Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Spassky Variation (13. cxd4 Be6)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Be6
The Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Spassky 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 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Be6. 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 10 times by this move order. White won 40%, 0% were drawn and Black won 60%. The most popular continuation is 14. d5 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 35; best line 14. Bf2 Nc6 15. d5 Bxa1 16. Qxa1 Nb4)
- ECO
- D89
- Moves
- 26 plies
- FEN
r2q1rk1/pp2ppbp/4b1p1/n7/3PP3/3BBP2/P3N1PP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 1 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 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Be6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 10 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 14. d5 | 5 (50%) | |
| 14. Rc1 | 3 (30%) | |
| 14. Qa4 | 1 (10%) | |
| 14. Qd2 | 1 (10%) |
Master games
65 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 34%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM A.R. Saleh Salem (2690) – GM David Paravyan (2617) 0-1 · Chess.com RCC Wk14 Swiss · 2022-05-14
- GM Anton Korobov (2687) – GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2603) 1/2-1/2 · Aeroflot Open A 2019 · 2019-02-26
- GM Dennis Wagner (2616) – GM Dominik Horvath (2542) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2024 · 2024-12-30
- GM Manuel Petrosyan (2610) – GM Adham Fawzy (2471) 1/2-1/2 · 44th Olympiad 2022 · 2022-07-31
- Antoni Kozak (2459) – GM David Paravyan (2617) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th May Early · 2022-05-17
Highest-rated Lichess games
- MrIbiza (2454) – procosmicrider (2332) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- xXmungojerrieXx (2063) – GM Ralf61 (2391) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- ASHISH1900 (2197) – hvastun62 (2219) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
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
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.