Pal Benko is a chess grandmaster, who was born July 15, 1928 in France, but was raised in Hungary. He emigrated to the United States in 1958.
He was the Hungarian champion by age twenty. He was awarded the title of grandmaster, by FIDE in 1958. He was a candidate for the World Championship in 1959 and 1962. He qualified for the 1970 Interzonal tournament, the leaders of which advance to the playoffs for the World Championship.
However, he gave up his spot in the Interzonal to Bobby Fischer, who went on to win the World Championship. He finished in first place (or tied for first place) in eight U.S. Open Chess Championships. He is a noted authority on the chess endgame and a composer of chess problems. For decades, he has had a column on endgames in Chess Life magazine, which is published by the United States Chess Federation. Some chess openings he pioneered are named for him: Benko Gambit and Benko´s Opening. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1993.
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