Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Larsen Variation (8. Ne2 Qd7)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Ne2 Qd7
The Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Larsen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D86, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Ne2 Qd7. 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 2 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 9. O-O (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.71 (Stockfish, depth 27; best line 9. h4 b5 10. Bd5 c6 11. Bb3 a5)
- ECO
- D86
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rnb2rk1/pppqppbp/6p1/8/2BPP3/2P5/P3NPPP/R1BQK2R w KQ - 5 9- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Ne2 Qd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9. O-O | 2 (100%) |
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 100%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- GM Petar Genov (2455) – GM Tamir Nabaty (2575) 1/2-1/2 · 63rd TCh-BUL GpA 2013 · 2013-09-24
- WF Rulp Ylem Jose (2026) – WGM Tuvshintugs Batchimeg (2323) 1/2-1/2 · Asian Zone 3.3 w · 2013-01-25
Highest-rated Lichess games
- MatChess06 (2417) – Rashal01 (2355) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Cannabaceae (2256) – Jesko-lino_71 (2211) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Classical Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4
Continuations
- Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Larsen Variation (9. O-O b6) D86 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Ne2 Qd7 9. O-O b6
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.