Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation (7. Nf3 c5)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5
The Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D85, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5. 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 813 times by this move order. White won 46%, 7% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 8. Be3 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 61; best line 8. h3 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nc6)
- ECO
- D85
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pp2ppbp/6p1/2p5/3PP3/2P2N2/P4PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 30 | |
| 1500-1999 | 351 | |
| 2000+ | 432 | |
| All | 813 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Be3 | 210 (26%) | |
| 8. Bb5+ | 155 (19%) | |
| 8. Rb1 | 132 (16%) | |
| 8. Be2 | 79 (10%) | |
| 8. Bc4 | 67 (8%) | |
| 8. h3 | 55 (7%) | |
| 8. e5 | 45 (6%) | |
| 8. Bb2 | 42 (5%) |
Master games
4,491 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 34%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) – SlowChess Blitz 2.9 avx2 (3418) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- SlowChess Blitz 2.9 avx2 (3418) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) 1/2-1/2 · Skilling Open KO 2020 · 2020-11-27
- GM Levon Aronian (2802) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2804) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-19
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2778) – GM Garry Kasparov (2812) 1-0 · GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 · 2021-07-11
Highest-rated Lichess games
- LuckyStar2011 (2801) – Sobino106 (2789) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- McMasterKid (2722) – Epichess95 (2822) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Minarque (2704) – GM ILikeBlitz (2804) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation (6… Bg7 7. Nf3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3
Continuations
- Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation, Pawn Grab Line D85 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 Nc6 10. d5 Bxc3+
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.