Grischuk's stroke of genius

9/3/2026 – As early as the end of 2024, at the Blitz World Championship in New York, Alexander Grischuk played the piece sacrifice 9.Nd5! in the Sicilian Kan Variation – a move that had never before been played at Grandmaster level. To the surprise of our author, Petra Papp, this ‘brilliant idea’ has apparently remained virtually unknown to this day. In the ChessBase Online Database, you’ll find a grand total of five games with this move! Petra Papp has examined the variations following 9.Nd5! and presents her findings in the article ‘Grischuk’s stroke of genius’ in the new ChessBase Magazine #233. You can now read the full article, including all the game analyses, in this week’s CBM free sample!