Benko was born on July 15, 1928 in Amiens, France, where his Hungarian parents were on vacation. He was raised in Hungary. 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 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. 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 Reykjavík, Iceland, in 1957. FIDE awarded him the title of Grandmaster in 1958. He was previously awarded the title of International Master in 1950.
World title candidate
Benko's highest achievement was qualifying and competing in the Candidates Tournament—the tournament to decide the challenger for the World Championship—in 1959 and 1962. Both tournaments had eight of the world's top players. He finished eighth in 1959 and sixth in 1962. Benko qualified for the 1970 Interzonal tournament, the leaders of which advance to the Candidates. He gave up his spot in the Interzonal to Bobby Fischer, however, who went on to win the World Championship in 1972.
Other achievements
Benko finished in 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. He represented Hungary at the 1957 Student Olympiad in Reykjavík 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, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, 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, at his best, Benko was ranked 17th in the world, with a peak rating of 2687.
In later life Benko was a tutor to many up-and-coming players from his native Hungary; his students included the Polgár sisters and Peter Leko. Benko had a column on chess endgames in Chess Life magazine, which is published by the United States Chess Federation, for decades: "In the Arena", "Endgame Lab", and chess problem column "Benko's Bafflers". In 2003 he revised Reuben Fine's book Basic Chess Endings. Benko died on August 26, 2019, in Budapest at the age of 91.
Legacy
Some chess openings Benko pioneered are named for him:
The Benko Gambit, which he popularised, and played with great success from the mid-1960s.
Basic Chess Endings by Reuben Fine, revised by Pal Benko. 2003. Random House Puzzles & Games
Pal Benko: My Life, Games and Compositions by Pal Benko, Jeremy Silman, and John L. Watson. 2004. Siles Press.
Pal Benko's Endgame Laboratory. 2007. Ishi Press.
Notable games
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The young Fischer would later qualify, but he loses in this game.
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Benko lost the match, but he scores a win here.
Benko introduces an original opening scheme, and defeats Bobby Fischer.
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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.
