King's Fianchetto Opening

abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
b8 black knight
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
g8 black knight
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
d7 black pawn
e7 black pawn
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
g3 white pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white pawn
e2 white pawn
f2 white pawn
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
b1 white knight
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
e1 white king
f1 white bishop
g1 white knight
h1 white rook
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
Moves 1.g3
ECO A00
Parent Flank opening
Synonym(s) Benko's Opening
Hungarian Opening
Barcza Opening
Bilek Opening

The King's Fianchetto Opening or Benko's Opening (also known the Hungarian Opening, the Barcza Opening, and the Bilek Opening) is a chess opening characterized by the move:

1. g3

White's 1.g3 ranks as the fifth most popular opening move, but it is far less popular than 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4 and 1.Nf3. It is usually followed by 2.Bg2, fianchettoing the bishop. Nick de Firmian writes that 1.g3 "can, and usually does, transpose into almost any other opening in which White fianchettos his king's bishop".[1] Included among these are the Catalan Opening, the King's Indian Attack and some variations of the English Opening. For this reason, the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings has no specific code devoted to 1.g3. The move itself is classified under A00,[2] but the numerous transpositional possibilities can result in various ECO codes.

While it has never been common, the Madras player Ghulam Kassim noted that "many of the Indian players commence their game in this way" in annotating the 1828 correspondence match between Madras and Hyderabad.[3] The hypermodern player Richard Reti played 1.g3 several times at Baden-Baden in 1925, with mixed results. 1.g3 received renewed attention after Pal Benko used it to defeat Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal in the 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curaçao, part of the 1963 World Championship cycle.[4] Benko used the opening the first eleven times he was White in the tournament.[5]


Sample lines

The following lines are examples of the kinds of positions which can develop from the King's Fianchetto opening. Move order is flexible in each case.

King's Indian Attack

abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
d8 black queen
e8 black king
f8 black bishop
h8 black rook
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
d7 black knight
f7 black pawn
g7 black pawn
h7 black pawn
c6 black pawn
f6 black knight
d5 black pawn
e5 black pawn
e4 white pawn
g4 black bishop
d3 white pawn
f3 white knight
g3 white pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
c2 white pawn
d2 white knight
f2 white pawn
g2 white bishop
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
f1 white rook
g1 white king
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
King's Indian Attack

1.g3 d5 2.Bg2 Nf6 3.Nf3 c6 4.O-O Bg4 5.d3 Nbd7 6.Nbd2 e5 7.e4 - Réti Opening, King's Indian Attack, Yugoslav Variation (ECO A07)

English Opening

abcdefgh
8
a8 black rook
c8 black bishop
d8 black queen
f8 black rook
g8 black king
a7 black pawn
b7 black pawn
c7 black pawn
g7 black bishop
h7 black pawn
c6 black knight
d6 black pawn
f6 black knight
g6 black pawn
d5 white knight
e5 black pawn
f5 black pawn
c4 white pawn
e4 white pawn
d3 white pawn
g3 white pawn
a2 white pawn
b2 white pawn
e2 white knight
f2 white pawn
g2 white bishop
h2 white pawn
a1 white rook
c1 white bishop
d1 white queen
f1 white rook
g1 white king
8
77
66
55
44
33
22
11
abcdefgh
English Opening, Botvinnik System

1.g3 g6 2.Bg2 Bg7 3.c4 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.d3 f5 6.e4 Nf6 7.Nge2 Nc6 8.O-O O-O 9.Nd5 - English Opening, Botvinnik System (ECO A26)

See also

Notes

  1. Batsford's Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition (2008), Nick De Firmian
  2. Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, Volume A, Fourth Edition. Chess Informant.
  3. Gulam Kassim, Analysis of the Muzio Gambit and Match of Two Games at Chess between Madras and Hyderabad, Madras, 1829
  4. Mednis, Edmar (1994). How Karpov Wins. Courier Dover Publications.
  5. Timman, Jan (2005). Curaçao 1962: The Battle of Minds that Shook the Chess World. New in Chess. ISBN 978-90-5691-139-3.

References

The Wikibook Chess Opening Theory has a page on the topic of: Benko's Opening
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