Hungarian Opening: what should White play?

In the Hungarian Opening following Black's early pawn push to c6, White's premier continuation is Bg2. Developing the light-squared bishop along the long diagonal constitutes the primary strategic objective of White's setup, yielding an engine evaluation of +0.24 across 6.83M recorded games. Completing the fianchetto immediately prepares kingside castling and exerts long-range pressure against Black's central pawns.

The strategic role of Bg2

The move Bg2 represents the overwhelmingly preferred path, selected in 94.8% of the 7.20M games recorded in this position, where White achieves a 52.2% scoring rate. Placing the bishop on g2 fulfills the fundamental idea of the kingside fianchetto, aiming directly through the center toward the queenside. In response to Black's flexible pawn structure, an illustrative continuation runs Bg2 d5 Nf3 Nf6 O-O Bg4, where White secures king safety and continues development unhindered.

Alternative development schemes

White possesses several viable alternatives that transpose toward traditional flank or central setups. Developing the kingside knight via Nf3 is the second most common choice, seen in 2.9% of games (206K recorded) with an evaluation of +0.21 and a 52.5% scoring rate, often reaching similar positions after Nf3 Nf6 Bg2 d5 O-O Bg4. White may also choose immediate central expansion with c4 (played in 0.7% of games, evaluated at +0.15), d4 (0.7% of games, evaluated at +0.12), or the modest d3 (0.9% of games, evaluated at +0.08). While these pawn moves score between 51.7% and 51.9% for White, none rival the overwhelming popularity of developing the bishop immediately to g2.