJ Qc7 23.NgeJ g6 24.B63
28.R3e2 1 loses to 28 . . . Qg5 . 2S ... Qd4?
ax64 25.ax64 Bxe3 26.QxeJ Nf4
28 . . . Qd l + 29.Re l Qd2 would have
27.gJ Nhs 2S.Nh2 Nf6 29.Ng4 Nxg4
maintained the balance. 29.Bf7! Qd l +
30.hxg4 Rxal 3 1 .Rxa! Ras 3 2.RxaS+
30.Rel Qc2 3 1 .R3e2 Qf5 32.Bxe6
BxaS
Bxe6 33.Rxe6 Qxf2+ 34.Khl Rxe6
35.QgS+! Kc7 36.Qxe6 The fireworks
are over. Black has a material
advantage bur the rook and queen are
a powerful attacking force and the
bishop is not in a position to help with
the defense. 36 ... Bg5 3 7.Qe5 + Kc6
3S.Qc3+ Qc5 39.Re6+ K65 40.Q63+
Ka5 4 1 .Qa2+ K64 42.Q62+ Ka5
43.Qa2+ K64 44.Q62+ Ka5 45.Re ! !
6 5 The only move. 46.Qa l +?
Tempting, bm more accurate was
46.Qa2+ Kb6 47.Ra l d4 48.Qxa6+ Not a lot to work with here bur White
Kc7 49.Qa8 1 d3 50.Ra7+ Kd6 does have the better bishop and a
5 1 .QbS+ Kd5 5 2 . Rc7 1 and White pawn srrucrure that is easier to defend.
wins. 46 ... K66 47.Re6+ K67 3 3 .QdJ Bc6 34.g5 Qe7 3 5 .QfJ Kg7
4S.Qxa6+ Kc7 49.Re! d4 50.Qe6 36.c4! Qxg5? 36 ... BeS was needed.
Qc4! The most accurate defense, 37.cx65 Qc l + 3S.Kg2 BeS 39.QdJ
which preserves the draw. 5 1 .Qe5+ Q62 40.66 Bc6 4 1 .Qc4 d5 4 2.Qxc6
K67 5 2.Qe4+ K66 53.Qg6+ Kc5 Qx63 43.Qd6 1 -0
54.QfS+ K66 5 5.Qg6+ Kc5 56.Qf5+
K66 5 7.Qg6+ V2- ½

36
 Selected Games of Joel Benja m i n

58 Gulko,B 2sso - Benjamin 2sao dS 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 BfS S.cxd5
cxd5 6.Q63 Qc8 7.Bd2 Nc6 8.B65 e6
[A29) U.S. Championship, 1997
9.0-0 Bd6 10.B64 Qc7 I1.Qa3 Bxb4
Benjamin applies rhe pressure unril 12.Qx64 Qe7 13.Bxc6+ 6xc6
Gulko blunders in a rough posirion. 14.Qxe7+ Kxe7 15.NeS Rhc8 16.Rcl
l.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 dS
S.cxd5 NxdS 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.0-0 Be7
8.Rbl g5 9.64 g4 1 0.Nel Nx64
1 I .Nc2 Nc6 1 2.Bxc6+ bxc6 13.d4 f6
14.dxe5 Qxd l 1 5.Rxdl fxeS 1 6.Nb4
Bf5 17.e4 Bxb4 18.Rxb4 Be6 19.BgS
Rf8 20.Rb2 Rf3 21.Nb! Rc8 22.Rcl
Nc4 23.Rb7 Nd6 24.Rxa7 Nxe4
25.Be3 BdS 26.Nd2!

White is a bit better, but Black lets rhe

pawn go withom a fight. 16 ...Nd7
16 ... Ng4 1 1 17.Nxc6+ Kd6 !S.Na3 a6
19.NaS Ra68 20.N63 Rxcl + 2 1.Rxcl
aS 22.NxaS gS 23.RcJ g4 24.RbJ Ras
25.NbS+ Ke7 26.Ra3 Kf6 27.Nc6 Rc8
2S.Rc3 Ras 29.aJ hS 30.63 h4 3I.a4
h3 32.Nd6 Bg6 33.gJ Ra6 34.aS Nb6
35.NeS+ KgS 36.Nc7 Nc4 37.Nxa6
26.a4 Rb8 27.Rxc7 Rb2 would have Nd2 38.NeS £6 39.Nxg6 I-0
been unpleasanr, bur nor immediarely
faral. 26...Rxe3! 27.fxe3 Nxd2 2S.a4 60 Christiansen,L mo - Benjamin mo
Kd7 29.Rb7 Ra8 30.Rb4 Ne4 JI.Rd I [B08] U.S. Championship, 1997
Ke6 J2.Rb7 Rxa4 33.Rxc7 NgS Whire
resigned. The king will soon be under An exciting game with opposite wing
arrack from all direcrions. 0-1 castling leads to a rook and two pawn
endgame, also on the flanks. One
would expect a draw, but... 1.d4 d6
59 Benjamin 2sso - Christiansen,L mo
2.e4 Nf6 3.NcJ g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.B£4
[D1 2] U.S. Championship, 1997 0-0 6.Qd2 Bg4 7.0-0-0 c6 S.Bh6
A quier Exchange Slav ners Joel a QaS 9.Kbl Nbd7 I O.Bez eS ! I.Bxg7
pawn, and Benjamin sends Kxg7 !2.h3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 65 14.g4
Christiansen down to defear in the Nb6 15.h4 Nc4 16.Qcl Rab8 17.dxeS
second game of rhe final match. I.d4 dxeS 18.hS NgS I9.hxg6 hxg6 20.BeZ

37
Rfd8 2 l . Bxc4 bxc4 22.Rxd8 Qxd8
23.f4 Qd4 24.Kal exf4 2S.Qxf4 Re8
26.a3 QeS 27.Qe3 Re7 28.gS aS
29.Ka2 Re6 30.Rh4 Re8 3 1 .Rh l Ne7
32.Rf l NfS 33.Qf2 Nd6 34.Qf6+
Qxf6 3S.Rxf6 Nxe4 36.Nxe4 Rxe4
37.Rxc6 Res 38.Rxc4 RxgS 39.64
axb4 40.axb4 fS

20.Bxg4 Nxg4 2 1 .Rxg4

Overoptimistic. 2 1 . .. Bf8! 22.Qg2 hxg4
23.Qxg4 Qc8! Benjamin will have fun
on the light squares' 24.Qf3 BfS
2S.Qg3 Bg4 26.Rgl Bhs 27.Bxd6
Bxd6 28.Qxd6 Qc4 29.QcS Qxh4 0 - 1

6 2 Benjamin ms - Zimmer,R ms
4 1 .bS 4 l . Kb3 would bring the king
into a berrer defensive position. 4 l. . .f4 [B22] US Amateur Tearn East, 1998
42.Rc7+ 4 2.Rxt4 Rxb5 43 .c4 would We dose with a game from the I 998
have held the draw. 42 ... Kf6 43.66? Amateur Team Championship. Joel
RaS+ 44.Kb3 RbS+ 4S.Kc4 Rxb6 doesn't shy from playing in
46.Kd4 KfS 47.Kd3 Re6 48.Rf7+ Kg4 tournaments with lesser competition,
49.c4 f3 SO.cs Kg3 0-1 and enjoys meeting the chess fans.
Then he teaches them a lesson at the
61 Plaskett,) ,.,s - Benjamin ms board! l .e4 cS 2.Nf3 e6 3 .c3 dS
[A41 ) Europe vs. Americas, 1998 4.exdS QxdS S.d4 Nf6 6.Be3 cxd4
7 .cxd4 Nc6 8.Nc3 Qd6 9.a3 Be7
l .d4 Benjamin's new wave opening is 10.Bd3 0-0 l 1 .Qc2 h6 1 2.0-0 b6
too solid for the hyper-aggressive 1 3.Radl Bb7 1 4.Rfel Rac8 I S.Qcl
Plaskerr, bur opening up the game did NdS 16.Bxh6 NaS 1 7.Bb l Nxc3
not work om the way he wanted it to. 1 8.bxc3 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Rfd8 20.B£4
l. ..Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.e4 e6 Qxa3 2 l .Qc2 g6
S.h3 BhS 6.Qe2 c6 7 .BgS Nbd7 8.0-
0-0 QaS 9.g4 Bg6 10.dS cxdS l l .exdS
eS 1 2.Nd4 Be7 ! 1 3 .Nb3 Qd8 14.f4
exf4 1 S.Bxf4 0-0 1 6.h4 hS 1 7.gS Ng4
1 8.Bh3 NdeS 19.Rhgl Re8

38
 Selected Games of Joel Benj a m i n

Does Black, a master, really think the 3 1 .Ne6+ ! Qxe6 3 2.dxe6 Rxc4
p11ny pawns will defend the naked 33.aBQ+ 1 -0
kiing 1 22.Rxe6! Rc6 22 . . . fxe6
2 3.Qxg6+ Kt8 2 4 .Bh6# 23.Bcl
Nowhere to run , nowhere to hide 1 64 Benjamin ms - Kudrin,S ,..,
23 ... Qxc l 24.Qxc l Rxe6 25.f4 The
[B53) Toronto Open, 1 998
arrnck is not over. 25 ...Rc6 26.£5 gxf5
27.Kh l ! Rg6 28.BxfS lt's all over. Black's third move is used to avoid
28 ... Rg5 29.Qf4 Rd6 JO.Rel Rd5 some offbear·lines in the Sicilian but
3 l .Be4 Bd6 3 2.Qf6 1 -0 Joel uncorks some home cooking.
When the position settles down, he
63 Benjamin ms - Weber,J has the endgallle advantage and drives
the point home. l .e4 cS 2.NfJ d6 3.d4
[B52) US Amateur Team East, 1 998
Nf6 4.dxcS 4.Nc3 cxd4 5 .Nxd4 leads
Benjamin creates a passed pawn and to nor!llal Sicilians. 4 ... Qa5+ 5.NcJ
makes a q11een, with a pretty Nxe4 6.cxd6 NxcJ 7.bxcJ exd6
co!llbination along the way. l .e4 cS 8.BdJ! There is no need to defend the
2.NfJ d6 3.BbS+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Nxd7 weak c-pawn, and no real reason for
5.0-0 Ngf6 6.dJ bS 7.cJ g6 8.a4 b4 Black to capture it. 8 ... Be7 9.0-0 0-0
9.cxb4 cxb4 10.a5 Bg7 l 1 .Qa4 Rb8 10.Rbl Nd7 1 1.Rel B£6 1 2.Rbs
This leaves the a-pawn without a White has a strong initiative and gives
defender. 1 2 .BeJ 0-0 l 3 .Bxa7 Ra8 up the a-pawn ro accelerate the attack.
14.Bd4 Nc5 1 5.Qxb4 Rb8 16.Qc4 12 ... Qxa2 1 3.NgS Bxg5 14.RxgS g6
Nb3 1 7.RaJ Nxd4 1 8.Nxd4 RxbZ The kingside will not fall quickly, so
1 9.NcJ Qd7 20.Na4 Rbb8 2 1 .Nb6 Joel takes time to recover the pawn.
Qg4 22.Nc6 Rb7 23.Nd5 Nxd5 1 5.Bfl NcS 1 6.Qxd6 Ne6 1 7.RgJ Ng7
24.exd5 Qe2 25.a6 Rc7 26.RbJ Rfc8 18.Bh6 Be6 19.BdJ QdS White has
27.Rb7 Kf8 28.Rxc7 Rxc7 29.a7 Rc8 nothing concrete in the middlegame,
30.Nd4 Qg4 but certainly does not want ro enter an

39
endgame just yet. 20.QaJ RfeS
21.Rge3 NfS 22.c4 Qd7

Black has overlooked something'

23.BxfS! BxfS 24.Qxa7! f6 25.Qb6
Now Black has some reason to regret
letting the doubled c-pawn live, but
with bishops of opposite color, has
hopes of holding the game. 25...Rxe3
26.Bxe3 Qc6 27.Qb2 Rd8 28.cS! Kf7
29.h3 g5 Dreams of a kingside attack 1
30.Bd4! Rd7 31.Re3 Re7 32.Qb3+
Re6 33.RB! Qe4 34.Bxf6! Qxc2
34 ... Kxf6 35.g4 35.Qxc2 Bxc2
36.BxgS+ Kg6 37.Be3 Be4 38.Rf4
Bc6 39.Kh2 Kg7 40.Bd4+ Kg6 1-0

40
Index of Players
When a page nu mber is in bold it ind icates that the na med
player had Black, with Benj a m i n playing White. When the page
n u m ber is in normal type, Benj a m i n played Black and the
n am ed player had the W h ite pieces.

Alburt, 19, 2 1 Kaida nov, 28, 3 3, 34, 35

Kuczynski , 14
Bareyev, 2 8 Kudri n , 39
Ba rlov, 1 4 Kupreichik, 8
Brookshear, 1 8
Browne, 6, 7, 9, 3 0 Machu lsky, 19

Christia nsen, 3 5, 3 7 N u n n , 12, 13

D e Firm i a n , 32 Plaskett, 38
De l a V i l l a Garcia, 1 3 Psa khis, 26
Dj u ric, 1 5
Dl ugy, 16, 20 Raj kovic, 7
Dzindzichashvi l i , 8, 22 Rohde, 1 1 , 15, 17

Feuerstei n , 6 Sa nto Roman, 24

Finegold, 29 Sch roer, 18
Schu ssler, 20
G avrikov, 3 1 Sei rawa n, 6, 23, 30
Georg iev, 16 Shaba lov, 30
G u l ko, 23, 27, 37 Sokolov, 3 1
G u revich, 9, 1 0 , 12 Svid ler, 34

H a nsso n , 1 0 van der Sterren, 3 2

Henley, 8
Weber, 3 9
Ibra g i m ov, 25 Wojtkiewicz, 27
Ivanov,A, 24, 36
Iva nov,I, 25 Z i m mer, 38
Index of O penings by ECO Code
References a re to game numbers.
AOO 17 B82 35
A04 I B85 25
A09 26 B90 42
Al3 50 CO2 56
Al6 37 cos 2
A29 58 CIO 39
A34 24 CI6 II
A4 1 61 C60 53
A54 30 C65 36
A54 40 C69 49
A57 14 C77 54
A80 28 C92 57
B0 1 47 D12 59
B03 27 D78 41
B04 31 D79 7
B06 12 D94 22 '
B07 46 E03 55
B08 60 El I 20
B12 32 El2 5
B12 33 El2 IO
B12 45 El3 13
B22 48 EIS 18
B22 62 E33 44
B30 19 E38 43
B38 3 E4 1 23
B40 51 E45 8
B50 52 E52 38
B52 63 E6 1 4
B53 64 E6 1 29
B60 6 E92 9
B66 16 E99 15
B66 34
B81 21
$4.95

United States Champion Joel Benjamin is one of

the top American players of all time, with a record 1 6
consecutive United States Championship
participations. He has represented the United States
in numerous Olympiads and World Team
Championships. Benjamin has reached the qualifying
stages of the World Championship three times, and �
likely to have another chance soon.

This sampling of Benjamin's games will give the

reader a good idea of the style and technique he has
used to win titles. A tremendous counter-puncher,
Benjamin's attacks often explode from seemingly
blockaded positions. His pieces seem to be retreating
only to turn and bravely attack the foe. Indeed, his
middlegame style is distinctly individual, relying on
strong endgame play to take advantage when his late
middlegame attacks do not.

Prolific tournament bulletin editor Bill Haines has

selected 64 games to represent Joel Benjamin's
successful play at the board. National Mas•-- r-'c
Schiller has contributed a biographical ske
light notes to the games, which give great �
when played through.

ISBN 0-9454,