What's New - Oct '00

An Offbeat Anti-Grünfeld Line

First of all we'll look at the position after

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 e3 0-0 6 b4

This is a quiet approach by White which has been used as White by players such as Keres, Petrosian, Kamsky and the young Russian star Kasimdzhanov, so it isn't to be understimated. White is content to hold the centre and look for active play on the queenside. In particular, he hopes that b2-b4 will also have deterred Black's 'Grunfeld' attack his centre with c7-c5.

If Black plays c6 or e6, White can direct play into the territory of the Queen's Gambit Declined. This won't appeal to players of Black who were looking for a fight when they played the Grunfeld, not some dull line of the QGD.

Therefore I have analysed two counterattacking methods for Black which lead to dynamic play. The first is fairly unusual but has been played with success by top class Grandmasters. Have a look at Rabrenovic - Atalik for all the details.

The second idea is taken from a recent match in which the talented young Czech player Oral had to face 6.b4 no less than three times. Have a look at Aleksandrov - Oral, which illustrates well the potential for a sudden and brutal attack that the Grunfeld set up offers to Black.

The Russian System with 5 Qb3

Next we look at a fine win by Dvoirys in the Russian System with 5 Qb3. You may recall he also won a great attacking game in this line against Galliamova - see Galliamova - Dvoirys JUN00. So clearly it's worth watching out for his games if you are a Grunfeld fan! In the present game he employs Smyslov's patent knight manoeuvre and emerges with a solid position. His opponent pushes too hard and suddenly Black has a massive attack on White's king. This is exactly the sort of counterattacking win that Grunfelders are hoping for. Enjoy Mikhalevski - Dvoirys.

Exchange with Nf3 & Be3

As you probably know, Kasparov ventured the Grunfeld against Kramnik in their World Championship match and was soundly beaten in the Exchange Variation. The Challenger- who may well be the new World Champion by the time you read this-adopted a line that gave Karpov some success in his 1990 match with Kasparov, and what's more came armed with a powerful new opening move. Click on Kramnik - Kasparov for this important game and also some analysis on how to sidestep all this trouble as Black.

Finally, we look at a very important line in the Exchange Variation with 7 Bc4 in which White declines the chance to enter the Seville Variation. This leads to sharp and heavily analysed lines, but I think the analysis given here will enable you to face it with confidence. The hero for Black is Jonathan Rowson, who incidentally has written a book on the Grunfeld. Here he succeeds in showing that Black's passed pawns on the queenside can be worth more than all White's ascendancy in the centre and on the kingside. In fact this seems to be the secret of the 'Modern' Grunfeld- we often see a passed pawn on the a file saving Black or even winning the game for him, even when he seems to be positionally busted in the centre or under heavy attack on the kingside. And so it is in Hillarp Persson-Rowson.