Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Larsen Variation is a chess opening with the ECO code D86, part of the Grünfeld Defense family. It goes 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Ne2 Qd7. White opens with 1. d4 (the queen's pawn) and Black answers 1... Nf6. After 16 moves it is White to move. The lesson on the board explains every move of the line and lets you play it yourself; it is free.
The moves
1. d4 – White plays the pawn to d4
1... Nf6 – Black plays the knight to f6
2. c4 – White plays the pawn to c4
2... g6 – Black plays the pawn to g6
3. Nc3 – White plays the knight to c3
3... d5 – Black plays the pawn to d5
4. cxd5 – White captures on d5 with the c-pawn
4... Nxd5 – Black takes on d5 with the knight
5. e4 – White plays the pawn to e4
5... Nxc3 – Black takes on c3 with the knight
6. bxc3 – White captures on c3 with the b-pawn
6... Bg7 – Black plays the bishop to g7
The line goes on for 4 more moves; the lesson shows them all.
About the Grünfeld Defense
Black plays ...Nf6, ...g6 and ...d5, letting White build a big pawn centre and then attacking it with pieces. It is sharp and full of theory.
After cxd5 Nxd5 e4, Black trades on c3 and hits d4 with ...c5.
The bishop on g7 is Black's best piece, pressing on d4 along the long diagonal.
Black adds ...Nc6, ...Bg4 and ...Qa5 to attack the centre; White tries to push d5.
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