Odd move in exchange Grunfeld

Not sure if I've ever faced this continuation, but it doesn't strike me as particularly strong.  Ok, the bishop will end up on c3 where it opposes the Bg7, noted... but that's one less defender that White can bring to the d-pawn, since he won't be recapturing bxc3.  I don't think I'd play it any differently -- I'd still exchange on c3 after e4, and attack the center in the same way with Bg7/c5/Nc6.

I think the Bc3 is more dangerous than that because the d pawn is not pinned: after .d5 BxB bxB Black doesn't have his fianchetto

I looked it up in Game Explorer, and I guess the Bd2 continuation isn't that rare; there are hundreds of games like that.  White does score pretty well; the most common continuation from your final position is Bg7 e4 Nb6.

Is that GM or all games?

5 Bd2 actually scores better than  5 e4 !  Another strange move is  5 Na4 !? and it scores the same as 5 e4 ....... strange isnt it ?

There aren't many (if any) GM games in the Game Explorer, from what I can tell -- I usually search on the "Master Games" option.

I did compare the position against my database of 100k GM games, and e4 is still the better continuation there.  In that database, 5.e4 scores +312=438-176 (57.3%), and 5.Bd2 scores +22=43-18 (52.4%).  I don't totally trust the numbers of offbeat variations in Game Explorer for that type of reason... I think lower-level masters get caught off guard OTB by unusual continuations and don't always respond accurately.

For your perusal, here are a couple of sample games where Black won against Bd2.  The GMs seem to almost always play Nb6 against it:

Korchnoi v. Kasparov: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1005678

Korchnoi v. Spassky: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1405704

Vallejo-Pons v. Svidler: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1395908

Nice topic, BTW, always good when I can learn something!

5.Bd2 is somewhat more passive than 5.e4!. The center will not be as strong and piece play will be the major factor later in the game. The idea behind the Exchange Grunfeld is for White to build up a big center, so this sideline move doesn't strike me as particularily effective.

 After Nb6 the bishop does go to e3 and white has discouraged black from exchanging minor pieces on c3. I think this line is fine for white if he does some preparation.

 Its always nice to have a C class player explain what the gruenfeld ideas are to keep me in my place. 

 And you are basing this on what? Your feelings ? I checked chess assistant with over 2 million games total and 5 Bd2 scores 59% for white while the line you mention scores 53%. How is that "inferior" ?

I certainly agree that the exchange variation is critical in the gruenfeld, both the line you mention with Bc4 & Ne2 set up as well as the more modern Nf3 & Be2 set up with usually 8 Rb1. A gruenfeld devotee has plenty of work to do just in those two lines alone and then there is also the Russian system and the "quiet" line that Petrosian crushed Fischer with in their 1971 candidates match 4 . Bf4 .

Heh, keep in mind there's quite a bit of sampling bias in my selected games -- I deliberately posted games where Black wins, to give some illustrations to a fellow Grunfeld player about how to approach this variation.  Don't take that to mean that Black "has no problems" based on that, because there are plenty of White wins available as well.  I guess my database disagrees with Reb's about whether Bd2 or e4 scores better, but either way they both score pretty well.

 What does your data base say? You use chessbase? I have chess assistant.

I use ChessDB, actually, because I was too cheap to buy a commercial one.   The games database itself, I don't recall where I got it, but it seems to be all games where both players were over ELO 2500 or so -- post-WWII grandmaster play, 100k games worth.  The stats were quoted in an earlier post: 5.e4 scores +312=438-176 (57.3%), and 5.Bd2 scores +22=43-18 (52.4%).

 Thanks Gonnosuke. I think of the not so popular choices at move 5 for white it must be as good as any. Chess Assistant also gives it scoring about 5% better than 5 e4 but from a base of only about 2 million games. In any event I have decided I am gonna try it myself some against some of the gruenfeld players here in Portugal to see how I fare with it. I am surprised to see Kramnik among the players who have played it, to be honest.

If folks are interested in more details of an Korchnoi v. Kasparov game following this line, I found an interesting annotation of the game by Sierawan.

www.chesscafe.com/text/yaz03.pdf

Regarding the last position given above which White´s last move 5.Bd2,The best response my friend is 5...Nc6! If he plays 6.Nxd5 your response must be 6...Qxd5...now the pawn at d4 is underfire,which leaves him an option to support it with e3 or Nf3...or even placing Bc3? Now play Bg7 which still gives you the spirit of playing Gruenfeld Defense! Examine the position,d4 pawn is under attack with 3 pieces! The Knight at c6,Queen at d5 and a Bishop at g7! Another good is that you controlled his e4 squares! If he plays e3 to support d4,it will give White a constricted position! If he plays Nf3 then Bg4!...Ok?

Suppose he didn´t capture and played instead e4,then Nxc3(dxc3 or Bxc3 won´t give any difference) then play Bg7!

Just some thoughts: I think it is very difficult to dub variations inferior/superior based on pure statistics (and actually overall). What is quite clear is that 5.Bd2 is:

A) Not a bad move

B) probably not as critical as 5.e4 - critical doesnt equal "strong" though, but means that the positions arising will not be as tough initially where both sides, and black in particular, might walk a thin line to survive.

C) Slightly unusual, so black players will be caught off-guard and not prepared.

D) Less offensive visually than 5.Na4 - that's a move I could not see myslef playing..regardless of any statistics.