Lifetime Repertoires 1.g3 Sep 22, 2025

An Innovative Repertoire
That Takes Even GMs out of Book

After centuries of human study and the rise of engines, you’d think opening theory has no surprises left. But a top Hungarian GM proves there’s still room for innovation.

As if it were meant to be, he chose the Hungarian Opening – 1.g3 – and turned it into a box of surprises, leading to unusual positions even seasoned GMs have never seen.

The Hungarian Opening is known to be transpositional, reaching a wide variety of known setups. But in his innovative version, GM Benjamin Gledura keeps things original far beyond move one.

Be ready to play active, energetic chess, which often means sacrificing a pawn or two, sometimes even a piece:

Against 1…e5, you reach a very unusual position already by move 2: you invite Black to attack your knight with the e-pawn, only to move it to the rim. In reality, this is all part of the plan.

You’re playing a Norwegian Rat — a tricky Black opening famously used by Magnus Carlsen — but reversed: with White and a tempo up! Unprepared opponents, at club level or beyond, can easily go wrong with “natural“ moves that suddenly fail.

There are other instances where you’ll disarm Black with a reverse setup. A striking example comes from a tournament game by the author himself, where he reached a winning advantage against a 2600 GM by move 13. His weapon of choice was the Reverse Benko Gambit, which is a core theme of this repertoire against 1…d5:

Again, there are several surprises: 1.g3 followed by 2.c4. Black tries 3…Nc6 to prevent b4, but you play it anyway. If this original pawn sacrifice has tripped up grandmasters, imagine the impact on lower-rated opponents!

Get Ready to Grow As a Chess Player

This course is not only about concrete lines. Working through these unusual positions will deepen your chess understanding beyond just memorization.

A few lines into the course, you’ll recognize the typical positions that come up and get comfortable with the following themes:

🔑 Pawn sacrifices to seize the initiative
🔑 Playing without the center at first, then conquering it
🔑 Flexible knight retreats
🔑 Exerting pressure on the queenside

Your ideal setup against 1…d5 features all of them and looks like this:

Of course, Black has many options against 1.g3. As a true Lifetime Repertoire, this course prepares you for all of them. In over 450 lines, you’ll get fresh, innovative answers to:

➡️ 1…d5
including the Reverse Benko (2…d4), Anti-Catalan (2…e6), Anti-Slav (2…c6), Tarrasch setups (2…e6)
➡️ 1…e5
including the Reverse Norwegian (2…e4, …d6, …Nc6) and King’s Indian structures
➡️ Other first responses:
including Dutch setups (1…f5), 1…Nf6, 1…g6
➡️ Rare move orders:
including 1…b6, 1…c6, 1…c5, 1…h5

This may seem like a lot (and it is!), but you don’t need to study the whole course to start playing it confidently. The material is organized so you can filter for the essentials, which will be especially helpful if you want to learn this repertoire as a beginner.

You’ll get:

✅ 2 Quickstarter chapters: for 1…d5 and non-1…d5 openings
✅ Priority Lines: handpicked key lines
✅ Reference games, including the most instructive games by the author
✅ 17+ hours of video instruction

The author’s video lessons are highly recommended. He brings a unique blend of skill and experience: a 2668 peak-rated GM, he has represented Hungary at the Olympiad, has scored wins over Karpov and Anand, has coached and seconded at the highest level, and is a proven Chessable author — you may know him from his Lifetime Repertoires: Gledura’s Queen’s Gambit Accepted.