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First, my apologies for the tardy arrival of this update, but I have tried to put in a bit of extra effort to compensate. I wanted to focus on the Anti-Grünfelds arising from the move-order 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 when White has various options. Grünfeld players do not concern themselves with which aspects of the ECO code the lines correspond to, so while my remit does not include any 'D numbers', it is very difficult to make sense of these lines without some degree of cross-fertilization into Grünfeld territory, so forgive me if I occasionally stray. I trust the site coordinator will be able to amend the material to fit with downloads and roadmaps, although I don't envy him that task.

Download PGN of April '09 Flank Openings games


Anti-Grünfeld [A16]

I begin with an Overview of the relevant lines, which to be honest I did mainly for my own sake. I knew this theory quite well about four years ago, but since putting the Grünfeld on the back seat of my Black repertoire I have lost contact with the critical lines, and where they fit into the grander scheme of things. The overview covers a lot of material and seems equivalent to at least two full games of analysis. While this is not how it is normally done on this site, I hope subscribers will find it useful to have a panorama of the relevant lines that they ought to know, even if I can only cover the more testing and trendy variations in this particular update.

Talking of which, Rustemov - Svidler is important because White's play is very straightforward, but Black does not seem to have an easy path to his typically full-blooded counterplay. Here is the position after 8 Rb1!:

The notes to Wang Yue-Howell comprise several other games, and features a topical line in which White's play is modest but often highly effective:

Steingrimsson - Gupta is formally Grünfeld territory, but it seems appropriate (to me) to comment on the relevant lines here.



Réti with ...Bf5 [A07]

After confusing myself in the above labyrinth of variations, I decided to look at a quieter line, and Kamsky - Aronian reveals the odd-looking but fairly logical move 6 Nfd2:

in which White intends a rapid kingside pawn storm.

The more placid lines featuring c4 are included in the notes to Markowski - Burmakin.

As I mentioned a few months back, I am learning these lines as I go, and I hope that sharing the journey is entertaining, if nothing else.


Until next time! Jonathan

e-mails

Please remember to point out and send your games to me. Drop me a line at the Flank Openings Forum, or subscribers can write directly to jonathan@chesspublishing.com