Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation (6… O-O 7. e4)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4

The Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D97, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4. It is a line of the Grünfeld Defense. Black is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 175 times by this move order. White won 50%, 10% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 7… Nc6 (29% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7… a6 8. Qb3 b5 9. Be2 c5 10. dxc5)

ECO: D97
Moves: 13 plies
FEN: rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/5np1/8/2QPP3/2N2N2/PP3PPP/R1B1KB1R b KQ - 0 7
PGN: 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
1500-1999	23	39%18%43%
2000+	152	52%39%
All	175	50%40%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
7… Nc6 Russian Variation, Byrne Variation	50 (29%)	44%12%44%
7… a6 Russian Variation, Hungarian Variation	47 (27%)	51%40%
7… c6 Russian Variation, Szabo Variation	29 (17%)	45%14%41%
7… Na6 Russian Variation, Prins Variation	13 (7%)	62%38%
7… Bg4 Russian Variation, Smyslov Variation (7. e4 Bg4)	11 (6%)	45%19%36%
7… b6 Russian Variation, Levenfish Variation	6 (3%)	33%67%
7… Nbd7	5 (3%)	80%20%
7… Nfd7	5 (3%)	40%20%40%

Master games

196 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 32%, Black 30%). The strongest:

GM Dmitry Jakovenko (2722) – GM Peter Svidler (2749) 0-1 · 65th ch-RUS Playoff · 2012-08-13
GM Alexander Morozevich (2770) – GM Anish Giri (2696) 0-1 · 45th Biel GM · 2012-07-23
GM Peter Svidler (2727) – GM Yi Wei (2734) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2015 · 2015-09-25
GM Peter Svidler (2727) – GM Yi Wei (2734) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2015 · 2015-09-25
GM Yue Wang (2726) – GM Yi Wei (2706) 1-0 · TCh-CHN 2015 · 2015-12-08

Search all games of the Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Chess1Love0 (2825) – Sunrise34 (2850) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Chess1Love0 (2806) – kuhmft (2833) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Chess1Love0 (2798) – IM liczner (2724) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation (4… Bg7 5. Qb3) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3

Continuations

Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Byrne Variation D97 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Nc6
Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Hungarian Variation D97 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 a6
Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Levenfish Variation D97 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 b6
Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Prins Variation D97 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Na6
Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Smyslov Variation (7. e4 Bg4) D98 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Bg4
Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Szabo Variation D97 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 c6

More Grünfeld Defense lines (all)

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.