Grünfeld Defense: Counterthrust Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5
The Grünfeld Defense: Counterthrust Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO E60, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5. It is a line of the Grünfeld Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 86 times by this move order. White won 48%, 9% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5. cxd5 (48% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.38 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nb6 7. Ne2 c5)
- ECO
- E60
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/5np1/3p4/2PP4/6P1/PP2PPBP/RNBQK1NR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 28 | |
| 2000+ | 57 | |
| All | 86 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. cxd5 | 41 (48%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 31 (36%) | |
| 5. Nc3 | 7 (8%) | |
| 5. b3 | 2 (2%) | |
| 5. c5 | 2 (2%) | |
| 5. Nd2 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5. Qa4+ | 1 (1%) | |
| 5. e3 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
232 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 27%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2770) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2743) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-19
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2799) – GM Vladislav Artemiev (2691) 0-1 · Nutcracker Rapid 2017 · 2017-12-23
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2753) – GM Anish Giri (2734) 1/2-1/2 · 26th Leon Masters g5 · 2013-06-09
- GM Alexander Donchenko (2665) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2723) 0-1 · Titled Tue 13th Jan 2026 · 2026-01-13
- GM Alexander Donchenko (2665) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2723) 0-1 · 1st 3-0 Thu 8th Jan 2026 · 2026-01-08
Search all games of the Grünfeld Defense: Counterthrust Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- SmoovE1258502 (2689) – IM liczner (2760) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- ji0sqwqgt (2708) – IM unknown-maestro_2450 (2638) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Ishmael67 (2488) – FNENAD (2635) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Immediate Fianchetto 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3
Continuations
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation (5. cxd5 Nxd5) D71 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5
More Grünfeld Defense lines (all)
- Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Burille Variation, Reversed Tarrasch A56
- Grünfeld Defense D80
- Grünfeld Defense: Gibbon Gambit D80
- Grünfeld Defense: Lundin Variation D80
- Grünfeld Defense: Lutikov Variation D80
- Grünfeld Defense: Lutikov Variation, Murrey Attack D80
- Grünfeld Defense: Stockholm Variation D80
- Grünfeld Defense: Zaitsev Gambit D80
- Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Accelerated Variation D81
- Grünfeld Defense: Brinckmann Attack D82
- Grünfeld Defense: Brinckmann Attack, Grünfeld Gambit D83
- Grünfeld Defense: Brinckmann Attack, Grünfeld Gambit, Botvinnik Variation D83
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.