Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Paris Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3
The Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Paris Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D94, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3. 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 71 times by this move order. White won 49%, 5% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 6… c5 (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.16 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 6… c5 7. O-O cxd4 8. exd4 Nc6 9. h3)
- ECO
- D94
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/5np1/3p4/2PP4/2NBPN2/PP3PPP/R1BQK2R b KQ - 2 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 48 | |
| 2000+ | 22 | |
| All | 71 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… c5 | 29 (41%) | |
| 6… dxc4 | 18 (25%) | |
| 6… Bg4 | 10 (14%) | |
| 6… c6 | 5 (7%) | |
| 6… a6 | 4 (6%) | |
| 6… Nc6 | 2 (3%) | |
| 6… b6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 6… e6 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
60 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 23%, draw 19%, Black 58%). The strongest:
- WIM Tatiana Malgina (2227) – IM Rout Padmini (2339) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Dec Early · 2024-12-10
- Ansh M Shah (2096) – GM Maxim Novik (2438) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 5th Oct · 2021-10-05
- Thomas Bach Nielsen (2189) – FM Theodor Kenneskog (2296) 0-1 · Copenhagen CC IM 2022 · 2022-05-29
- Zlatko Jeraj (2073) – IM Darko Sifrer (2392) 1/2-1/2 · 23rd ch-SLO 2013 · 2013-04-07
- Slaven Pastar (2195) – FM Velimir Ivic (2245) 0-1 · Serbian Open 2016 · 2016-11-12
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tonki (2306) – The_Armour_Of_God (2314) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- jamespas1000 (2233) – InkyGelato (2244) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
- dmit1234 (2128) – gufa (2255) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Burille Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. e3
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.