Grünfeld Defense: Zaitsev Gambit
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. h4
The Grünfeld Defense: Zaitsev Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO D80, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. h4. 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 57 times by this move order. White won 51%, 3% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 4… h5 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.07 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 4… c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Na4 Nf6 7. Nxc5)
- ECO
- D80
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp1pp1p/5np1/3p4/2PP3P/2N5/PP2PPP1/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. h4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 19 | |
| 2000+ | 37 | |
| All | 57 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… h5 | 19 (33%) | |
| 4… Bg7 | 19 (33%) | |
| 4… c5 | 9 (16%) | |
| 4… c6 | 5 (9%) | |
| 4… h6 | 2 (4%) | |
| 4… dxc4 | 1 (2%) | |
| 4… e6 | 1 (2%) | |
| 4… a6 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
219 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 19%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) – LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-24
- LCZero 0.30-dag-a9b25c2b-BT2-3 (3598) – Stockfish dev-20230409-b36d39d (3639) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-04-23
- Stoofvlees II b5 (3492) – Ethereal 14.24 (3535) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- Ethereal 14.24 (3535) – Stoofvlees II b5 (3492) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2751) 1-0 · Aimchess US Rapid Prelim · 2021-08-29
Search all games of the Grünfeld Defense: Zaitsev Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Giannatos (2503) – Lukii20 (2327) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- TheodoreBagwell_1123 (2351) – CM Ersahin (2437) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- leclash66 (2372) – CM Aliyev_E (2364) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Grünfeld Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5
More Grünfeld Defense lines (all)
- Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation, Burille Variation, Reversed Tarrasch A56
- 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: 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
- Grünfeld Defense: Brinckmann Attack, Grünfeld Gambit, Capablanca Variation D83
- Grünfeld Defense: Brinckmann Attack, Reshevsky Gambit 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.