Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Prins Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Na6
The Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Prins 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 Na6. 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 13 times by this move order. White won 62%, 0% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 8. Be2 (77% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 8. Be2 c5 9. d5 e6 10. O-O exd5)
- ECO
- D97
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/n4np1/8/2QPP3/2N2N2/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 Na6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 13 | |
| All | 13 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Be2 | 10 (77%) | |
| 8. Bf4 | 1 (8%) | |
| 8. e5 | 1 (8%) | |
| 8. Bg5 | 1 (8%) |
Master games
236 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 25%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2792) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2863) 1/2-1/2 · WCh 2014 · 2014-11-21
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2797) – GM Levon Aronian (2777) 1-0 · 4th Zurich CC Classical · 2015-02-15
- GM Boris Gelfand (2773) – GM Veselin Topalov (2767) 0-1 · FIDE GP Beijing · 2013-07-04
- GM Alexander Morozevich (2736) – GM Boris Gelfand (2773) 1-0 · FIDE GP Beijing · 2013-07-07
- GM Boris Gelfand (2743) – GM Li Chao2 (2746) 0-1 · 10th Tal Mem 2016 · 2016-09-30
Search all games of the Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Prins Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Risikoaffin (2361) – pulgarcitapink (2385) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Evgeny760127 (2345) – DVlad (2348) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- thekinglear (2360) – anamarija123 (2332) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 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.