Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation, Pawn Grab Line
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+
The Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation, Pawn Grab Line 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 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 Nc6 10. d5 Bxc3+. It is a line of the Grünfeld Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 9 times by this move order. White won 78%, 11% were drawn and Black won 11%. The most popular continuation is 11. Bd2 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.53 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 11. Bd2 Bxd2+ 12. Qxd2 Nd4 13. Nxd4 cxd4)
- ECO
- D85
- Moves
- 20 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp2pp1p/2n3p1/2pP4/4P3/2b2N2/P3BPPP/1RBQK2R w K - 0 11- PGN
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+
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 9 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 11. Bd2 | 9 (100%) |
Master games
72 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 54%, draw 22%, Black 24%). The strongest:
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2603) – GM David Navara (2729) 0-1 · 77th Tata Steel GpB · 2015-01-20
- GM Evgeny Postny (2644) – GM Victor Mikhalevski (2571) 1-0 · TCh-ISR 2015 · 2015-05-01
- FM Barad Yeganegi (2387) – GM Alexey Sarana (2666) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 10th Sep 2026 · 2026-09-10
- GM Tomas Polak (2512) – GM Martin Petr (2531) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE Extraliga 2014-15 · 2014-11-01
- GM Brandon Jacobson (2491) – GM Vitalii Kiselev (2522) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 13th Apr · 2021-04-13
Highest-rated Lichess games
- omariscof (2559) – Shuvalov (2571) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- TheLastDance1985 (2362) – Flarion (2346) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- krama2026 (2377) – bot_012345678910 (2273) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
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
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.