Mihail Marin: Winning against the Grünfeld

by Mihail Marin
3/11/2015 – Writing about your openings is tricky. Revealing your secrets is good for your readers but what if they are your future opponents? But Mihail Marin knows that things are not that easy. He follows his recommendations because he trusts them. Against a well-prepared opponent this recently gave him another chance to win against the Grünfeld.
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Mihail Marin: Winning against the Grünfeld

A passion for chess: Mihail Marin

After my Pirc game with Hracek, which was published on this site a few months ago, during the European Championship in Jerusalem I had another chance to use a variation examined on one of my DVDs .

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 I have been scoring rather well with 1.Nf3 and 2.g3 lately and this is what I had played in my first two whites in Jerusalem. But after the loss in the previous round, a visit to Masada, and a bath in the Dead Sea I felt inspired to get some space in the opening. To tell the truth, I also had this feeling before my third game round with Cheparinov, but against such a well prepared opponent it soon became obvious that I would have to go through four DVDs to check my analyses, two of them published and the other two still waiting in the pipeline. Thus I sticked to 1.Nf3 against Ivan but in the current game I finally embarked on a main line. d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Be3 Qa5 9.Qd2 Nc6 10.Rb1
This is one of the crucial lines on my Gruenfeld DVD. The threat of Rb5 forces Black to make a small concession. 10...a6 By far not the only move tried in practice but maybe the most natural. 11.Rc1 cxd4 12.cxd4 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 f5 14.e5 Be6 15.Bc4 Bxc4 16.Rxc4 So far, we had both played quickly. My young opponent, who had been doing well in the tournament so far, soon unleashed a novelty. h6 On my DVD I focused on 16...0-0 as played in 1-0 (38) Giri,A (2588)-Sutovsky,E (2657) Wijk aan Zee 2010. But the last move did not come as a surprise, as ... h6 and h4 are inserted at some point anyway (in either move succession). 17.h4 Rf8!?
This is the new idea. Black intends to keep his king in the centre to defend the c6- and e6-squares. 18.g3 Since Black ignores the d-file, I thought it would be better not to hurry with Kd2-e2. In some cases, the king can become active on the queenside. e6 19.Rhc1 My opponent confessed after the game that this move came as a surprise for him. He had only analyzed 19.Rb1 following the model of the game Giri-Sutovsky. Since Black obviously plans to play ... Kd7 I thought it would be logical to put pressure on the knight, to prevent ... b7-b5, and to pin the knight to fight for the c-file (if the knight moves, in some cases Rc4-c7 would be mate). Black also has to take the thematic exchange sacrifice on c6 into account. Now my opponent started to spend a lot of time and soon drifted into time trouble. I, however, continued to play relatively fast and confidently, but as it later turned out I did not have everything under control. 19...Rd8 I planned to meet 19...Rf7 with 20.Rxc6 bxc6 21.Rxc6 offering White ample compensation for the exchange. 20.Ke2 20.Rxc6 does not work well now: bxc6 21.Rxc6 Ke7 22.Rxa6 Ra8 20...Kd7
21.Ne1 In my analysis of the aforementioned game, I suggested a plan based on Kf1-g2 followed by Nf3-g1-e2-f4. But in this position, where Black exerts no pressure on the d-pawn, there is no immediate need to bring the king into safety, so the knight starts its march to f4 on the first given occasion. Rfe8 During the game I considered 21...Rg8 22.Nd3 Bf8 but had no clue how to make progress. But I relied on the fact that Black's rooks are not connected and his position is generally passive. 23.Rb1!? Rb8 23...b5 24.Rc3+- threatening Rbc1 and d5. 24.Nf4± 22.Nd3 And of course there is the additional threat of Nc5+, but this does not interefere too much with Black's intentions, since the next move is part of his plan anyway. Bf8 23.Nf4 g5 24.Ng6 For general reasons, I thought it would be better to leave Black with a potential weakness on h6. 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.Ng6 Ba3 25...g4 26.Rh1 26.Rh1 26.R1c3 Bb4 27.Rb3 Rg8 26...Kc7 26...Rg8 27.Bc1! Bxc1? 28.Rh7+± Ke8? 29.Rxc6!+- bxc6? 30.Re7# 27.Rc3 might just be a tad better for White. After the text move Black has problems to keep his kingside intact. 24...gxh4?! The best chance was 24...Ba3 25.R1c3 Rg8! We both missed this move during the game. 26.h5 Now it pays off that White did not exchange h-pawns. Bf8 Black has a solid but quite passive position. White should try a major regrouping such as 27.Rc1 Rc8 28.R4c3 with the possible plan of preparing d4-d5. When the position opens, the h6-pawn would be a constant source of worries for Black. White could also insert the moves f2-f4 and ...g5-g4 at some point, turning the f5-pawn into another weakness, which could be attacked with Ng6-h4. 25.gxh4
White has a clear advantage and pressure on both wings. 25...Rc8 Black's only active plan is based on ...b7-b5, but as the game shows this only offers White a new front of action. 26.Nxf8+ Rxf8 27.Bxh6 Rg8 28.Bg5 b5 29.R4c3 Nxd4+ 30.Ke3 Rxc3+ 31.Rxc3 Nc6 32.Rd3+ Kc7 33.Rd6 The position simplified and the h-pawn is a dangerous passer. a5 33...Re8 34.Bf6 Nb4 35.h5 Nd5+ 36.Rxd5 exd5 37.h6 34.Kf4 b4 35.h5 Nxe5 36.Rxe6 Nc6 37.h6 Rh8 38.Rg6 a4 39.Bf6 Re8 40.h7 b3 41.axb3 axb3 42.Rg8 Winning with a line from my DVD certainly feels good, but I cannot hide that I had not grasped all the subtleties of the position (see the comment to 24... gxh4). This makes me think that no matter how much work it involves, every written text or recorded video should be considered just as a step on the endless way to search for the truth. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Marin,M2603Kobo,O24161–02015D85EICC 20155

Mihail Marin: Winning against the Grünfeld

• Video running time: 4 hours 31 min (English)
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GM Mihail Marin, born in 1965, has several times been Romanian champion, played in 12 Olympiads (earning an individual bronze medal in 1988) and first made the leap over the Elo barrier of 2600 in 2001. Marin possesses a rare gift for a grandmaster — he is able to explain in readily comprehensible terms the ideas behind moves, variations and positions. This ability is there for all to admire in his contributions to ChessBase Magazine.

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