Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Original Defense
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5
The Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Original Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO D78, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5. It is a line of the Neo-Grünfeld Defense. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 139 times by this move order. White won 53%, 5% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 7. Nc3 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.10 (Stockfish, depth 58; best line 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. Nc3 Ne4 9. Ne5 Bf5)
- ECO
- D78
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp2ppbp/2p2np1/3p4/2PP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 0 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 6 | |
| 1500-1999 | 55 | |
| 2000+ | 78 | |
| All | 139 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Nc3 | 50 (36%) | |
| 7. cxd5 | 32 (23%) | |
| 7. Nbd2 | 22 (16%) | |
| 7. Qc2 | 9 (6%) | |
| 7. b3 | 7 (5%) | |
| 7. Re1 | 4 (3%) | |
| 7. Ne5 | 3 (2%) | |
| 7. Bg5 | 3 (2%) |
Master games
297 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 28%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2765) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2775) 0-1 · GCT Blitz Paris 2019 · 2019-08-01
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2724) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2773) 1/2-1/2 · Moscow FIDE Grand Prix · 2019-05-25
- GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2682) – GM Anish Giri (2764) 0-1 · World Blitz 2022 · 2022-12-29
- GM Mustafa Yilmaz (2630) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2770) 1-0 · Titled Arena Jan 2nd 2021 · 2021-01-02
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2746) – GM Bassem Amin (2633) 1-0 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 · 2025-09-06
Highest-rated Lichess games
- gammadrill (2578) – Randomak (2682) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- upbeat028 (2600) – Cuentatorneos (2661) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- DTimofey (2563) – qzrchess77 (2532) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3
Continuations
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Ultra-Delayed Exchange Variation D79 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5 7. cxd5 cxd5
More Neo-Grünfeld Defense lines (all)
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Goglidze Attack D70
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: with Nf3 D70
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: with g3 (3. g3 d5) D70
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation (5. cxd5 Nxd5) D71
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation (5… Nxd5 6. Nf3) D71
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: with g3 (6… Nb6 7. Ne2) D72
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: with g3 (4… Bg7 5. Nf3) D73
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (6… Nxd5 7. O-O) D74
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (7… c5 8. O-O) D75
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (7… c5 8. dxc5) D75
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (7. O-O Nb6) D76
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation D77
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.