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Grunfeld, 5.Bg5 (D91)
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Bg5

Number of games in database: 2603
Years covered: 1923 to 2025
Overall record:
   White wins 31.8%
   Black wins 28.0%
   Draws 40.2%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening  |  Search for sacrifices in this opening.
PRACTITIONERS
With the White Pieces With the Black Pieces
Efstratios Grivas  31 games
Alexander Veingold  25 games
Jiri Lechtynsky  24 games
Vlastimil Jansa  20 games
Lubomir Ftacnik  19 games
Peter Svidler  19 games
NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]
White Wins Black Wins
Seirawan vs Kasparov, 1986
Karpov vs Korchnoi, 1984
Carlsen vs Eljanov, 2008
Simagin vs Korchnoi, 1960
C G Poch vs A Planinc, 1971
Gheorghiu vs Gligoric, 1965
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 page 1 of 105; games 1-25 of 2,603  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. H Prochazka vs V Berger  1-0461923PardubiceD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
2. R Mkrtumov vs A Smorodsky  0-1341926Tbilisi championshipD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
3. L Engels vs L Roedl  ½-½181930Roedl - EngelsD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
4. A Ribera Arnal vs Spielmann  0-1311934SitgesD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
5. B Dahlstrom vs H Morton 0-127193536th ACF Congress. Prelim AD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
6. J Hasek vs D May  ½-½931936UJCS-14.KongressD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
7. Lasker vs Botvinnik ½-½441936NottinghamD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
8. V Mikenas vs S Landau 1-0401937KemeriD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
9. P Vaitonis vs Keres  0-13319382nd SELL Baltic Student OlympiadD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
10. Belchikov vs S Wolk 0-123193914th Ch Leningrad (sf-3)D91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
11. V Mikenas vs Keres  ½-½241939LTU-ESTD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
12. J Enevoldsen vs M Castillo 1-0361939Buenos Aires Olympiad Final-AD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
13. Z Kleinstein vs C de Ronde  0-1311939Buenos Aires Olympiad Final-AD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
14. P Vaitonis vs R Flores Alvarez  ½-½351939Buenos Aires Olympiad Final-AD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
15. C Guimard vs C H Maderna  ½-½441941Argentine 1940 Championship MatchD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
16. G Danielsson vs K Skold  1-0541946Stockholm /47D91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
17. H Gordon vs Santasiere 0-140194647th US OpenD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
18. Aronin vs Lilienthal  ½-½341947USSR ChampionshipD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
19. H Lobbenberg vs J H Thomasson  1-0301948Shropshire ChampionshipD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
20. J Kruzkops vs Koblents  1-0261948Latvian ChampionshipD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
21. J Kruzkops vs Z Solmanis  1-0541948Latvian ChampionshipD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
22. P Le Cornu vs D Byrne  ½-½23195253rd US OpenD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
23. Simagin vs Korchnoi ½-½661952USSR ChampionshipD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
24. Petrosian vs Averbakh  ½-½231953USSR Training TournamentD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
25. A Kevitz vs D Byrne  1-086195354th US OpenD91 Grunfeld, 5.Bg5
 page 1 of 105; games 1-25 of 2,603  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
Feb-26-03  Spitecheck: Just interested in everybody's thoughts on this line. 5...Ne4 6. cxd5 Nxg5 7. Nxg5 e6 8. Qd2 and now Bh6!!!!???? LOL Years ago I asked a FIDE master what was wrong with it and he didn't have a really definitive answer. Now thanks to this database I see a Grand Master actually played it once (and drew) with a (former) world champion. I now feel a special kinship with Gulko. LOL It seems a great little confusing move to get people out of the books, because f4 seems forced for white. Alas it was to be my one and only TN.

Spitecheck

Feb-26-03  ughaibu: I sometimes play 3 Bg5 and answer Ne4 with d5 Ng5 h4 winning back the piece. I dont think it's wonderfully strong but it can be amusing. Here's a classic case of 'wrong rook swindle'.

[White "ughaibu"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Reason "black resigned."]

1.d4 Ng8f6 2.c4 g6 3.Nb1c3 d5 4.Bc1g5 Nf6e4 5.cxd5 Ne4xg5 6.h4 Ng5e4 7.Nc3xe4 Qd8xd5 8.Ne4c3 Qd5a5 9.e3 Bf8g7 10.Bf1c4 c5 11.Qd1b3 0-0 12.0-0-0 cxd4 13.exd4 Qa5f5 14.Bc4d3 Qf5xf2 15.Ng1f3 Qf2xg2 16.Nf3g5 Nb8c6 17.Rd1g1 Qg2f2 18.Nc3d5 e6 19.h5 exd5 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.Bd3xg6 Qf2f4 22.Kc1b1 Bc8f5 23.Bg6xf5 Qf4xf5 24.Kb1a1 Nc6xd4 25.Qb3a4 Nd4c2 26.Ka1b1 Nc2a3 27.Kb1a1 Na3c4 28.Ng5h7 b5 29.Qa4xb5 Ra8b8 30.Qb5xd5 Qf5xh7 31.Rh1xh7 Kg8xh7 32.Qd5f5 Kh7g8 33.Qf5g5

Feb-26-03  Spitecheck: That is an interesting game, that line would seem to have it's own little theoretical paths. Who was swindling who though :).
Mar-08-04  refutor: why is 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5 okay but 4.Bg5 is bad?
Mar-08-04  BiLL RobeRTiE: I think it has to do with the fact that in the former line the bishop is protected, so 5...Ne4 can be answered with 6. cxd4, whereas in the 4. Bg5 line, 4...Ne4 must be met with Nxe4, Nf3, or a retreat of the bishop, all of which are presumably less desirable than cxd4. In other words, the moves Nf3 and ...Bg7 help White more than they help Black if he wants to play Bg5, though Black looks quite OK in either line.
Mar-08-04  ughaibu: BiLL RobeRTiE: White can play 5.cd5 as 5....Ng5 6.h4 wins the knight.
May-26-04  tomh72000: I came accross this line (as black) in an internet game on more than one occasion: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.e3? Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e5! I have played the Grunfeld a while now, and have had great success with this line. However, I think the bluder lies with 6.e3. As <BiLL RobeRTiE> points out, 6.cxd5! gives me problems. Does anyone know how best to deal with it?
Nov-23-04  ruylopez900: I played this line once, after the game the guy told me he was trying to transpose into more of an Orthodox QGD which he knows extremely well. As it turned out I won a piece, but he won two pawns back and destroyed my pawn structure and went on to win in the endgame.
Nov-23-04  jcmoral: Here is a game I played as white in this line. It's not very good but I want to know if there's any way the knight sac (8. dxe6) could've worked.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. cxd5 Nxg5 7. Nxg5 e6 8. dxe6 Qxg5 9. exf7+ Kxf7 10. e3 Re8 11. Bc4+ Kf8 12. Nd5 Na6 13. Bxa6 bxa6 14. Nxc7 Qa5+ 15. Kf1 Qxc7 16. Qf3+ Bf5 17. g3 Kg8 0-1

Nov-23-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: <jcmoral> Interesting idea, but you only get 2 Pawns for it plus Black quickly castles by hand (10 ... Re8 & 11 ... Kf8) safeguarding the King. Note 13. Bxa6 Qxd5! and if 14. Bf1 Qxd4 (15. Qf3+ Qf6) with only 1 Pawn for the Knight. You might try 13. f4 Qd8 14. Qf3, but I believe your piece sacrifice line is unsound.
Nov-23-04  AgentRgent: <jcmoral> After 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. cxd5 Nxg5 7. Nxg5 e6 8. dxe6 Qxg5 9. exf7+ Kxf7 10. e3 Re8 11. Bc4+ Kf8 12. Nd5 Na6

Now 13. Qf3+ seems good:

a) 13...Qf5 14. Bxa6 Qxf3 15. gxf3 c6 16. Nc7 bxa6 17. Nxa8 seems

b) 13...Bf5 14. Bxa6 bxa6 15. Nc7 Rab8 16. Nxe8 Kxe8 17. b3 also seems

Nov-23-04  jcmoral: Thanks for the comments <tpstar> and <agent>. What makes it even more unsound is that this was a correspondence game! Which also means I shouldn't have missed 13. Qf3+.
Dec-19-04  Backward Development: a very instructive game from the variation is
Petrosian vs Krogius, 1959
Aug-02-05  refutor: trying to make 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.c4 work (as Black) while getting into a grünfeld. After 3. ...Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.cxd5 makes me work harder than i'd like to, to get the pawn back. could i try 3. ...d5? or 3. ...Ne4? any ideas from the grünfeld crowd? i could always make it a KID fairly easily, but i'd like to avoid that if possible
Aug-13-05  positional player: In my opinion 2. Bg5 is meant to avoid King's Indian and Grunfeld and it will be very hard to get Grunfeld-like structure after that move. besides white can play 3. Bxf6 after 2. ...g6 and then getting to grunfeld is impossible

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