zen_learner wrote on 12/30/11 at 21:09:31:


As seen in another thread, Avrukh's repertoire isn't really faring any better than this.

The good news for White is that there are many alternatives that give a nice, playable game. The bad news is that there's no single line that gives white a clear edge against best play.

Rather too dismissive of White's chances, I would say.

There is nothing unsound about it, but in two critcal lines, White is having some problems demonstrating an advantage. One is 8.Rb1 0-0 9.Be2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa4+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.0-0 Bg4!, the other is 10...Nc6 11.d5 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 13.Qd2 e6 14.f4 Bc7!. I think that in a weekend tourament setting and the like, it remains a good method for White, assuming that he wants to learn a good deal of theory.

Apologies for bumping an old thread but thought it was better than creating a single topic new one.

My question is whether this Grunfeld repertoire still holds up in 2011? Or the core of it at least, I don't mind spending some time updating some of the critical lines as long as it's not a complete overhaul.

Thanks

7...O-O 8.Be2! c5 9.O-O and black doesn' have enough pressure e.g.:

9...cxd4 10.cxd4 Nc6 11.Be3 Bg4 12.d5! +/-

see Yermo's Road to Chess Improvement for more details.

also note that 7.Be3 O-O is fine as black can play a quick Qa5 more or less forcing Qd2 transposing (I tried gamiting recently but it didn't turn out too well)

7 .. 0-0 isnt that good

I have been playing the Grunfeld as black for 30+ years. Life was easy before Kasparov started playing it!

I found Edward's book a very good summary of the current state of the art... even though there was little in the way of new things for me. 

From the black side of things I found it useful to have an idea of the problems I may face if I switched lines (I play and obscure line that has given me a performance well over 400 points above my rating, but unfortunately is no good). The coverage is good AND NOT BIASED, a good thing in my view.

Grunfeld books are not that common and most are truly horrendous, possible the worst could be Lalic's and Adorjan's is currently pretty laughable. Many lines, you switch Fritz on and +- immediately. But Adorjan's was a better effort than Lalic, just books at that time were much worse...

Problem is also what a book adds to current databases. In that respects Dearing's books is excellent....

Regards,


F.

Quote:


The argument for buying such a book as this is stronger when the book is against one's system!  What you see in a repertoire book you will very often see on the board.

Albatross!!

Toppings 

Hello, Iam a Grunfeld player and have already a good knowledge of theory in about every variations. I wanted to know if this book only helps White to beat the grunfeld, and if it could help Black's player as well, and does the book have the conclusion that White can have an advantage already? Or is the Grunfeld still playable at GM level?

Must admit that in my tedious grinding moments I still quite like 4 Nf3 and 5 Bg5 . Not sure though that it troubles strong and experienced Grunfeldites; hence why I've been busy working on 7 Nf3 and 8 Rb1! 
50% will do me Eddie, although I've been finding theory sinking in much easier than, say, in a Poisoned Pawn - largely due to a number of model games and all the good positional explanation.

Do you no longer trust the 4.Nf3/5.Bg5 lines in your Play 1.d4! ?

I guess strong players know how to handle the Carlsbad structures with Black but at my (2150-ish) level, it is surprising how often Black can drift into passivity.  Hence the popularity at this level, too, of the Exchange QGD.

I remain pretty impressed by Eddie's book, but was wondering if - for those of us with poor memories/seeking a second weapon - there were any promising alternatives at the moment against the Grunfeld. A 2005 TWIC search of 2500+ games revealed that Black appears to be in quite good shape, with the majority of fianchettoes and Russians (4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Qb3) leading to draws. Sutovsky's games always demand a look and it was noticeable that he was only struggling a little in one line: 7 Nf3 and 8 Rb1!. 
Ergo it looks like you've just got to learn the stuff and go that way, albeit a very well guided and explained path these days.

One great aspect of this book (along with a lot of new analysis) is that the auther includes many solid conclusions regarding the theoretical state of all the lines covered. I have found this extremely helpful when studying this system.

Keep up the good work!

Vajken

Incidentally, I think I speak for a lot of forum devotees when I say that we don't mind shameless plugs at all, as long as the corollary of that is that we get the sort of excellent 'after sales service' that (to name but the ones who come to mind immediately) Eddie, Richard Palliser and Thomas Johansson have provided on their recent books, in terms of questions answered and further analysis.  In fact, it is a real win-win for authors and punters alike

Hey guys,

Sorry to give such a shameless plug, but I just wanted to mention that the new Grunfeld book is in shops now.

The first official review can be found at:

http://www.jeremysilman.com/book_reviews_js/js_Challenging_the_Grunfeld.html

Thanks,

Eddie