The Benoni Defense is a chess opening characterized by an early reply of ...c5 against White's opening move 1.d4. Most commonly, it is reached by the sequence: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 Black can then sacrifice a pawn with 3...b5 (the Benko Gambit), otherwise 3...e6 is the most common move. (3...d6 or 3...g6 are also seen, typically transposing to main lines.) The Old Benoni Defense is characterized by 1. d4 c5 This gives Black other options such as an early ...f5, but has the drawback that White is no longer committed to playing c4 after the response 2.d5. Etymology Benoni (or "Ben-Oni") is an ancient Hebrew name, still occasionally used, meaning "son of my sorrow". It is a reference to the Biblical account of the dying Rachel giving birth to Benjamin, whom she named Ben-Oni.(Genesis 35:18) In 1825 Aaron Reinganum, a prominent member of the Frankfurt Jewish community, published a book entitled Ben-Oni oder die Vertheidigungen gegen die Gambitzüge im Schache in which he analyzed several defences to the King's Gambit and the Queen's Gambit, as well as the then unknown opening 1.d4 c5. Reinganum, who studied chess to alleviate his depression, conceived the name "Ben-Oni" as a nickname for his writings rather than the name of an opening. In the 1843 Staunton–Saint Amant match, Saint Amant met 1.d4 with 1...c5 in the second and fourth games. Saint Amant wrote in Le Palamède (1843): "This opening is not favorable to Black. Bennoni [sic] gives some examples; but it loses time to White, which deprives Black of all the advantages of a good opening." Staunton wrote in The Chess-Player's Companion (1849): "M. St. Amant derived this somewhat bizarre defence from Benoni. (Benoni, oder Vertheidigungen die Gambitzüge im Schache, &c. Von Aaron Reinganum, Frankfort, 1825.)" Staunton also mentions "Ben-Oni" while commenting on the move 1...c5 in The Chess-player's Handbook (1847, page 382). Subsequently, the name "Benoni" came to be associated with the opening 1.d4 c5, and later with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 and other openings in which Black counters d2–d4 with an early ....c7–c5, without first having played ...d7–d5. Old Benoni: 1.d4 c5 The Old Benoni starts with 1.d4 c5. White usually replies 2.d5 in order to gain , as 2.dxc5 e6 leads to no advantage, and 2.e4 transposes to the Morra Gambit, also promising at best. The Old Benoni may transpose to the Czech Benoni, but there are