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Pál C. Benkő ( hu, Benkő Pál; July 15, 1928 – August 26, 2019) was a
Hungarian-American Hungarian Americans ( Hungarian: ''amerikai magyarok'') are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people wit ...
chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...
player, author, and
composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...
of
endgame studies In the game of chess, an endgame study, or just study, is a composed position—that is, one that has been made up rather than played in an actual game—presented as a sort of puzzle, in which the aim of the solver is to find the essentially uniq ...
and
chess problem A chess problem, also called a chess composition, is a puzzle set by the composer using chess pieces on a chess board, which presents the solver with a particular task. For instance, a position may be given with the instruction that White is to ...
s.


Early life

Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in
Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
, France, where his Hungarian parents were on vacation. He was raised in
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
. Benko learned to play chess aged eight from his father, but did not compete in tournaments until age 17, due to World War II. During the war, he dug ditches for the Hungarian army before being captured by the Soviet army, which forced him to be a laborer. He eventually escaped to his home, only to find that his brother and father had been sent to Russia as laborers, and his mother died as the war neared its conclusion. Benko made rapid progress once he began tournament play, and became Hungarian champion by age 20. He was awarded the title of
International Master FIDE titles are awarded by the international chess governing body FIDE (''Fédération Internationale des Échecs'') for outstanding performance. The highest such title is Grandmaster (GM). Titles generally require a combination of Elo rating and ...
in 1950. He qualified for the 1952 Interzonal tournament, but was unable to compete as he was sent to a concentration camp in March 1952 for attempting to defect to the American embassy in West Berlin during a chess tournament in East Berlin. He starved and saw others around him die.Benko, Pal. Silman, Jeremy. ''Pal Benko: My Life, Games, and Compositions''. Siles Press. (2004) He remained imprisoned for 16 months, attaining release after Stalin's death. He emigrated to the United States in 1958 after defecting following the World Student Team Championship in
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, Iceland, in 1957.
FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
awarded him the title of Grandmaster in 1958.


World title candidate

Benko's highest achievement was qualifying and competing in the
Candidates Tournament The Candidates Tournament (or in some periods Candidates Matches) is a chess tournament organized by FIDE, chess's international governing body, since 1950, as the final contest to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship. The w ...
—the tournament to decide the challenger for the
World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
—in
1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
and
1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...
. Both tournaments had eight of the world's top players. He finished eighth in 1959 and sixth in 1962. In the next world championship cycle he qualified for the 1964 Interzonal, but failed to progress to the Candidates. Benko also qualified for the 1970 Interzonal tournament, but gave up his spot to
Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...
, who went on to win the World Championship in 1972.


Other achievements

Benko finished in first place (or tied for first place) in eight U.S. Open Chess Championships, a record. His titles were: 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1975. He won the 1964
Canadian Open Chess Championship The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada. The event celebrated its 50th rendition in 2013. H ...
. He represented Hungary at the 1957 Student Olympiad in
Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
on , scoring 7½/12, and Hungary was fourth as a team. He had earlier played for the national Hungarian team at the Moscow 1956 Olympiad, on board three, scoring 10/15, and helping Hungary to team bronze. He moved to the United States, but it was not until 1962 that he appeared on the U.S. team. He would wind up on six teams in a row. At Varna 1962, Benko played board two, scored 8/12 for the silver medal on his board, and the U.S. finished fourth. At Tel Aviv 1964, he was again on board two, scored 9½/14, and the U.S. ended up sixth. At Havana 1966, Benko was on board three, scored 8/12, and the Americans won team silver. At Lugano 1968, he made 6/12 on board three, and the U.S. finished fourth. At Siegen 1970, Benko was on board four, scoring 8½/12, and the Americans again finished fourth. His last Olympiad was Skopje 1972, where he played on board three, made 9½/16, and the U.S. ended up ninth. Benko defeated four players who held the World Champion title at some point in time. They are
Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...
,CHESSGAMES.COM * Chess game search engine – Games where Pal Benko defeated Robert James Fischer
/ref>
Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...
,
Tigran Petrosian Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (, ; 17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian chess grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his almost-impenetrable defensive playing style ...
, and Vassily Smyslov. His career score against Fischer was three wins, eight losses and seven draws. After Fischer retired, Benko was one of the few players with whom he maintained contact; reportedly the two corresponded every week. According to
Chessmetrics Chessmetrics is a system for rating chess players devised by Jeff Sonas. It is intended as an improvement over the Elo rating system. Implementation Chessmetrics is a weighted average of past performance. The score considers a player's win percen ...
, at his best, Benko was ranked 17th in the world, with a peak rating of 2687.


Later life and death

In later life Benko was a tutor to many up-and-coming players from his native Hungary; his students included the Polgár sisters (
Susan Susan is a feminine given name, from Persian "Susan" (lily flower), from Egyptian '' sšn'' and Coptic ''shoshen'' meaning "lotus flower", from Hebrew ''Shoshana'' meaning "lily" (in modern Hebrew this also means "rose" and a flower in general), ...
,
Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...
,
Judit Polgár Judit Polgár (born 23 July 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster, generally considered the strongest female chess player of all time. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, at the time the yo ...
) and
Peter Leko Peter Leko ( hu, Lékó Péter; born September 8, 1979) is a Hungarian chess player and commentator. He became the world's youngest grandmaster in 1994. He narrowly missed winning the Classical World Chess Championship 2004: the match was dra ...
. Benko had a column on
chess endgame In chess and other similar games, the endgame (or end game or ending) is the stage of the game when few pieces are left on the board. The line between middlegame and endgame is often not clear, and may occur gradually or with the quick exchange ...
s in ''
Chess Life The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "mos ...
'' magazine, which is published by the
United States Chess Federation The United States Chess Federation (also known as US Chess or USCF) is the governing body for chess competition in the United States and represents the U.S. in FIDE, the World Chess Federation. US Chess administers the official national rating ...
, for decades: "In the Arena" (1972–1981), "Endgame Lab" (1981–2013), and chess problem column "Benko's Bafflers". In 2003 he revised
Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...
's book ''
Basic Chess Endings ''Basic Chess Endings'' (abbreviated BCE) is a book on chess endgames which was written by Grandmaster Reuben Fine and originally published on October 27, 1941. It is considered the first systematic book in English on the endgame phase of the g ...
''. Benko died on August 26, 2019, in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population o ...
at the age of 91.


Legacy

Some
chess opening A chess opening or simply an opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established theory; the other phases are the middlegame and the endgame. Many opening sequences have standard names such as the "Sicilian Defen ...
s Benko pioneered are named for him: * The Benko Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5), which he popularised, and played with great success from the mid-1960s. *
Benko's Opening The King's Fianchetto Opening or Benko's Opening (also known as the Hungarian Opening, Barcza Opening, or 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 ...
(1.g3), which he introduced at the 1962 Candidates Tournament, defeating
Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...
and
Mikhail Tal Mikhail Nekhemyevich Tal; rus, Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, ''Mikhail Nekhem'yevich Tal' '', ; sometimes transliterated ''Mihails Tals'' or ''Mihail Tal'' (9 November 1936 – 28 June 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess player ...
with it. He was awarded the title of International Master of Chess Composition by
FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( Fédération Internationale des Échecs), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national c ...
, and was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1993.


Books

* ''The Benko Gambit''. 1974. RHM Press. * ''Winning with Chess Psychology'' by Pal Benko and Burt Hochberg. 1991. Random House Puzzles & Games * ''
Basic Chess Endings ''Basic Chess Endings'' (abbreviated BCE) is a book on chess endgames which was written by Grandmaster Reuben Fine and originally published on October 27, 1941. It is considered the first systematic book in English on the endgame phase of the g ...
'' by
Reuben Fine Reuben C. Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was an American chess player, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology. He was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mi ...
, revised by Pal Benko. 2003. Random House Puzzles & Games * ''Pal Benko: My Life, Games and Compositions'' by Pal Benko,
Jeremy Silman Jeremy Silman (born August 28, 1954) is an American International Master (IM) of chess and writer. Silman was born in Del Rio, Texas. He began playing chess at the age of 12. He has won the American Open, the National Open, and the U.S. Open, an ...
, and
John L. Watson John Leonard Watson (born 1951) is an American chess International Master and author. In 2022, Watson was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame along with GM James Tarjan and the late Daniel Willard Fiske. Watson is also a recipient of the ...
. 2004. Siles Press. * ''Pal Benko's Endgame Laboratory''. 2007. Ishi Press.


Notable games


Pal Benko vs. Viacheslav Ragozin, Budapest 1949, Budapest Gambit (A52), 1–0

Laszlo Szabo vs. Pal Benko, Hungarian Championship 1951, Sicilian Defence, Sozin–Fischer Variation (B88), 0–1

Pal Benko vs. Robert Fischer, Portoroz Interzonal 1958, King's Indian Defence, Saemisch Variation (E80), 1–0
The young Fischer would later qualify, but he loses in this game.
Pal Benko vs. Fridrik Olafsson, Yugoslavia Candidates' tournament 1959, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation (B99), 1–0

Pal Benko vs. Robert Fischer, Buenos Aires 1960, King's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation (E62), 1–0

Pal Benko vs. Samuel Reshevsky, New York match 1960, Grunfeld Defence (D76), 1–0
Benko lost the match, but he scores a win here.
Pal Benko vs. Robert Fischer, Curacao Candidates' tournament 1962, Benko's Opening (A00), 1–0
Benko introduces an original opening scheme (1.g3), and defeats
Bobby Fischer Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11� ...
.
Pal Benko vs. Mikhail Tal, Curacao Candidates' tournament 1962, Benko's Opening (A00), 1–0

Pal Benko vs. Paul Keres, Curacao Candidates' tournament 1962, King's Indian Attack, Keres Variation (A07), 1–0
A loss for Keres, who had beaten Benko in the three previous cycles of the tournament; it costs him a chance to qualify for the world championship match.
Milan Vukic vs. Pal Benko, Sarajevo 1967, Benko Gambit (A58), 0–1
Benko plays the Benko Gambit for the first time.''Benko Counter-Gambit'', David Levy, (Batsford, 1978), p.11
Igor Zaitsev vs. Pal Benko, Solnak 1974, Benko Gambit (A57), 0–1

Pal Benko vs. Yasser Seirawan, Lone Pine 1978, English Opening, Symmetrical Variation (A34), 1–0


References


Further reading

* ''Benko's Ultimate Truth'', by Diana Mihajlova, ''
Chess Life The monthly ''Chess Life'' and bi-monthly ''Chess Life Kids'' (formerly ''School Mates'' and ''Chess Life for Kids'') are the official magazines published by the United States Chess Federation (US Chess). ''Chess Life'' is advertised as the "mos ...
'', Oct. 2013, pp. 36–40.


External links

* * * *
Pal Benko
download 765 Benko games in PGN format
"Best Chess Bio Yet?"
by Taylor Kingston; review of Benko biography, containing additional info on Benko
Pal Benko
U.S. Chess Hall of Fame

by Edward Winter {{DEFAULTSORT:Benko, Pal 1928 births 2019 deaths American chess players American chess writers American male non-fiction writers American instructional writers Chess composers Chess grandmasters Chess theoreticians Hungarian chess players Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian refugees Sportspeople from Amiens