Pal Benko

Pal Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in Amiens France, however, he was raised in Hungary. He had a very difficult life early on. He learned how to play chess when he was 8, but did not start playing in tournaments until he was 17 due to WWII. During the war he worked for the Hungarian army as a ditch digger and later the Soviet Army as a laborer. After the war he became Hungarian chess champion at the age of 20. In 1952 he unsuccessfully attempted to defect to the U.S but was caught and spent 16 months in a concentration camp, gaining his release upon the death of Stalin. In 1958 he emigrated to the U.S. after successfully defecting in 1957 while in Iceland.

FIDE awarded him the Grandmaster title in 1958. He competed in the 1959 and 1962 Candidates tournaments, finishing 8th and 6th respectively. He also finished 1st (or tied for 1st) in eight U.S. Chess Championships, a record.

He is perhaps best known for the gambit that is named after him, the Benko Gambit (also known as the Volga Gambit) which starts with the moves:

1. d4 Nf6   2. c4 c5   3. d5 b5. 

Benko died on August 25, 2019 in Budapest, Hungary at the age of 91.