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
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. It is a line of the Grünfeld Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,140 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 7… c5 (71% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7… c5 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Qd2 Nc6 10. Rb1)
- ECO
- D85
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/6p1/8/3PP3/2P2N2/P4PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 2 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 56 | |
| 1500-1999 | 493 | |
| 2000+ | 591 | |
| All | 1,140 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… c5 Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation (7. Nf3 c5) | 813 (71%) | |
| 7… O-O | 293 (26%) | |
| 7… Bg4 | 26 (2%) | |
| 7… Nc6 | 5 (0%) | |
| 7… Kf8 | 1 (0%) | |
| 7… a6 | 1 (0%) | |
| 7… b6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
646 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 20%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2766) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2757) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 5m+1spm 2017 · 2018-08-07
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2724) – GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2701) 1-0 · Chess.com Rapid Wk6 Swiss · 2022-03-19
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2743) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2680) 0-1 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 20th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-20
- GM Ildar Khairullin (2630) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2756) 1-0 · Aeroflot Open A 2015 · 2015-03-28
- GM Varuzhan Akobian (2647) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2729) 0-1 · World Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-29
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 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5
Continuations
- Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation (7. Nf3 c5) D85 · 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.