Chess Opening Theory/1. g3

Benko 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 Benko opening (also known as the Benko Opening and the King's Fianchetto Opening) is the 5th most popular initial move. This move doesn't immediately influence the centre, 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 centre from a distance with pieces rather than occupying it with pawns. It has many long term prospects of applying pressure on the centre 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 Barcza System, with a Bishop on g2 and a Knight on f3. Black can mirror White's fianchetto, thus entering the hypermodern Fianchetto.

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

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.

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