Fritz Trainer: 3.h4 against King's Indian and Grunfeld w/Sipke Ernst

3.h4!? Take King's Indian and Grünfeld Players Completely Out of Their Comfort Zone.

Chess engines love pushing flank pawns — and 3.h4 against the King's Indian and Grünfeld is one of the most exciting ideas to emerge from engine analysis in recent years. GM Sipke Ernst shows you how to use it.

After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6, instead of entering the deeply analyzed main lines where your opponent may know the theory better than you, play 3.h4!? — following in the footsteps of Topalov, who unleashed it against Giri at the 2016 Candidates. Since then, Carlsen, Caruana, Ding, and others have all used it with success.

Why 3.h4 Works:

• Grünfeld players struggle to execute their typical ...d5 and ...c5 plan while dealing with White's h-file push
• King's Indian players find their usual kingside attacking ideas neutralized — forced to find new counterplay
• Takes both types of opponents out of their preparation immediately
• Backed by top-level grandmaster practice at the highest level

A Fritz Trainer video course — 4 hours of instruction on one of the most effective surprise weapons in modern chess.

Stop playing what they've memorized. Play 3.h4. Shock your opponents from move three.