Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Byrne Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Nc6
The Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Byrne 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 Nc6. 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 50 times by this move order. White won 44%, 12% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 8. Be2 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 8. h3 e5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. e6 fxe6)
- ECO
- D97
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/2n2np1/8/2QPP3/2N2N2/PP3PPP/R1B1KB1R w KQ - 1 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 5 | |
| 2000+ | 45 | |
| All | 50 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Be2 | 32 (64%) | |
| 8. e5 | 6 (12%) | |
| 8. d5 | 4 (8%) | |
| 8. Be3 | 4 (8%) | |
| 8. h3 | 2 (4%) | |
| 8. Bf4 | 2 (4%) |
Master games
446 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 33%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2882) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 1-0 · Saint Louis Rapid 2019 · 2019-08-12
- GM Levon Aronian (2802) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2804) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-21
- GM Anish Giri (2783) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2817) 1/2-1/2 · 81st Tata Steel GpA · 2019-01-14
- GM Levon Aronian (2797) – GM Anish Giri (2784) 1/2-1/2 · 77th Tata Steel GpA · 2015-01-11
- GM Levon Aronian (2781) – GM Anish Giri (2776) 0-1 · Magnus Carlsen Inv Prelim · 2021-03-14
Search all games of the Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Byrne 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 (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
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.