Indian · a defense for Black
Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Spassky Variation
16/16
1.d4Nf62.c4g63.Nc3d54.cxd5Nxd55.e4Nxc36.bxc3Bg77.Bc4c58.Ne2O-O
Live databaseLichess 1600–2000 · blitz + rapid
Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Spassky Variation229k games · White to move
MoveWhite / draw / BlackPlayedGamesScore
61%139k51%
36%81k51%
1.2%2.7k49%
0.6%1.4k56%
0.5%1.1k46%
0.4%99744%
0.4%85145%
0.2%53547%
0.1%18527%
0.1%15646%
Famous games in this line2.4k master games
Carlsen, M. (2872) – Vachier Lagrave, M. (2780)Carlsen, M. (2872) – Nepomniachtchi, I. (2767)Caruana, Fabiano (2842) – Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2774)Topalov, Veselin (2805) – Anand, Viswanathan (2787)Aronian, L. (2764) – Mamedyarov, S. (2808)Ivanchuk, Vassily (2781) – Morozevich, Alexander (2788)Nepomniachtchi, I. (2792) – Vachier Lagrave, M. (2757)Giri, Anish (2764) – Nepomniachtchi, Ian (2784)Heroes of this opening Aronian, L. · Ivanchuk, Vassily
- Family
- Grünfeld Defense
- Category
- Indian
- First move
- 1.d4
- ECO
- D87
- Line
- 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 O-O
FianchettoSharpHypermodern
★ Read the guide: Grünfeld DefenseExplore all 59 Grünfeld Defense lines →Keep exploring
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From the archives
Ernst Grünfeld introduced the counter-strike ...d5 in 1922 and beat the future world champion Alekhine with it in Vienna that November. Thirteen-year-old Bobby Fischer's 'Game of the Century' against Donald Byrne — the queen sacrifice every chess kid learns — transposed into the same opening. Give White the centre, then chop it down.
Study this opening