The Russian System arises in the Grunfeld when White brings the queen out to b3 early: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 (ECO D81). The queen presses on the d5 pawn and the queenside straight away.
White's idea is to win the fight for the centre by forcing Black to commit the d5 pawn (often ...dxc4 and Qxc4 follow, leaving White with a big centre). Black replies with the typical Grunfeld pressure along the long diagonal and undermining breaks.
The Russian System (also associated with Smyslov's name) is one of the most principled ways to meet the Grunfeld, leading to dense positional and tactical play.
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