so, White has reasonable chances to fight for an advantage, and Black has realistic hopes to fight for an advantage. that sums it up pretty well. Note that nobody is longer interested in putting his hopes to have chances to fight for equality, since that seems to be granted in the first place.
What is it with these polls anyway, a facebook-like feature? doesn't seem very helpful.

kylemeister wrote on 07/09/11 at 16:24:28:


Having read his ...c6 analysis I came away with the disctinct impression that he knew he was pushing it by claiming +=.

Fllg wrote on 07/09/11 at 15:57:11:


Did he not also think (in his 1. d4 series) that White has reasonable chances to fight for an advantage against the ...c6 version?

One might wonder how his Schach analysis of that line (with 14...e5) differs from what was given in the Yearbook, which thought it should be equal or unclear (I notice that one of the Yearbook's variations also goes to move 22).
I am naturally curious about the "duelling Avrukhs" issue:  is there a line versus ...c6 which he thought to be += in his White book which he will consider = in his Black book, or how will that work exactly?

The c6 line rightly has a reputation for being "solid". In fact, Avrukh's chapter on the variation is "the Solid Variation". 

I see ...d5 far more often. I believe that's because it's more "natural" for a Grunfeld player and it really is more dynamic.

From an objective perspective, c6 is probably better. But if Black is seeking to maximise his winning chances, d5 is probably the better choice.

It could be mentioned that a couple of other 2600 players focussed on #2 in their Gruenfeld-for-Black book of a few months ago.  Regarding Avrukh's article, saying that something "looks pretty balanced, but I would still prefer to play with the white pieces" doesn't exactly sound like a ringing condemnation of Black's choice of variation.  

Ironically I played Option #1 when I played the King's Indian and now I play Option #2 when I switched to the Grünfeld. I play the Fianchetto as White and I usually have problems playing against Option #2 than Option #1.

I wonder if a choice like "it seems reasonable to think that, as far as anyone can tell, they are equally good" just goes against the nature of such polls.