This game is interesting to me because it seemed like my position was a bust early on and I was pretty much resigned in my mind to losing. But I continued to look for “impossible moves” (those we often dismiss as terrible without investigating the consequences) and was able to “pull a rabbit out of a hat” at the end.
1. d4
For some strange reason, I always hope to play the Modern Benoni when white opens with 1. d4, even though I usually lose with it.
1... Ng8f6
I always play 1...Nf6 in response to 1. d4. The other main move, 1...d5, seems boring.
2. c4
This is a pretty standard move after 1. d4
2... e6
A waiting move. I want to see which white knight comes out first. If the king’s knight, I’ll almost always play the Modern Benoni with 3...c5 because white’s f-pawn will be blocked. If the queen’s knight, I’ll almost always play the Queen’s Gambit Declined (by transposition) with 3...d5 because white’s f-pawn will still be mobile, making the Modern Benoni too dangerous, imo.
3. Nb1c3
I think this is the most common move by white in this position. White wants to advance his e-pawn for a huge pawn center and so protects square e4.
3... d5
This move marks the Queen’s Gambit Declined (by transposition.) Black adds more pressure on square e4 to discourage white from playing e4.
4. Ng1f3
Seems like routine development though square e5 would be a nice home for that white knight.
4... Bf8e7
When I’m feeling reckless, I’ll play ...c5 here, but I think I opted for ...Be7 because I wanted to castle.
5. e3
This move seemed a little odd to me because it hems in white’s dark-squared bishop. I expected Bg5 instead.
5... O-O
Logical follow-up to my previous move. I try to castle early when I have black.
