The Grünfeld Defence is a
chess opening
The opening is the initial stage of a chess game. It usually consists of established Chess_theory#Opening_theory, theory. The other phases are the chess middlegame, middlegame and the chess endgame, endgame. Many opening sequences, known as ''op ...
characterised by the moves:
:1.
d4 Nf6
:2.
c4 g6
:3.
Nc3 d5
Black offers White the possibility of 4.cxd5, which may be followed by 4...Nxd5 and 5.e4, giving White an imposing duo. If White does not take the d5-pawn, Black may eventually play ...dxc4, when a White response of e4 again leads to the same
pawn structure
In a game of chess, the pawn structure (sometimes known as the pawn skeleton) is the configuration of pawn (chess), pawns on the chessboard. Because pawns are the least mobile of the chess pieces, the pawn structure is relatively static and thus ...
. In classical opening theory this imposing was held to give White a large advantage, but the
hypermodern school, which was coming to the fore in the 1920s, held that a large pawn centre could be a liability rather than an asset. The Grünfeld is therefore a key hypermodern opening, showing in stark terms how a large pawn centre can either be a powerful battering ram or a target for attack.
History
The first instance of this opening is in an 1855 game by
Moheschunder Bannerjee, an Indian player who had transitioned from
Indian chess
Indian chess is the name given to regional variations of chess played in India in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is distinct from chaturanga. There are several such variations, all quite similar to modern rules, with variants regarding cast ...
rules, playing Black against
John Cochrane in Calcutta, in May 1855:
and White
mates
Mates is an English surname, and may refer to:
* Mates (born 1964), British newsreader and journalist
* Michael Mates (born 1934), British politician
* Frederick S. Mates, founded the Mates Investment Fund in 1967 that crashed in the bear market ...
in three (19.Nh6+
double check Kh8 20.Qg8+ Rxg8 21.Nf7). Cochrane published a book reporting his games with Moheshchunder and other Indians in 1864.
It gained popularity after
Ernst Grünfeld introduced it into international play at the Bad Pistyan Tournament 7–28 April 1922, where, in his first game with the defense, he drew
Friedrich Sämisch in 22 moves. Later the same year on November 18, 1922,
Ernst Grünfeld defeated future world champion
Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Aleksandrovich Alekhine. He disliked when Russians sometimes pronounced the of as , , which he regarded as a Yiddish distortion of his name, and insisted that the correct Russian pronunciation was . (March 24, 1946) was a Russian ...
in Vienna in 55 moves. Grünfeld usually employed a very classical style. The defence was later adopted by a number of prominent players, including
Vasily Smyslov,
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (, ; 23 March 1931 – 6 June 2016) was a Soviet (before 1976) and Swiss (after 1980) chess grandmaster (GM) and chess writer. He is considered one of the strongest players never to have become World Chess Champion.
Bor ...
,
Leonid Stein and
Bobby Fischer
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943January 17, 2008) was an American Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Chess Champi ...
.
Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (born Garik Kimovich Weinstein on 13 April 1963) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess Elo rating system, ra ...
often used the defence, including in his
World Championship
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...
matches against
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...
in 1986, 1987 and 1990, and
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
in 2000.
Notable 21st-century players who have employed the opening include
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
,
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave,
Loek van Wely,
Peter Svidler,
Peter Leko,
Viswanathan Anand,
Luke McShane,
Ian Nepomniachtchi and
Gata Kamsky.
Anand employed it twice in the
World Chess Championship 2010. In the
World Chess Championship 2012 between Anand and
Boris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand (; born 24 June 1968) is a Belarusian-Israeli chess player.
A six-time World Championship candidate (1991, 1994–95, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2013), he won the Chess World Cup 2009 and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, mak ...
, each player used the Grünfeld once with both games ending in draws. Anand faced the Grünfeld against
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, five-time World Rapid Chess Championship, World Rapid Chess Champio ...
during the first game of the
World Chess Championship 2014 and drew in a Rook and Queen ending.
The
Game of the Century between
Donald Byrne and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer on October 17, 1956, featured this opening, although arriving in the Grünfeld via a
transposition of moves (using 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.d4 0-0 5.Bf4 d5).
Exchange Variation: 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4
The main line of the Grünfeld, the Exchange Variation (''ECO'' codes D85–D89), is defined by the continuation 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4. Now White has an imposing looking centre – and the main continuation 5...Nxc3 6.bxc3 strengthens it still further. Black generally attacks White's centre with ...c5 and ...Bg7, often followed by moves such as ...Qa5, ...cxd4, ...Bg4 and ...Nc6. White often uses their big centre to launch an attack against Black's king. One subvariation, frequently played by Karpov, including four games of his 1987 world championship match against Kasparov in
Seville, Spain
Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
Seville ...
, is the Seville Variation, after 6...Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Bg4 11.f3 Na5 12.Bxf7+, long thought a poor move by theory, as the resultant dark-square weakness had been believed to give Black more than enough
compensation for the pawn.
White can their pieces in a number of ways in the Exchange Variation. For decades, theory held that the correct method of development was with Bc4 and Ne2, often followed by 0-0 and f4–f5, playing for a central breakthrough or kingside attack. It was generally thought that an early Nf3 was weak in the Exchange Variation because it allowed Black too much pressure on the centre with ...Bg4. In the late 1970s, however, Karpov, Kasparov and others found different methods to play the Exchange Variation with White, often involving an early Rb1 to remove the rook from the sensitive a1–h8 diagonal, as well as attempting to hinder the development of Black's . Another, relatively recently developed system involves quickly playing Be3, Qd2 and Rc1 or Rd1 to fortify White's centre, remove White's rook from the diagonal and possibly enable an early d5 push by White.
Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. He was the World Chess Champion#Split title (1993–2006), Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the 14th undisputed World Ch ...
and
Boris Gelfand
Boris Abramovich Gelfand (; born 24 June 1968) is a Belarusian-Israeli chess player.
A six-time World Championship candidate (1991, 1994–95, 2002, 2007, 2011, 2013), he won the Chess World Cup 2009 and the 2011 Candidates Tournament, mak ...
are the leading practitioners as White, and
Ľubomír Ftáčnik has had many fine results with the black pieces.
Russian System: 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3
In bringing more pressure to bear against Black's central outpost on d5, White practically forces ...dxc4, thus gaining a central preponderance; however, in return, their queen will often be exposed as Black's queenside play unfolds in the middlegame. After 5...dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 Black has several primary options:
Hungarian Variation: 7...a6
The Hungarian Variation, 7...a6, has been championed by
Peter Leko.
Smyslov Variation: 7...Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7
Named after
Vasily Smyslov, 7...Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 was a topical line from the 1950s through the mid-1970s.
Prins Variation: 7...Na6
7...Na6 is
Lodewijk Prins's idea, which Kasparov favoured in several of his World Championship matches against Karpov.
Byrne Variation: 7...Nc6
This line is commonly seen in recent games. After 7...Nc6, White will most commonly play 8.Be2, followed by 8...e5! 9.d5 Nd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Qxd4. A pawn sacrifice to develop Black's pieces and generate active counterplay.
Other lines
7...c6, 7...b6
Taimanov Variation (aka Petrosian Variation): 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5
In this line, favoured by
Yasser Seirawan
Yasser Seirawan (; born March 24, 1960) is a Syrian-born American chess grandmaster and four-time United States Chess Championship, United States champion. He won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979. Seirawan is also a published chess au ...
, after the nearly universal 5...Ne4, White plays 6.Bh4 or 6.cxd5, with Black then opting for either 6...Nxc3 7.bxc3 dxc4 or 6...Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e6. In the latter case, 7...c6 is sometimes tried. 6.Nxd5 grabbing the pawn loses a piece after 6...Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e6. After 6.cxd5 Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e6, White has 8.Qd2 exd5 9.Qe3+, with attacking chances (though the interpolation 8...h6 9.Nf3 exd5 is a significant alternative), or the more usual 8.Nf3 exd5 after which play generally proceeds on lines analogous to the
Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation, with a queenside minority attack by White (b2–b4–b5xc6), as Black aims for their traditional kingside play with f7–f5–f4 and, in this case, g6–g5.
Lines with 4.Bf4 and the Grünfeld Gambit
For players who do not wish to take on the complexities of the Exchange Variation, the move 4.Bf4 is generally considered a safer continuation for White. White opts for the initiative on the queenside with a smaller pawn centre. In the main line (D82), play proceeds with 4...Bg7 5.e3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5, with White's choices at their seventh move being cxd5, Qb3, Qa4, or Rc1. Despite its reputation, in
statistical database
A statistical database is a database used for statistical analysis purposes. It is an OLAP (online analytical processing), instead of OLTP (online transaction processing) system. Modern decision, and classical statistical databases are often clos ...
s this variation shows only a slightly higher percentage of White wins and draws, as opposed to the Exchange Variation. The variation is not often met in top-flight play today, its usage having declined significantly since its heyday in the 1930s.
In this variation, play may also continue 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0-0, which is known as the Grünfeld Gambit (''ECO'' code D83). White can accept the gambit by playing 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Nxd5 Qxd5 8.Bxc7, or decline it with 6.Qb3 or 6.Rc1, to which Black responds with 6...c5.
Neo-Grünfeld Defence
Systems in which White delays the development Nc3 are known as the Neo-Grünfeld Defence (''ECO'' code D70–D79); typical move orders are 1.d4 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.c4 d5 or, more commonly, 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 d5 (the latter is known as the Kemeri Variation).
Other variations
Apart from the above, among the more popular continuations are:
* 4.Qb3 (Accelerated Russian System) ''ECO'' D81
* 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qa4+ (Flohr Variation) ''ECO'' D90
* 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 (Quiet System or Slow System) ''ECO'' D94
* 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4 (
Nadanian Variation) ''ECO'' D85
Illustrative games
Smyslov vs.
Fischer
Fischer is a German occupational surname, meaning fisherman. The name Fischer is the fourth most common German surname. The English version is Fisher.
People with the surname A
* Abraham Fischer (1850–1913) South African public official
* ...
, Herceg Novi Blitz Tournament, 1970:
1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 0-0 5.0-0 c6 6.d4 d5 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Nc3 Ne4 9.Qb3 Nc6 10.Be3 Na5 11.Qd1 Nxc3 12.bxc3 b6 13.Ne5 Ba6 14.Re1 Rc8 15.Bd2 e6 16.e4 Bb7 17.exd5 Bxd5 18.Bxd5 Qxd5 19.Qe2 Rfd8 20.Ng4 Nc4 21.Bh6 f5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Ne3 Nxe3 24.Qxe3 Rc6 25.Rac1 Rdc8 26.c4 Rxc4 27.Rxc4 Rxc4 28.Qxe6 Qxe6 29.Rxe6 Kf7 30.Re3 Rxd4 31.Ra3 a5 32.Rc3 Ke6 33.Kg2 Kd6 34.h4 Ra4 35.Rc2 b5 36.Kf3 b4 37.Ke3 Kd5 38.f3 Ra3+ 39.Kf4 a4 40.g4 fxg4 41.fxg4 b3 42.axb3 axb3 43.Rc7 Ra4+ 44.Kg5 Rb4 45.Rc1 Kd4 46.Kh6 Rb7
See also
*
List of chess openings
This is a list of chess openings, organised by the ''Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings'' (''ECO'') code classification system. The chess openings are categorised into five broad areas ("A" through "E"), with each of those broken up into one hundred ...
*
List of chess openings named after people
''The Oxford Companion to Chess'' lists 1,327 named openings and variants. Chess players' names are the most common sources of opening names. The name given to an opening is not always that of the first player to adopt it; often an opening is name ...
References
Further reading
*
András Adorján; Jeno Dory, ''Winning With the Grunfeld'' (Macmillan, 1987)
*
Alexey Suetin, ''The Complete Grünfeld'' (Batsford, 1991)
*
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (, ; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian and former Soviet Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster, former World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion, and politician. He was the 12th World Chess Champion from 1975 ...
, ''Beating the Grünfeld'' (Batsford, 1992)
*
Jonathan Rowson, ''Understanding the Grünfeld'' (Gambit, 1998)
*
Jacob Aagaard, ''Starting Out: The Grunfeld'' (Everyman Chess, 2000)
*
Nigel Davies, ''The Grünfeld Defence'' (Everyman Chess, 2002)
*
Bogdan Lalić, ''The Grunfeld for the Attacking Player'' (Batsford, 2002)
*
Michael Khodarkovsky, ''The Grünfeld Defence Revealed'' (Batsford, 2003)
*
*
Konstantin Sakaev, ''An Expert's Guide to the 7.Bc4 Gruenfeld'' (Chess Stars, 2006)
*
Yelena Dembo, ''Play the Grünfeld'' (Everyman Chess, 2007)
*
*
External links
Chessgames: Grünfeld GambitChessgames: Neo-Grünfeld 3.f3Chessgames: Neo-Grünfeld 3.g3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grunfeld Defence
Chess openings
1922 in chess