Chess Opening Theory/1. g3

Hungarian Opening
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/6P1/PPPPPP1P/RNBQKBNR b
Moves: 1. g3
ECO code: A00
Parent: Starting position

1. g3 · Hungarian Opening

1. g3, the Hungarian Opening (also known as the Benko's Opening and the King's Fianchetto Opening) is the 5th most popular initial move. It is highly transpositional, and can lead to many other mainstream openings. This move doesn't immediately influence the center, but White prepares to fianchetto the Bishop to g2, which does. The hypermodern school of opening theory, most influential in the 1920s and 1930s, was all about controlling the center from a distance with pieces rather than occupying it with pawns. Hypermodernists claimed that while a large center could very well be a boon, it could also end up being a target that would need the rest of White’s forces to babysit it. The move 1. g3 has many long term prospects of applying pressure on the center and Black's queenside. The ease with which White can castle Kingside often aids White's position. When playing this opening, White will often adopt the King’s Indian Attack (or Barcza System), with a Bishop on g2, a Knight on f3, and kingside castling. Black can mirror White's move with 1…g6, thus entering the hypermodern Fianchetto. Analysis shows that, as with most openings, the positions arising from the Hungarian Opening are equal, or perhaps just a little bit more comfortable for White. Black has plenty of responses, the most popular of which being moves like 1…d5 or 1…e5, which place a pawn in the center and gain space. Nevertheless, even responses such as the bizarre 1…h5?! (known as the Lasker Simul Special) have been tried before, surprisingly only giving White a slight edge.

Statistics

Approximate chances

White win 38%, Draw 36%, Black win 28%

Estimated next move popularity

d5 34%, e5 17%, Nf6 16%, g6 15%, c5 9%, e6 3%, f5 2%, c6 2%, d6 1%, other moves less than 1%.

move	average	365Chess.com (big)	Chess Tempo (all)	chessgames.com	Lichess (masters)	Lichess (database)
...d5	33.7%	34.1	34.6	35.7	36.6	27.5
...e5	16.5	15.7	14.9	15.2	15.2	21.4
...Nf6	15.8	18.4	19.6	16.1	17.6	7.3
...g6	15.2	17.1	16.1	19.0	16.2	7.5
...c5	9.3	9.5	9.3	10.0	10.8	6.8
...e6	2.6	0.9	0.9	0.4	0.4	10.4
...f5	2.4	3.1	2.8	2.6	2.6	0.8
...c6	1.6	0.4	0.5	0.3	0.1	6.6
...d6	1.2	0.5	0.5	0.4	0.3	4.5
everything else	1.8	0.5	0.8	0.3	0.3	7.2

Theory table

1. g3
1	g3 d5	Bg2 Nf6	Nf3 c6	O-O Bg4	+/=
2	... Nf6	Bg2 d5	See above
3	... g6	Bg2 Bg7	e3 Nf6	Ne2 O-O	O-O d5	d3 e5	=/+
4	... e5						+/=
5	... c5	Nf3 Nc6	Bg2 g6				=
6	... b6	Bg2					+/=

All possible Black's moves

Quick Navigation

Na6 a6 a5

b6 b5

Nc6 c6 c5

d6 d5

e6 e5

Nf6 f6 f5

g6 g5

Nh6 h6 h5

References

• Kasparov, Garry, & Keene, Raymond 1989 Batsford chess openings 2. ISBN 0-8050-3409-9.

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.