Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Polgar Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4 Nc6
The Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Polgar Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D77, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4 Nc6. It is a line of the Neo-Grünfeld Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 10 times by this move order. White won 40%, 0% were drawn and Black won 60%. The most popular continuation is 7. Nc3 (70% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. e4 Nb6 9. d5 Na5)
- ECO
- D77
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/2n2np1/3p4/2PP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 1 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 9 | |
| All | 10 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Nc3 | 7 (70%) | |
| 7. cxd5 | 2 (20%) | |
| 7. Ne5 | 1 (10%) |
Master games
87 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 31%, draw 26%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- IM Alexandr Truskavetsky (2399) – GM Pavel Ponkratov (2625) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-RUS Premier 2020 · 2020-11-20
- GM Max Illingworth (2493) – GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez (2532) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 2nd June · 2020-06-02
- IM Basheer Al Qudaimi (2430) – GM Hicham Hamdouchi (2594) 1/2-1/2 · Emirates ch-Arab 2018 · 2018-11-30
- FM Verners Putka (2307) – GM Markus Ragger (2687) 0-1 · European Blitz 2018 · 2018-12-07
- IM Jakob Leon Pajeken (2458) – GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez (2525) 0-1 · Titled Tue 15th Nov Early · 2022-11-15
Highest-rated Lichess games
- EJTubog (2318) – Lyles (2494) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Edik_4 (2412) – josep09 (2389) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- Linkg311 (2223) – RobertFischerUkraine (2289) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4
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, Modern Defense 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.