Defending The Honor Of The Reversed Grunfeld
Hello chess friends,
I haven't been blogging much lately, but today I came across a crazy statement by a great writer, GM Matthew Sadler and felt I had to respond. In his book Re-engineering the Chess Classics, Sadler briefly describes the position below.
Sadler says that this "is tricky for Black: a Grunfeld a tempo up is very pleasant for White." After that he moves on to the actual subject that he was discussing.
I'm aware that that Reversed Grunfeld is rare at the top level, but I couldn't let such slander of my beloved opening stand, so I did a bit of research and I'm going to reveal how effective the line is for Black and why you'll want to start playing it immediately.
My Results With The Reversed Grunfeld
I've been playing the reversed Grunfeld at just about every opportunity for several years now. I checked the stats on the account where I play most of my games and I've had the position above 907 times. Amazingly, I score 60% from that position, with the black pieces! That makes it one of my highest scoring openings with either color! If I routinely could perform at that level with the black pieces in other openings, I suspect that I would be 100+ points higher rated.
The Main Lines
So, where does White go wrong in the Reversed Grunfeld? How can Black score so well?
The critical position occurs on move 11, the position below. White has three main choices that I face with roughly equal frequency. 10.cxd5 is the only move that doesn't leave Black with a strong imitative. We can see the downsides with the popular moves, 10.Qa4? and 10.Bg5?! in the following games.
I've had many games like the one above. Capturing the c6-pawn leaves White in a lot of trouble.
The not-so-subtle point behind the Reversed Grunfeld is that Black emerges from the opening with a powerful center. Black has pawns on d5 and e5, supported by a pawn on c6. Frequently White plays an earl Bg5 and Bxf6, making the center even more powerful. Notice that Black is a GM with a blitz rating near 3000.
White's Bg5 is almost always a mistake. Here are more examples with strong GMs getting pushed around by the big center after an exchange on f6. White blocked my after a couple of bullet games like this one.
OK, one more example before we move on.
The Pawn Sacrifice Main Line
When White finds the accurate plan of 10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Qa4+, it still doesn't guarantee an edge. Black can sacrifice the d5-pawn for full compensation. I often reach an endgame where I win back the pawn, with a more active position. It should be drawn with best play, but I'd rather have Black.
This line isn't a secret of mine. Several GMs have played it against each other, usually leading to a quick draw.
The Deep GM Line
So, what's the catch? There's one variation in the Exchange Grunfeld that I think gives White the standard tiny edge you see in most openings. The good news is I rarely have to defend it against opponents rated below 2600 FIDE. Here's the critical variation. White should be able to win a pawn with best play, although Black gets the bishop pair and enough compensation to hold. You can compare the positions with those from the Marshall Gambit at the top level, which often leads to similar endings where a bishop pair holds comfortably against an extra pawn.
Here's another example against a 2600+ GM.
Confession time: In the 31 games I've played with the bishop pair against an extra pawn line, I score only 39%. It's definitely a variation where White has a tiny edge. However, that score against opponents like Nyback and Pragg is nothing to be too worried about. I suspect my score with the White pieces against that sort of competition is worse.
Your Move!
That's all you need to know about the Reversed Grunfeld. I've considered writing a course on it, but I suspect it's too hyper-specific to be very marketable. Have any of you given the line a try with either color? Let me know how you like it.
