Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Smyslov Variation (7. e4 Bg4)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Bg4
The Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Smyslov Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D98, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Bg4. It is a line of the Grünfeld Defense. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 11 times by this move order. White won 45%, 19% were drawn and Black won 36%. The most popular continuation is 8. Be2 (73% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 8. Be3 Nfd7 9. Qb3 Nb6 10. Rd1 Bxf3)
- ECO
- D98
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rn1q1rk1/ppp1ppbp/5np1/8/2QPP1b1/2N2N2/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 Bg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 8 | |
| All | 11 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Be2 | 8 (73%) | |
| 8. e5 | 2 (18%) | |
| 8. Be3 | 1 (9%) |
Master games
92 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 32%, Black 16%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Morozevich (2736) – GM Gata Kamsky (2763) 1-0 · FIDE GP Beijing · 2013-07-10
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2733) – GM David Navara (2724) 1/2-1/2 · 48th Biel GM 2015 · 2015-07-30
- GM Bukavshin, I. (2655) – GM Peter Svidler (2739) 1/2-1/2 · 68th ch-RUS 2015 · 2015-08-16
- GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (2719) – GM Ivan Salgado Lopez (2598) 1/2-1/2 · 14th Euro Indiv 2013 · 2013-05-07
- GM Mustafa Yilmaz (2626) – GM Nils Grandelius (2662) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 · 2021-11-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- thekinglear (2335) – whaflc-jevtic (2464) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- DYDEROT (2348) – SchroedingersQueen (2334) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Lordbresco (2365) – SyrenTrap (2288) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 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
Continuations
- Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Smyslov Variation (8… Nfd7 9. Qb3) D99 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Bg4 8. Be3 Nfd7 9. Qb3
- Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation, Keres Variation D98 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Bg4 8. Be3 Nfd7 9. Be2 Nb6 10. Qd3 Nc6 11. O-O-O
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.