Bogo-Indian Defense: Grünfeld Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2
The Bogo-Indian Defense: Grünfeld Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E11, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2. It is a line of the Bogo-Indian Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 793 times by this move order. White won 53%, 7% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 4… O-O (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.35 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4… b6 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Bxd2 Bb7 7. e3)
- ECO
- E11
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pppp1ppp/4pn2/8/1bPP4/5N2/PP1NPPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 3 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 11 | |
| 1500-1999 | 154 | |
| 2000+ | 628 | |
| All | 793 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… O-O | 281 (35%) | |
| 4… b6 | 156 (20%) | |
| 4… d5 | 140 (18%) | |
| 4… c5 | 81 (10%) | |
| 4… Ne4 | 51 (6%) | |
| 4… a5 | 21 (3%) | |
| 4… Qe7 | 21 (3%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 13 (2%) |
Master games
5,679 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 26%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) – Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-12
- Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) – Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-09
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2789) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2855) 0-1 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2016-06-20
- GM Sergey Karjakin (2750) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2882) 1-0 · Saint Louis Rapid 2019 · 2019-08-12
- GM Levon Aronian (2793) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2017-07-02
Search all games of the Bogo-Indian Defense: Grünfeld Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- winx_m (2914) – slouuurps (2761) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- RiseP (2726) – GM CrazySage (2811) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- PreciousOcean14 (2691) – Your_Waterloo (2690) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Bogo-Indian Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+
Continuations
- Queen's Indian Defense, with e3, Bb4+ Line E14 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 b6 5. e3 Bb7
- Queen's Indian Defense, with e3 (6… Bb7 7. e3) E14 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 b6 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 Bb7 7. e3
More Bogo-Indian Defense lines (all)
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Exchange Variation E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Haiti Variation E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Monticelli Trap E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: New England Variation E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Nimzowitsch Variation E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (4. Bd2 Be7) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (5… d5 6. Nf3) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (6. Nf3 O-O) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (6… O-O 7. O-O) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (7… c6 8. O-O) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (8. Qc2 c6) E11
- Bogo-Indian Defense: Retreat Variation (8… c6 9. b3) E11
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.