Grünfeld Defense
also known as: Gruenfeld
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5
Named after
Ernst Grünfeld (1893–1962), Viennese grandmaster and walking opening encyclopedia, said to have "lived in the opening books" of the Vienna Chess Club.
Origin
First seen in 1922 (Sämisch–Grünfeld, Bad Pistyan); its calling card came months later at Vienna, where Grünfeld used the young defense to defeat Alekhine himself.
The story
The Grünfeld is hypermodernism at maximum voltage: 3...d5 invites 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4, when Black's knight retreats and White erects the largest legal pawn center — which Black then treats as a shooting-gallery target for the g7 bishop, ...c5 and the c-file. Its calling-card was an early win over Alekhine, a future world champion; its coming-of-age was the thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer's "Game of the Century" against Donald Byrne in 1956, a Grünfeld with a queen sacrifice schoolchildren still replay. Kasparov trusted it in world championship matches; engines adore its concrete logic.
Why it matters
The sharpest scientific answer to 1.d4: an all-in argument that a big center is only as good as its defense. The Exchange Variation main lines are among the most theory-critical battlegrounds in chess.
Notable games
- Alekhine–Grünfeld, Vienna 1922 (Grünfeld himself beats Alekhine with his defense)
- D. Byrne–Fischer, New York 1956 (the Game of the Century)
- Kasparov–Karpov WCh Grünfeld duels, 1986–87