The Safest Grünfeld.pdf

Itoducton Black lets White build a strong pawn centre and subsequently tries to trans form this strength into a weakness Botvinnik

Th ynamc charactr of play maks th Grnfl Dfnc on of th most popular contmporary opnngs. Howvr, n th bgnnng, ths orgnal an hghly provocatv stup  not nspr confnc. Th brthay of ths hyprmo rn opnng was n 922 . In th frst top lvl gam, AlkhnGrnfl, nna 922, th futur Worl champon probably unrstmat th grat a of hs opponnt an lost. ubsquntly, Alkhn aopt t hmslf, startng n th sam yar. H vn chos t for a man wapon n hs match aganst uw n 935, but th ovrall scor was 3 n Whts favour an h  not try t agan n th rmatch. In th matchtournamnt n 948, anothr futur Worl champon, myslov, took up th torch an opt for th Grnfl n thr gams. H lost on of thm to uw, but no on coul lghtly smss th nw opnng anymor. x yars latr, th Grnfl ap par n th 954 match Botvn nkmyslov an latr Botvn nk hmslf aopt t, popula

rsng t furthr. Hncforth, narly all Worl champons nclu th Grnfl Dfnc n thr rprtor. Aftr th catastroph n th Tarrasch Dfnc n hs frst match aganst Karpov, Kasparov put hs fat n th Grnfl. tll, th to tal scor of 5 an 7 raws, shows that back n th 980s ths fnc was gong through a crss. Or prhaps Karpovs scons  a bttr job. For many yars, th forc char actr of th man Grnfl lns put th hom prparaton of both ss to th tst an ma ths opnng ffcult to play. Th strong pawn cntr allow Wht to launch kngs attacks whr vry mstak coul b fatal. vntually, th powrful nw ngns hlp Black nutrals th most angrous lns an nowaays th Grnfl fnc s as r labl as vr. vlr an Kam sky hav brought t at a nw lvl of compttvnss an kp on wnnng csv gams wth t. Black s n prfct thortcal shap so o not hstat. Jon th party!

Pa 

The Fianchetto System   2 g g ig7 ig2 

. 4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 g7 4./g2 5

22  x2 24b4 c5! 

Taking ovr th initiativ.  12xa4 xa4 13bxa4 d5 Th scon knight is on its way o rcaptur th a4pawn. That will mak th a2pawn th nxt targt.  14 e5 b 15 d3 xa4  1 a3 e! 17cl Th b7pawn is immun in viw of 7./xb7? c3+. Th smingly activ 7.c5  xc5 8./xc5 woul stumbl into 8 ...b6! 9./xa xa8 with Blacks avantg, for xampl 20./x7 8 2./g5 h3 22.f3 xf 23.xf 5!.  17  c 18dl e8 19c5 xc5 20xc5 a! Thratning 2.../xa2 22.b2 a8. 21a3 d5 22c2?! 22 .4 woul hav only wakn th cntr aft 22 .../b3 23.3 a4, intning ...b6, as point out by myslov. Whits bst choic was probably 22.x5 x5 23.b b5 24.c2, but aftr 24 ...6! , Black will thratn to xcang th bishops from f8. Th arising havy pics ngam woul b unplasant for Whit u to th clar targt on a3. Th slightly wakn Whits castling position coul provi a scon wanss to attack. 

23x2

b!

 A vry strong ia probably miss by Bnko.  myslov. 25c3 n th vnt of 25.xc5 a8+ 26.c6 xa 27.xa b5! 28.c c8 Whit is in troubl. 25  cxd4 2 xd4 aS 27e4 f 27.@g x4 28.x4 xa3 29.xa3 xa3 30.c6 a+ 3.@g2, Blac kps th g with 3.. .b8! (myslov) which is strongr than 3 .. .a8 32 .xa8 xa8 33.7! @f8 34.b7. 27 8 28 d3 a4! 29x7 @x7 



 30 f3? 30. c5 3.3 c6 claly favour Black, but it still pr srv som rawing chancs.

Pat  Aftr th txt, myslov changs th irction of his offnsiv, xploit ing th gaping scon rank.  30 ... a5 3 1.h4 Or 3.7 c2+ 32.h xa3  myslov.  31. c3 32.d7 xa3 33. xa3  xa3 3 4.d4 f6 35.xb6 c2 an Whit rsign.

Basic Plans and Pawn Structurs



Not that Whit chos 3.f3. This mov has no avantags ovr 3.g3 which is mor flxibl bcaus it lavs opn th possibility for laing out th kings knight to 2. Thus Ill consir th mov orr

l.d4 f6 2.c4 6 3.3 7 (or 3 .. .5 at onc)  4. 2 d5 I ivi th matrial into thr major systms A. Whit os not tak on 5, offing Black to captur th c4 pawn, or ntrnch himslf with ...c6. B. Whit taks on 5 an follows up with 24 an g2. C. Whit os tak on  5, but vlops th knight to f3. Th pawn oftn stays back to 3 bolstring 4 an hlping to strain Blacks wilst attackr, th g7bishop.

A

5.f3 c4!

 6.a3 c3 7.bxc3 00 8. 0 - 0  c5 9.e3 c6

Th ky to unrstaning this structur is th gnral waknss of Whits light squars a4, 3, c4 an spcially th lattr. It is caus by th absnc of th lightsquar bishop which ha gon to th main iagonal. Th most important stratgic tasks of Black ar . H aims to occupy c4 by knight or pawn an lav th op ponnt with a ba arksquar bishop. To achiv that h woul glaly tra his own bishop for Whits last knight shoul it appar on 5. 2. Th quns bishop gos to f5, an vntually to 4. 3. Blacks qun has two possibl routs. If Whit continus in th iagram position with 0 . b2 (lin A in th "tp by tp chap t), thn Black answrs with 0 ... b6! having in min .c4 a6 or .2 f5! 2.fc f8. houl Whit choos 0.2 (lin A2), thn th qun most oftn gos to

.4 f6 2. c4 g6 3.g3 g7 4.g2 5 h5 via 5, aftr t prliminary 0 ...  5 .b2 b6 In gnral, Black shoul avoi opning t cl. His favourit sc nario is to xcang th opponnts knigts an qun an xploit th qunsi waknsss.

x5 6.x5 a5 7.b2 f8 8. c2 a4 9.ac g5+, wit total omination on th ligt squars.

Khisatullin-Eieno  oscow00

Saric-Rade Kaste999

7...c4! 8.b4 a5 9.c2 6 20.g2 3 2 . 5 +. Compar t b2bishop to t on on 3! Whits Ailas hl in this structur is t c4squar. Do not hsitat to kill its fnrs 2 ...x5 3.x5 x5! 4.x5 b6.

Pr.Niolic-Van Wely Reyjav 

Now lt us raw inspiration from an ol gam of t grat fianctto xprt Prrag Nikolic. In th istant 988 h was Black though!

Kurajica-Pr.Niolic Brez ovca 988

Whit is ly vlop an ruls in t cntr. Howvr, tis imprssion is cptiv. Th gam wnt 3 .. .b5 4.c5 x5 5.x5

3 .. .b6! 4. 5! 5.2 a8 A prfct blocka Nxt Black can sift t qun to f5 or h5.

Part 

Espig-Peter Heine Nielsen Germany2004

4 .. .xc3!! 5.xc3 cx4 6.a4 (Or 6.b5 3; 6.4 3 7.b �c4 8.a3 x2 9. �3) 6 ... �c4 xa7 �x2 8.  3 9.�2 �4 20.a6 c2 2.�h6 2+.

Pacheno-Malaniu Kh arov 980

In ths xampl, Wht c to forstall th opponnts plans an mmatly occup c4, prvnng ...b6. Th gam wnt 0 ...5 .�b2 b6! 2.2 a4 3.f5?! (W know ths postonal mstak. 3. a s qual.) 3 .. . x5 4.x5 �xS! 5.x5 �6 6.c4 b6 7. ab a6 8 .fc b6 9.�f f8. Wht s paralys wth th fnc of th pawn on c4. pica Tactica otifs

Most tactcal hts ar lnk wth th powr of th g7bshop. Whn th 4pawn s shaky, w shoul always b lookng for som tactcs

4 .. .xc3!! Ths ht combns th structon of Whts cntr wth a oubl attack 5.�xc3 cx4 6.�b2 (6. �a5 6; 6.�b4 b6) 6 .. .b6 7.�b5 a6 +.

Karpov-Leo Cannes2002

Schwarz-Delchev Arnh em 990

Th 4squar looks rocksol, but kos nxt two movs shak t ramatcally 2 ... �g4 3.f3 5! Whts pcs lack coornaton

Biblography

Books An Expert's Guide to the 7c4 Gruenfeld Kakaev, Cess tars 26 Opening for White Accordin According g to t o Kramnik, Kramnik, volume a A Kalifman, Cess

tars tars 26 strin , Fizcultura Fizcultura i sport The Grnfeld Defence M Botvinnik and Y strin, 979 (in Russian) .d4 Volume o BAvruk, Quality Cess 2

Quality Chess Chess 2 The English Opening, volume  , M  Marin, Qualit

Eectronc/Perodcas Mega Database, Cess Base Chess Iormant, aovsky Informator New in Chess Yearbook Intercess Chess Today

Internet resources The Week W eek In Chess (cesscentercom)  Days (Cessmixcom) Internet Chess Club (cessclubcom) ChessPublishing.com forum Chesspro.ru

.4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 g7 4.g2 5 so Black can unlash hs tactcal magnaton 4.c4 Or 4.b2 x3! 5.5 (5.fxg4 x 6.x cx4; 5.xc5 xc5 6. f2 6 7.c2 g5) 5 ...x 6.x 7 7.c4 a6 8.xc6 xc6 9.f 6. 4 .. . a 6! 5.b2 b6 (5 ...6=) 6.f (6.fxg4 x c4) 6 .. . xc4 7.x c4 xc4 8.xc4 a5. Th ngam s plasant for Black bcaus th knght on h4 s msplac, to say t mlly.

B

5.cxd5 xd5 6.e4

 .b6 7e2 

 7  c5! Th mov orr s vry mpor tant hr!  8.d5 0 - 0 9. 0 - 0 e6! 

In th "tp by tp chaptr I xamn n tal B. 0.c3 a6! .a4 b4 an B2. 0.bc3 a6! .f4 5!

Basc Pans and Pawn Structures

Th charactr of play n ths var aton ffrs sgnfcantly from ln A. Insta of hng bhn th pawn shl n th cntr, Wht gans spac an buls hs gam aroun th pawn. Dynamc factors prval ovr stratgy an Black shoul b vry carful to avo an opnng catastroph. H shoul not hurry to xchang too arly on 5 an allow 56 as n th followng xampl