Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Sokolsky Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Be6 14. d5
The Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Sokolsky Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D89, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Be6 14. d5. It is a line of the Grünfeld Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 14… Bxa1 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.02 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 14… Bxa1 15. Qxa1 f6 16. Qb1 Bd7 17. e5)
- ECO
- D89
- Moves
- 27 plies
- FEN
r2q1rk1/pp2ppbp/4b1p1/n2P4/4P3/3BBP2/P3N1PP/R2Q1RK1 b - - 0 14- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Be6 14. d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 14… Bxa1 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
23 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 27%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Anton Korobov (2672) – GM David Paravyan (2589) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Oct Late · 2022-10-25
- IM Lazaro Lorenzo De La Riva (2444) – GM Emilio Cordova (2572) 1/2-1/2 · 5th Sabadell Open A · 2012-09-07
- GM Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal (2555) – IM Paulo Bersamina (2429) 0-1 · 44th Olympiad 2022 · 2022-08-09
- IM Klaudiusz Urban (2462) – GM Vadim Shishkin (2502) 1/2-1/2 · 9th Baltic Pearl 2013 · 2013-07-06
- FM Urtnasan Nasanjargal (2462) – IM Daniel Fernandez (2462) 1/2-1/2 · Third Sat 125 GM Special · 2020-02-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- krolkrolowa_kurs (1900) – alejorenzzi (1886) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Spassky Variation (8. Ne2 O-O) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 O-O
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.