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The Grunfeld Defense is one of the most popular chess openings for Black to 1.d4 thanks to its flexibility and many ways to play for the win.
Not only has the Grunfeld Defense been frequently played by the best grandmasters of the past – Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Bobby Fischer, Alexey Shirov – but also it is played by nearly all the leading grandmasters today – Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Peter Svidler, Vishy Anand, Maxime-Vachier Lagrave, Boris Gelfand and many more.
The Grunfeld Defense is characterized by the moves 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5. This opening gets its name from a famous game in 1922 when Ernst Grünfeld beat the great Alexander Alekhine (World Chess Champion from 1927-1935 and 1937-1946) with the opening.
It is key to understand that the Grunfeld Defense is a hypermodern chess opening. This means that Black does not try to control the center early on with his pawns but spends some time on fianchettoing his dark-squared bishop and only then attacks the center with his pieces.
Therefore, it is essential to know that Black needs to rely on several pawn breaks against White’s center. With White’s pawn on d4, typical pawn breaks to destroy the center are …e5, …c5. If White has no pawn breaks against the d4-pawn, the move …f5 can be considered.
Secondly, the Grunfeld Defense is a tactical and sharp opening in its nature. Many lines lead to very concrete play. For this reason, Black can not only enjoy all the rich possibilities but also needs to be familiar with several critical ideas, tactical themes and strategic plans for both sides.
Thirdly, in the Grunfeld Defense, White has the better prospects in the long run because he has more space in the center. But in the short run, he has to worry about being behind in development and activity. If White plays careless, the proud center can be quickly evaporated.
Don’t be afraid to sacrifice material for activity in the Grunfeld. In fact, many tactics only work because White is behind in development. Black often has a huge lead in development and White is not able to deal with it.
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