{{Short description|Chess opening}} {{Redirect-distinguish|Benko Opening|Benko Gambit}} {{Infobox chess opening |image = {{Chess diagram | | |rd|nd|bd|qd|kd|bd|nd|rd |pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd|pd | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |pl| |pl|pl|pl|pl|pl|pl| |pl |rl|nl|bl|ql|kl|bl|nl|rl |}} |moves = 1.g3 |ECO = A00 |birth = |nameorigin = |AKA = {{ubl|Rat Opening|Benko Opening|Hungarian Opening}} }} The '''King's Fianchetto Opening''',{{sfnp|Hooper|Whyld|1992|p=201}} also known as the '''Rat Opening''',{{sfnp|Hooper|Whyld|1992|p=332}} the '''Benko Opening''',{{sfnp|Hooper|Whyld|1992|p=36}} and the '''Hungarian Opening''',<ref>{{cite web|title=King's Fianchetto Opening|url=https://www.chess.com/openings/Kings-Fianchetto-Opening|website=Chess.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200730154800/https://www.chess.com/openings/Kings-Fianchetto-Opening|archive-date=30 July 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> 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".{{sfnp|De Firmian|2008|p=735}} 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,<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings |edition=4th |volume=A |publisher=Chess Informant }}</ref> but the numerous transpositional possibilities can result in various ''ECO'' codes. Transposition by delayed fianchetto occurs in the Barcza Opening (1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 or 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3).{{sfnp|Hooper|Whyld|1992|p=28}} {{AN chess|pos=toc}}

==Use== While this opening has never been common, the Madras player Ghulam Kassim, annotating the 1828 correspondence match between Madras and Hyderabad, noted that "many of the Indian players commence their game in this way."<ref>Gulam Kassim, [https://books.google.com/books?id=I_NdAAAAcAAJ ''Analysis of the Muzio Gambit and Match of Two Games at Chess between Madras and Hyderabad''], Madras, 1829</ref> The hypermodern player Richard Réti 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.{{sfnp|Mednis|1994|p=139}} Benko used the opening the first eleven times he was White in the tournament.<ref>{{cite book |last=Timman |first=Jan |author-link=Jan Timman |year=2005 |title=Curaçao 1962: The Battle of Minds that Shook the Chess World |publisher=New in Chess |isbn= 978-90-5691-139-3}}</ref> Viktor Korchnoi employed it once against Anatoly Karpov in the 1978 World Chess Championship.

==Theory== By playing 1.g3, White prepares to fianchetto the {{chessgloss|king's bishop}} on the {{chessgloss|long diagonal}} and also to push e4, since the fianchettoed bishop supports that square. White can also transpose into the King's Indian Attack by playing Nf3, then castling {{chessgloss|kingside}}. This opening generally leads to {{chessgloss|closed game|closed positions}}.

==Sample lines== The following lines are examples of the kinds of positions that can develop from the King's Fianchetto Opening. {{chessgloss|Move order}} is flexible in each case.

===King's Indian Attack=== {{Chess diagram | floatleft | |rd| | |qd|kd|bd| |rd |pd|pd| |nd| |pd|pd|pd | | |pd| | |nd| | | | | |pd|pd| | | | | | | |pl| |bd| | | | |pl| |nl|pl| |pl|pl|pl|nl| |pl|bl|pl |rl| |bl|ql| |rl|kl| | King's Indian Attack, Yugoslav Variation (''ECO'' A07) }} '''1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 Nf6 3. Nf3 c6 4. 0-0 Bg4 5. d3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 e5 7. e4''' (diagram). {{Clear}}

===English Opening=== {{Chess diagram | floatleft | |rd| |bd|qd| |rd|kd| |pd|pd|pd| | | |bd|pd | | |nd|pd| |nd|pd| | | | |nl|pd|pd| | | | |pl| |pl| | | | | | |pl| | |pl| |pl|pl| | |nl|pl|bl|pl |rl| |bl|ql| |rl|kl| |English Opening, Botvinnik System (''ECO'' A26) }} '''1. g3 g6 2. Bg2 Bg7 3. c4 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5. d3 f5 6. e4 Nf6 7. Nge2 Nc6 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Nd5''' (diagram). {{Clear}}

==See also== * List of chess openings * List of chess openings named after people

==References== {{reflist}}

===Bibliography=== *{{cite book|last=De Firmian|first=Nick|author-link=Nick de Firmian|year=2008|title=Modern Chess Openings|edition=15th|location=New York|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-0-8129-3682-7}} *{{cite book|last1=Hooper|first1=David|authorlink1=David Vincent Hooper|last2=Whyld|first2=Kenneth|authorlink2=Ken Whyld|year=1992|title=The Oxford Companion to Chess|edition=2nd|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-866164-9}} *{{cite book|last=Mednis|first=Edmar|author-link=Edmar Mednis|year=1994|title=How Karpov Wins|edition=2nd|location=New York|publisher=Dover Publications|isbn=0-486-27881-6}}

==External links== {{Wikibooks|Chess Opening Theory|1. g3|Benko's Opening}} * {{chess.com opening|King's Fianchetto Opening}} * {{lichess opening|Hungarian Opening}}

{{White's twenty opening moves in chess}} {{Chess}}

Category:Chess openings Category:1962 in chess