Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5
The Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D85, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5. It is a line of the Grünfeld Defense. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5,257 times by this move order. White won 46%, 7% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 5. e4 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.19 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5)
- ECO
- D85
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pp1p/6p1/3n4/3P4/2N5/PP2PPPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 165 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,321 | |
| 2000+ | 2,771 | |
| All | 5,257 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. e4 | 4,215 (80%) | |
| 5. Bd2 | 321 (6%) | |
| 5. Nf3 | 281 (5%) | |
| 5. Nxd5 | 172 (3%) | |
| 5. e3 | 89 (2%) | |
| 5. g3 | 51 (1%) | |
| 5. Na4 Exchange Variation, Nadanian Attack | 44 (1%) | |
| 5. Qb3 | 31 (1%) |
Master games
8,443 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 29%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) – LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-27
- LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) – Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-26
- LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3628) – Berserk13 (3540) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-01
- Berserk13 (3540) – LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3628) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-04-29
- SlowChess Blitz 2.83 avx2 (3490) – LCZero 0.29-dev+_781561 (3586) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Premier 2022 · 2022-03-17
Search all games of the Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- vistagusta (2832) – winx_m (2921) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- IM ManiacalZerker (2779) – Sunrise34 (2871) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- ScaryIndianJunior (2798) – Sunrise34 (2846) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Grünfeld Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5
Continuations
- Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Nadanian Attack D85 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Na4
- Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Classical Variation D86 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4
- Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation (6… Bg7 7. Nf3) D85 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3
More Grünfeld Defense lines (all)
- Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Burille Variation, Reversed Tarrasch A56
- 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
- Grünfeld Defense: Brinckmann Attack, Grünfeld Gambit, Capablanca 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.