Grünfeld Defense

The idea

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5, Black offers to trade the d-pawn. In the Exchange Variation, 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3, White gets pawns on c3, d4 and e4. Black does not try to stop them; instead the bishop on g7, the c5 push and pieces such as ...Nc6 and ...Qa5 all aim at d4.

The whole game turns on that center. If White can hold it and push forward, Black can be squeezed. If Black breaks it, White's pawns become weak and Black's pieces take over. White also has quieter tries, such as Nf3 with Bf4 or Bg5, or Qb3 to press on d5.

Sharp and concrete. The Grünfeld is a fight between a pawn center and pieces, and both sides need exact moves. It was introduced by Ernst Grünfeld in the 1920s and has been a weapon of several world champions.

Players with Black who like dynamic, tactical chess and are willing to learn concrete lines. It rewards good calculation.

Do not delay your attack on d4. If you play slowly, White's center can roll forward with d5 and e5 and crush your pieces.

The main line, move by move

1. 1.d4 · White takes the center with the queen's pawn, which the queen protects from the start. It leads to slower, more strategic games than 1.e4.
2. 1...Nf6 · Black develops the knight to its best square and controls e4, so White cannot put a second pawn there for now. It keeps every setup open: the Grünfeld, the King's Indian, the Nimzo-Indian.
3. 2.c4 · White takes more space with a second pawn and strikes at d5, so a later ...d5 can be exchanged. The queen's knight will come to c3 behind it.
4. 2...g6 · Black will put the bishop on g7, where it looks down the long diagonal from h8 to a1, straight at d4. Black gives up space for now to hit the center later with pieces and a pawn break.
5. 3.Nc3 · White develops the knight to c3, which backs the push e4 next move. With pawns on both d4 and e4 White would own the center, so Black must act now.
6. 3...d5 · Black strikes at c4 and the center at once, before White can play e4. This is the Grünfeld: Black lets White build a big center and then attacks it with the bishop on g7, ...c5 and the knights.
7. 4.cxd5 · White trades the c-pawn for the d-pawn, removing Black's center pawn so that e4 can follow. This is the Exchange Variation, the most direct test of the Grünfeld.
8. 4...Nxd5 · Black takes back with the knight, so no Black pawn is left in the center. When e4 hits it, Black trades it on c3, which frees Black's game and leaves White's pawns on a2 and c3 as targets.

Next moves in book

• 4.Bf4 · Brinckmann Attack
• 4.Bg5 · Stockholm Variation
• 4.cxd5
• 4.Qb3 · Russian Variation, Accelerated Variation
• 4.e3
• 4.f3 · Lutikov Variation
• 4.Nf3 · Three Knights Variation
• 4.g4 · Gibbon Gambit
• 4.h4 · Zaitsev Gambit

Related openings

• King's Indian Defense E60–E99 · 109 named lines
• Nimzo-Indian Defense E20–E59 · 68 named lines
• Catalan Opening E00–E09 · 15 named lines
• London System A48–D02 · 4 named lines