Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4
The Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical 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. It is a line of the Neo-Grünfeld Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 268 times by this move order. White won 55%, 7% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 6… c6 (53% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.03 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… c6 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. Nc3 Ne4 9. Ne5)
- ECO
- D77
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/5np1/3p4/2PP4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 b - - 0 6- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 9 | |
| 1500-1999 | 69 | |
| 2000+ | 190 | |
| All | 268 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… c6 | 143 (53%) | |
| 6… dxc4 Classical Variation, Modern Defense | 74 (28%) | |
| 6… c5 | 18 (7%) | |
| 6… e6 | 14 (5%) | |
| 6… Nc6 Classical Variation, Polgar Variation | 10 (4%) | |
| 6… Nbd7 | 3 (1%) | |
| 6… Ne4 | 2 (1%) | |
| 6… Na6 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
717 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 28%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2749) 1-0 · Magnus-Alireza Bullet · 2021-02-22
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2823) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2743) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-15
- GM Nils Grandelius (2684) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2739) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 25th Jul Early · 2023-07-25
- GM Daniil Dubov (2711) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2704) 1-0 · Chess.com Rapid Wk6 Swiss · 2022-03-19
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2694) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2700) 1-0 · Chess Stars 4.0 Blitz · 2024-07-02
Search all games of the Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- DiabloDiabloDiablo (2652) – human_machine (2693) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- GM Stoichess (2707) – FM ChessWorld2007 (2522) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Zaplya (2556) – tinotinotino (2622) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Indian Defense: Przepiorka Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3
Continuations
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Modern Defense D77 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4 dxc4
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Polgar Variation D77 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4 Nc6
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, Original Defense D78
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.