Grünfeld Defense: Flohr Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qa4+
The Grünfeld Defense: Flohr Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D90, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qa4+. 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 8 times by this move order. White won 38%, -1% were drawn and Black won 63%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bd7 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.04 (Stockfish, depth 33; best line 5… Bd7 6. Qd1 dxc4 7. e4 c5 8. Bxc4)
- ECO
- D90
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/5np1/3p4/Q1PP4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R1B1KB1R b KQkq - 3 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qa4+
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 7 | |
| All | 8 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bd7 | 4 (50%) | |
| 5… c6 | 3 (38%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 1 (13%) |
Master games
203 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 37%, Black 24%). The strongest:
- GM Hao Wang (2737) – GM Levon Aronian (2815) 0-1 · SportAccord Blindfold Men 2012 · 2012-12-19
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2746) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2804) 1/2-1/2 · Gashimov Mem TB 2016 · 2016-06-04
- GM Hao Wang (2737) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2764) 0-1 · SportAccord Rapid Men 2012 · 2012-12-14
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2761) – GM Anish Giri (2734) 1-0 · FIDE GP Beijing · 2013-07-14
- GM Etienne Bacrot (2725) – GM Alexander Morozevich (2760) 1/2-1/2 · Makedonia Palace GP · 2013-05-27
Search all games of the Grünfeld Defense: Flohr Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM kebi (2584) – FM bartsimpson6 (2469) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- humorous03 (2269) – RonnieSVilla087719 (2164) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- humorous03 (2218) – dnez (2207) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation (4. Nf3 Bg7) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7
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.