The Gruenfeld
Defence
The Gruenfeld Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5) enjoys a special
star status in the family of Indian openings. It involves a daring,
active concept: fighting for control of the centre with an early
d7-d5 thrust supported only by pieces. The ensuing lines and
positions promise more active play than most openings. Black has to
know the critical ideas and most promising plans as most lines are
pretty sharp and concrete.
Many top players have tried to “refute” the Gruenfeld, honourably
failed and ended up defending its charms with remarkable success.
The opening is fully covered in 50 sections covering all lines of
any importance. Two bonus sections discuss typical endgames - Black
usually has equal or superior chances in Gruenfeld endings - as
well as characteristic middlegame pawn structures. The DVD presents
a repertoire - for each variation the author shows the best or most
promising line for an amateur or tournament player. The games
database gives the chance to understand more than 8000 Gruenfeld
games played by the best players - 1300 of them deeply annotated.
The majority of the notes are by Krasenkow and Ftacnik who have
dilligently covered the opening in ChessBase Magazine for two
decades. Video running time: 7 hours 21 min.
Lubomir Ftacnik is a Slovak grandmaster with decades of experience
in international chess. As a younger member of a strong chess
generation in the former Czechoslovakia he helped to win silver at
the Luzern Chess Olympiad in 1982. Most of his fellow grandmasters
have been keen defenders of Gruenfeld Defence and the author has
come up with his share of ideas in various lines. The work on the
Gruenfeld DVD is the fruit of 30 years experience with this active
and rewarding opening.
