Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Petrosian System
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5
The Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Petrosian System is a chess opening classified as ECO D91, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5. 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 761 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5… Ne4 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.15 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… Ne4 6. Bf4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. e3)
- ECO
- D91
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/5np1/3p2B1/2PP4/2N2N2/PP2PPPP/R2QKB1R b KQkq - 3 5- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 31 | |
| 1500-1999 | 372 | |
| 2000+ | 358 | |
| All | 761 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Ne4 | 399 (52%) | |
| 5… O-O | 125 (16%) | |
| 5… c6 | 98 (13%) | |
| 5… dxc4 | 73 (10%) | |
| 5… c5 | 28 (4%) | |
| 5… e6 | 12 (2%) | |
| 5… h6 | 8 (1%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 6 (1%) |
Master games
1,872 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 26%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2881) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2792) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd Norway Chess 2014 · 2014-06-10
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2778) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) 1/2-1/2 · 45th Biel GM · 2012-07-28
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2769) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2829) 1/2-1/2 · 6th London Classic 2014 · 2014-12-13
- GM Pavel Eljanov (2765) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2804) 0-1 · Vugar Gashimov Mem 2016 · 2016-05-27
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2700) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2865) 0-1 · Airthings Masters KO 2022 · 2022-02-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- VIPA21 (2598) – IM liczner (2702) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- NightNightingale1 (2594) – Normal_one (2668) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Grone2024 (2505) – IM liczner (2703) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation (4. Nf3 Bg7) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7
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.