Time to learn the Grunfeld from a World class GM?

by Aanjaneya Phatak
1/11/2022 – Sometimes bad performance at a tournament can spur you into action. It can make you have a close look at the holes and weaknesses in your play. This is exactly what happened with our reviewer Aanjaneya Phatak. 20-year-old Aanjaneya, who works on chess without a coach, decided to go to the MP Masters Chess 2021. He lost 47 Elo point making his rating fall from 2212 to 2165. But from that experience he realized that he needed to add new openings to his arsenal. That's how he got his hands on Markus Ragger's latest Fritztrainer for ChessBase on the Grunfeld Defence. In this article Aanjaneya narrates his experience of working with Austria's first ever 2700+ GM.

Power openings: Grünfeld Defence Volume 1 and 2 Power openings: Grünfeld Defence Volume 1 and 2

You are looking for an active answer to 1.d4? Then the Grünfeld Indian is an excellent choice! Not by chance this opening is one of the main weapons of some top grandmasters!

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Power openings: Grünfeld Defence Vol. 1 by Markus Ragger – A Review

I just completed studying the newly launched “Power Openings - The Grunfeld by Markus Ragger". Before diving into it I just wanted to tell you my story of why I wanted to study this Fritztrainer released by ChessBase. Recently, I played at the MP Masters Open in Madhya Pradesh, India and there I was getting kicked around in the whole event. My rating dropped from 2212 to 2165. I did manage to defeat two International Masters but I lost to every lower other rated player!

Two wins and five losses is not what I had expected!

To sum it up in one line - basically I got hit by every lower rated player in the opening stage. It was the first time that I was playing in a classical event after my 29 games were published in the Mega Database/Online Database. I was terrified of my opponents' preparation against me as regardless of my colour I was getting outplayed in the opening stage. So in the last round I decided to play 1.d4 (instead of my main weapon 1.e4). I was paired up against Indrajeet Mahindrakar, who usually plays the Kings Indian Defence. I had prepared something nice against it. When I played 1.d4, he hit me with the Grunfeld, which frankly we both didn’t know well.

Opening the game with 1.d4 (That's me on the left) | Photo: Niklesh Jain

 
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1.e41,161,23254%2421---
1.d4943,61155%2434---
1.Nf3280,29556%2441---
1.c4181,39556%2442---
1.g319,64956%2427---
1.b314,14254%2427---
1.f45,86848%2376---
1.Nc33,74951%2385---
1.b41,73548%2378---
1.a31,18753%2403---
1.e31,06348%2408---
1.d394050%2378---
1.g465846%2359---
1.h444152%2372---
1.c341951%2423---
1.h327756%2416---
1.a410659%2469---
1.Nh38866%2510---
1.f38745%2429---
1.Na34063%2477---
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 0-0 This move is an inaccuracy. During the game I knew that this was a bad move but due to lack of opening knowledge and understanding I didn't know how to exploit it.The refutation goes like: 8.Be2 8.Be3 I played this and went into the main lines and lost due to lack of theory and undersatnding. c5 9.Qd2 Qa5 10.Rc1 Rd8 11.Be2 Bg4 12.d5 Nc6 13.c4? I played this move like a chicken! Clearly due to lack of understanding. 13.0-0 would have given me a pleasent egde. 8...c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Be3 Bg4 10...cxd4 11.cxd4 Bg4 12.d5 Bxa1 13.Qxa1 Na5 14.Bh6± 11.d5+- Now we can see the problem with delaying c5 black is not in time with his counterplay. The main point being that the c3 pawn is now not hanging with a check! All this was explained to me by Ragger while going through this DVD. Also I knew this before that, the 7..0-0 was bad due to the Small Opening Mistakes series by Sagar Shah but was unable to remember it.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aanjaneya - Indrajeet-Improvement-2021D85
 

This is a mistake! Black should start first with the move ...c5!

IM Sagar Shah explains why starting with ...0-0 before ...c5 is inaccurate

So after being placed last in this closed Round Robin tournament, I decided to widen my repertoire. I didn't want my opponents to be able to guess and find nice antidotes against my openings. It was a nice lesson to me that after my games are online I have to change or be more concrete at my opening preparation. Although, I played such a terrible game in the Grunfeld, my fire to learn it became huge and simultaneously this Ragger offering was launched by ChessBase. That's how I decided to get my hands on it!

There are two volumes and the first one dives deep into lines with cxd5 and the second one without that capture

Markus Ragger is the first Austrian player ever to reach 2700 Elo threshold. He achieved this in 2017.

The first question that could arise in the mind of any person who wants to study the Grunfeld is - are there any other resources out there which could be better than these Fritztrainers? You have Peter Svidler's Chessable Course. First things first – It’s expensive! Secondly – The course is huge and unnecessarily huge! I have seen and studied both of these courses and I would say that Svidler's course is humongous. Also remembering becomes one of the biggest issues while going through Svidler's course. Here's one example that compares both the courses:

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.d5 Qa5 10.Rb1 So we reach quite a complex sideline in the Grunfeld. Bxc3+ 11.Bd2 a6 12.Bxc6+ bxc6 13.dxc6 Be6 14.Rc1 Till here both the courses follow the same path and - Bb4! After a couple of natural moves black equalizes 14...Bxd2+ 15.Qxd2 Qb4! is the reccomendation of Peter. 16.Qxb4 16.0-0 Qxd2 17.Nxd2 0-0-0 18.Nb3 Bxb3 19.axb3 Rd3 20.Rxc5 Kc7 Transposes to 14..Bb4. 16...cxb4 17.c7 Kd7 18.Ne5+ 18.Ke2 Rhc8 19.Rhd1+ Ke8 20.Rd2 Ra7 21.Rdc2 Bg4 22.Ke3 Bxf3 23.Kxf3 Kd7 24.Rd1+ Ke8 25.Rdc1= 18...Kc8 19.Nc6 19.Kd2 Ra7 19...Kxc7 20.Nxb4+ Kd6 21.Ke2 Rhc8 22.Rhd1+ Ke5 23.Nc6+ Kf6 Now this is some serious remembering for a sideline. The king walk to f6 is not what will come to us naturally. I don't know about you guys but I am also a bit worried about the knight on c6. Maybe it's a mirrage but while playing a practical game when your brain will constantly doubt your remembering it is not easy to play like this. 15.0-0 15.a3!? A move which Ragger does not give in his files but black has to make natural moves which any child could figure out over the board! Qxa3 16.0-0 0-0 17.Bxb4 Qxb4= Well I like black here 17...cxb4= 15...Bxd2 16.Qxd2 Qxd2 17.Nxd2 0-0-0 18.Nb3 Bxb3 19.axb3 Kc7 20.Rxc5 Rd3= One may argue that there is no juice left in the position but if you take a peep into Peter's recomendation he arrives at this same position via a different move order and added analysis of that move order. I think Ragger's reccomendation is much more fitting to a sideline and one can easily remember it during a practical game.
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Peter vs Ragger--2021D85

Now what is the conclusion of all this analysis? Of course Peter's course is much more detailed and it consists of all the possible moves but can the course be memorised? I highly doubt it. Well if you are 2650+ player maybe you could memorise all of this but for normal players with limited memory it is just a big bite to take. Ragger has recommended nothing that is bad/dubious or incomplete lines. He has freshly refined the Grunfeld and has made it manageable to the normal public. He has cut the theory down and has made it easier to digest. It consists of every critical lines and detailed analysis wherever needed. There is a lot of deviation from the traditional lines and exploring these unknown grounds was quite enjoyable for me.

Let us have a look at one of my favourite lines of this Fritztrainer:

 

The main move in this position is Na5 but like he does on this DVD Ragger recommends ..Ne5!?

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Rb1 0-0 9.Be2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Qxa2 12.0-0 Bg4 13.Be3 13.Bg5 is played more often. 13...Nc6 14.d5 14.Rxb7 Here black equalizes easily after - Rab8 15.Rc7 Rfc8 16.Rxc8+ Rxc8 17.h3 Bxf3 17...Bd7 18.Bxf3 Rd8 14...Ne5!?
Again we see that Ragger avoids a big chunk of theory. 14...Na5 is the main line with over a hundred games and this move is covered in depth by Peter and as guessed rightly it has a lot of variations. Only a memory man/ a experienced grunfeld player could play it. 15.Rxb7 a5 16.Rxe7 a4 Now white has two ways to proceed - 17.Re1 17.Bd4 Nxf3+ 18.Bxf3 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Bxd4 20.Qxd4 a3 21.Rb7 21.d6 Qb2 22.Qd5 Rab8 23.Rc7 a2 24.Ra7 Qe2 25.Qd1 Qc4 21...Rfb8 22.Rxb8+ Rxb8 23.d6 Qb2 24.Qa7 a2 25.Kg2 Rb3! 26.d7 Qf6 27.Qa8+ Kg7 28.d8Q Qxf3+ 29.Kg1 Qg4+ 30.Kh1 Qf3+= Aa amazing draw! 17...a3 18.Nxe5 Bxe2 19.Rxe2 Qxe2! Sacrificing the QUEEN 20.Qxe2 a2 21.Bd4 a1Q+ 22.Bxa1 Rxa1+ 23.Qf1 Rxf1+ 24.Kxf1 Bf6 25.Nc6 Bxe7 26.Nxe7+ Kg7 27.Nc6 Rc8 28.g4 h6 29.h4 Kf8 30.h5 gxh5 31.gxh5 Ra8 What I like about Ragger is that he is always deviating and avoiding a big chunk of theory. This Fritztrainer has becomes more attractive and valuable due to this!
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
8.Rb1-13.Be3-2021D85

A bad result can often motivate you to work hard and fix the holes in your play

Contents of Vol.1:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5

- 5.Bd2, 5.g3, 5.Na4, 5.Qb3/Qa4

5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7

- 7.Ba3, 7.Bc4, 7.Be3, 7.Bb5, 7.Qa4, 7.Bg5

7.Nf3 c5

- 8.Rb1, 8.Be2, 8.h3, 8.Bb5, 8.Be3

• Video running time: over 5 hours (English)

• With interactive training including video feedback

• Extra: Training with ChessBase apps - Memorize the opening repertoire and play key positions against Fritz on various levels

An intro to Ragger's Grunfeld

Power openings: Grünfeld Defence Volume 1 - Systems with cxd5

You are looking for an active answer to 1.d4? Then the Grünfeld Indian is an excellent choice! Not by chance this opening is one of the main weapons of some top grandmasters!

Power openings: Grünfeld Defence Volume 2 - Systems without cxd5

You are looking for an active answer to 1.d4? Then the Grünfeld Indian is an excellent choice! Not by chance this opening is one of the main weapons of some top grandmasters!

Power openings: Grünfeld Defence Volume 1 and 2

You are looking for an active answer to 1.d4? Then the Grünfeld Indian is an excellent choice! Not by chance this opening is one of the main weapons of some top grandmasters!

Power openings: Grünfeld Defence Vol. 1 & Vol.2 and Grünfeld Defence Powerbook and Base

You are looking for an active answer to 1.d4? Then the Grünfeld Indian is an excellent choice! Not by chance this opening is one of the main weapons of some top grandmasters!

Stay tuned for the review of Vol.2

Aanjaneya Phatak is a 20-year-old chess player from Pune, Maharashtra. He is currently rated 2212. He is a self-taught player and uses books, DVDs and other material to improve at chess on his own.

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