Benko made rapid progress once he began tournament play, and became Hungarian champion by age 20. He qualified for the 1952 Interzonal tournament, but was unable to compete as he was sent to a concentration camp in March 1952 for attempting to defect to the American embassy in West Berlin during a chess tournament in East Berlin. He starved and saw others around him die. He remained imprisoned for 16 months, attaining release after Stalin's death. He emigrated to the United States in 1958 after defecting following the World Student Team Championship in Reykjavík, Iceland, in 1957. FIDE awarded him the title of Grandmaster in 1958. He was previously awarded the title of International Master in 1950.