Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Levenfish Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 b6
The Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Levenfish 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 b6. 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 6 times by this move order. White won 33%, 0% were drawn and Black won 67%. The most popular continuation is 8. e5 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.22 (Stockfish, depth 28; best line 8. e5 b5 9. Qxb5 Nfd7 10. e6 fxe6)
- ECO
- D97
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/p1p1ppbp/1p3np1/8/2QPP3/2N2N2/PP3PPP/R1B1KB1R w KQ - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 b6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. e5 | 4 (67%) | |
| 8. Qb3 | 1 (17%) | |
| 8. Bd3 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
29 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 59%, draw 13%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Dmitry Jakovenko (2736) – GM Li Chao2 (2687) 1-0 · 8th RUS-CHN Summit Men Classical · 2012-07-05
- GM Alexander Morozevich (2675) – Valery Sviridov (2519) 1-0 · St.Petersburg Rapid 2017 · 2017-08-26
- GM Jingyao Tin (2584) – IM Abilmansur Abdilkhair (2378) 1-0 · World Blitz 2025 · 2025-12-29
- FM Aleksey Sorokin (2379) – Alexander Glukhov (2296) 1-0 · Moscow Open A 2015 · 2015-02-06
- IM Roberto Junio Brito Molina (2434) – FM Anastasia Avramidou (2238) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 11th May · 2021-05-11
Highest-rated Lichess games
- thekinglear (2363) – Yokomojamo (2336) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- kn8walk (2337) – jomo518 (2360) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- BorisImanol (2164) – persepolis0 (2073) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
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.