Product Description

The Grünfeld has always been a popular choice with players who aim to counterattack with the black pieces. World Champions Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov head a distinguished cast of grandmasters who swear by its solid and yet dynamic nature. In this original book, Jonathan Rowson delves deeply into the Grünfeld, steering the reader through the mysteries and intricacies of this complex opening. Now you too will be able to understand, play and win with the Grünfeld!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #610022 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

From the Publisher
Gambit Publications specializes in chess and has an unrivalled reputation for originality and editorial excellence. The company is owned and staffed entirely by leading chess masters and grandmasters.

About the Author
Jonathan Rowson became Scotland's third grandmaster in late 1999, within months of graduating from Oxford University. He was runner-up in the 1997 European Junior Championship, Scottish Champion in 1999, 2001 and 2004, winner of the Canadian Open in 2000, winner of the Hastings Premier 2003/2004, and British Champion in 2004 and 2005.

Customer Reviews

Best opening book I've ever seen
This one is the best book on a chess opening I've ever seen, and is far better than 90% of the others on offer....obviously that's only going to be a useful opinion for you if the Grunfeld actually appeals to you to begin with, but if it does then you absolutely must read this book (unless you play at IM or above level, perhaps!), and then you'll see why I think it's so good. There is so much explanantion here, and yet also a vast dollop of the necessary theory to play the Grunfeld, that once I'd read this I was converted. There are other books that explain openings well (Sadler's book on the QGD springs to mind, for example) but none that I have found really make you feel so enthused and keen to get to grips with it as soon as possible over the board. I found that the ideal supplement to this book was Nigel Davies' recent book on the Grunfeld, as some of Rowson's suggestions may need fine tuning 4 or 5 years after he wrote this, but in all honesty it seems that most of his lines are still topical, and besides, the conceptual material here is worth the price of the book before you even begin to worry about which lines you like or intend to play. He covers virtually everything in one way or another, even if it's simply to give his own reasond for preferring one line to another. For example, he recommends the 7...Nc6 line over the Prins or Hungarian systems versus the Russian system, (or indeed the Smyslov - this line however is still playable - see Davies' book for more on that one), but he gives clearly understandable reasons for this, and you have to agree that his logic seems fine on this. He's a GM, at the end of the day, and he plays the 7...Nc6 line himself, so he has first-hand experience of his subject matter here, and no matter how much you may want to be like Kasparov and play the Prins you'll probably be swayed by his case for a different approach to dodge the sharp theory..... This is one of many examples I could cite in the book, but to summarise it I'd suggest you simply look for yourself. And somehow, he's also managed to write an entertaining book on a chess opening, something that doesn't come along too often!
Highly recommended.

an intelligent repertoire book
I started to play the Grunfeld a year ago and used this book to get an understanding of the opening and to build up a repertoire for black. And that was really fun. Rowson is allways ready to make a funny statement before he starts in great detail the analaysis of the variations he recommends. And he appears to be the most honnest chess writer there is. So he doesnt feel ashamed to tell us that he once played Bd7? in the main variation after having thrown a glimpse on a completely different variation just before the game without realizing that white had played Bb5+ before. A grandmaster as human as any clubplayer! The only thing am sad about is that for my other openings there arent books like this.

Highly recommended to any body who likes to have fun and enjoys intelligent remarks while learning an opening.