Chess Opening Theory/1. d4/1...Nf6/2. c4/2...g6/3. Nc3/3...d5/4. cxd5/4...Nxd5/5. Na4

Grünfeld Defence
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) rnbqkb1r/ppp1pp1p/6p1/3n4/N2P4/8/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR b
Moves: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Na4

Grünfeld Defence - Nadanian Variation

5. Na4!?

This strange looking move was first employed by Ashot Nadanian in 1996. Usually it is not recommended to put Knights on the edge of the board, but here it is meaningful. White takes the important c5-square under control and going to force black's Knight from the center with е4. Eventually, the a4-Knight can occupy the c5-square and attack the pawn on b7.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5

	5	6	7	8	9	10
	Na4 Bg7	e4 Nb6	Be3 O-O	Nf3 Bg4	=
	... e5	dxe5 Bb4+	Bd2 Ne3	fxe3 Bxd2+	Qxd2 Qh4+	g3 Qxa4	∞
	... Nf6	Nf3 Bg7	g3 Nc6	Bf4 Nd5	∞

References

• Modern Chess Openings: MCO-14. 1999. Nick de Firmian, Walter Korn. ISBN 0-8129-3084-3.

• Nunn's Chess Openings. 1999. John Nunn (Editor), Graham Burgess, John Emms, Joe Gallagher. ISBN 1-8574-4221-0.