Chess Opening Theory/1. g3

1. g3 · Hungarian Opening
1. g3, the Hungarian Opening (also known as the Benko's Opening and the King's Fianchetto Opening) is the 5th most popular initial move. It is highly transpositional, and can lead to many other mainstream openings. This move doesn't immediately influence the center, 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 center from a distance with pieces rather than occupying it with pawns. Hypermodernists claimed that while a large center could very well be a boon, it could also end up being a target that would need the rest of White’s forces to babysit it. The move 1. g3 has many long term prospects of applying pressure on the center 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 King’s Indian Attack (or Barcza System), with a Bishop on g2, a Knight on f3, and kingside castling. Black can mirror White's move with 1…g6, thus entering the hypermodern Fianchetto. Analysis shows that, as with most openings, the positions arising from the Hungarian Opening are equal, or perhaps just a little bit more comfortable for White. Black has plenty of responses, the most popular of which being moves like 1…d5 or 1…e5, which place a pawn in the center and gain space. Nevertheless, even responses such as the bizarre 1…h5?! (known as the Lasker Simul Special) have been tried before, surprisingly only giving White a slight edge.

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%.