I've just discovered that there's a more recent book on the Gruenfeld that received a very good review by Carsten Hansen on the Chess Cafe website.
Starting Out: The Grünfeld by Jacob Aagaard, 2003 Everyman Chess, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Paperback, 174 pp
Here's what Hansen says:-
"Within the last couple of years, Danish IM Aagaard has written several excellent books on a great variety of topics and his Excelling at Chess was a recent winner of the ChessCafe.com Book of the Year Award. This is his first book in the Starting Out…series, which has produced several of the best introductory books on specific openings that I have seen. Aagaard is a good author for this type of work because his ability to explain complex topics in simple, understandable ways is unmatched these days.
In the Preface he writes:
“This book on the Grünfeld Defence is part of the Starting Out series books by Everyman Chess. These books were originally meant to target beginners and less experienced club players who wanted to obtain some kind of overview of the opening, but it has turned out that even very strong players have found this series beneficial. We all need a well-explained and guided introduction when we begin to study a new opening, and seasoned
professionals can be on the international tournament circuit for years without finding the time to delve deeply into the basics of a particular opening. A main reason for this is that many players now prepare a new opening for each game with the hope of catching their opponents off guard. In this way true depth is seldom obtained.”
And he continues:
“What this book is trying to do is to give you a good introduction to what the Grünfeld Defence is all about, what lines there are and how they have been played. This is not a standard theoretical work as much as it is an introduction, both historically and theoretically. In the choice of games a great emphasis has been paid to the instructive and entertainment value rather than whether the actual line is completely critical. The reason for these choices are simple: theory will continue to move fast and evaluations change from year to year, but the typical concepts of the opening change more slowly and the glory of brilliant games will never fade. The idea is that this book will also make sense in five years time.”
It sounds like a very noble cause, so let’s see how he has divided the material:
Bibliography (1 page)
Preface (2 pages)
Introdcution (8 pages)
1 Classical Exchange: Main Lines (31 pages)
2 Classical Exchange: Minor Lines (25 pages)
3 Modern Exchange Variation: 8 Rb1 (19 pages)
4 Modern Exchange Variation: Other Lines (21 pages)
5 The Russian System (26 pages)
6 Bf4 and Bg5 Systems (18 pages)
7 Other White Systems (18 pages)
Index of Variations (2 pages)
Index of Complete Games (2 pages)
I was somewhat surprised that the Fianchetto variation didn’t have a chapter of its own, but it receives due attention in chapter seven. Overall, Aagaard has done extremely well, the material was well-chosen and conveys what needs to be known. I also found the balance between explanations and variations very pleasant and conducive to learning and understanding. This book comes as a blessing; for you actually learn something new on every page.
I highly recommend this book. It is, as promised, a guide for all levels of players and is not oversaturated with theory. In fact it often seems like he is trying to sneak in some theoretical coverage, but it is so sparse that you feel obligated to memorize everything, one line after another."
grunfeld book question
06 Apr '07 23:44
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