Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Hungarian Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3
The Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Hungarian Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D93, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3. It is a line of the Grünfeld Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 249 times by this move order. White won 41%, 7% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 6… c5 (63% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.05 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… c5 7. dxc5 Ne4 8. Rc1 Nd7 9. cxd5)
- ECO
- D93
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/5np1/3p4/2PP1B2/2N1PN2/PP3PPP/R2QKB1R b KQ - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 7 | |
| 1500-1999 | 125 | |
| 2000+ | 117 | |
| All | 249 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… c5 | 158 (63%) | |
| 6… c6 | 36 (14%) | |
| 6… Bg4 | 13 (5%) | |
| 6… a6 | 12 (5%) | |
| 6… dxc4 | 12 (5%) | |
| 6… Bf5 | 4 (2%) | |
| 6… e6 | 3 (1%) | |
| 6… Re8 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
498 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 24%, Black 45%). The strongest:
- GM Teimour Radjabov (2765) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) 0-1 · Skilling Open Prelim · 2020-11-22
- GM Teimour Radjabov (2765) – GM So, W. (2770) 1/2-1/2 · Skilling Open Prelim · 2020-11-24
- GM Yangyi Yu (2752) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 1-0 · Saint Louis Blitz 2019 · 2019-08-14
- GM Yangyi Yu (2752) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 1/2-1/2 · Saint Louis Rapid 2019 · 2019-08-10
- GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2757) – GM Boris Gelfand (2740) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates · 2013-03-28
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kesha05 (2585) – GM ILikeBlitz (2825) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- askarshahmaty2004 (2526) – Viva_La_Gloria (2476) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Warhawk95 (2440) – NM dschwarz (2521) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Hungarian Attack 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bf4
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.