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The Gruenfeld Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5) enjoys a special star status in the family of Indian openings. It involves a daring, active concept: fighting for control of the centre with an early d7-d5 thrust supported only by pieces. The ensuing lines and positions promise more active play than most openings. Black has to know the critical ideas and most promising plans as most lines are pretty sharp and concrete.

The Gruenfeld Indian is an active and dynamic reply to 1.d4 which can lead to complex and extremely sharp positions. So it’s no wonder that also Alexei Shirov included this opening – which at its début in tournament practice was called ”hypermodern” – into his repertoire. At the candidates’ final against Vladimir Kramnik in Cazorla in 1998, he exclusively – and successfully – trusted the Gruenfeld Indian with Black; the victory over Kramnik gave him the right to play a WCh match versus Kasparov. In the fi rst part of the DVD Shirov extensivey comments his five Black games from the Kramnik match, giving deep insights into opening preparation and match strategy on highest level. In the second part Shirov reveals, among other things, how in his opposite-coloured bishop endgame against Topalov in Linares in 1998 he found the amazing and unique move, which will secure the game a place in chess history forever. And this is not the only fl ash of inspiration the Super Grandmaster will present in his videos… Running time: 5:25 hours

The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation is one of the most important opening systems, having been played by most of the great players in history and from both sides of the board. The most outstanding specialists in this method of play include Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Botvinnik and Samuel Reshevsky whilst the Black side has been championed by such notables as Anatoly Karpov, Boris Spassky and Paul Keres. It is truly an opening of champions.

• 28.892 edited games played between April and June 2011
 • biggest tournament: EU-ch (Women) 12th, 739 games
 • Leon: Rapidmatch Anand-Shirov
 • Shenzhen Celebrity 1st, 1. Wang Yue
 • FRA-chT Top 12
 • CBM Extra with videos in Fritztrainer format:
 • Adrian Mikhalchishin with a nice idea in the Gruenfeld Defence
 • Nigel Davies presents an own game as addition to his DVD 'Tricks & Traps Vol 1'
 • Valeri Lilov is enthusiastic about a classic game Anderssen-Mayet