Pal Benko

Born in France in 1928 but raised in Hungary, GM Pal Benko learned chess from his father at age 12. He lacked serious competition until age 17, when he became a master in one of his first tournaments. By age 20, he was Hungarian champion; but at age 23, he was a Russian concentration camp inmate because he had been caught trying to escape to the West. To complicate his life further, the Secret Police once suspected he was a spy until he convinced them, with some difficulty, that the code on his correspondence was only chess notation. Finally, he gained his freedom, through political asylum, and became a U.S. citizen.

Benko has excelled at the highest levels in both competition and composition. Competitive chess differs so much from the composing of problems and endgames that only a handful in all chess history have been greats in both fields.

As a competitor, he has been twice a candidate for the World Championship, a level attained by only a few Americans. He has finished atop eight U.S. Opens, and has compiled an outstanding record in chess olympiads as a player and as a team captain.

Benko has taught thousands of players both in person and through his columns. His Chess Life column "Endgame lab" is one of the most popular columns in the magazine and in the world, and the Benko Gambit is one of the few distinct opening systems to be named after a modern player.