Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation (4… Bg7 5. Qb3)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3
The Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D96, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3. It is a line of the Grünfeld Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 330 times by this move order. White won 52%, 8% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 5… dxc4 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 a6 8. Qb3)
- ECO
- D96
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/5np1/3p4/2PP4/1QN2N2/PP2PPPP/R1B1KB1R b KQkq - 3 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 66 | |
| 2000+ | 264 | |
| All | 330 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… dxc4 | 264 (80%) | |
| 5… c6 | 43 (13%) | |
| 5… e6 | 9 (3%) | |
| 5… O-O | 7 (2%) | |
| 5… c5 | 4 (1%) | |
| 5… Be6 | 2 (1%) | |
| 5… Na6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
707 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 23%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2781) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2784) 0-1 · Opera Euro Rapid KO 2021 · 2021-02-09
- GM Teimour Radjabov (2793) – GM Alexander Morozevich (2748) 0-1 · SportAccord Rapid Men 2012 · 2012-12-15
- GM Nikita Vitiugov (2725) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) 1/2-1/2 · 31st ECC Open 2015 · 2015-10-24
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Daniil Dubov (2710) 1-0 · Levitov Dubov-Firouzja Bl · 2021-05-19
- GM Sam Shankland (2710) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2740) 1/2-1/2 · 8th Gashimov Mem Blitz · 2022-12-23
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: Three Knights Variation (4. Nf3 Bg7) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7
Continuations
- Grünfeld Defense: Russian Variation (6… O-O 7. e4) D97 · 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.