Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (7… c5 8. O-O)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. g3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2 c5 8. O-O
The Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D75, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. g3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2 c5 8. O-O. It is a line of the Neo-Grünfeld Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 8… cxd4 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 8… Nxc3 9. bxc3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nc6 11. Nxc6)
- ECO
- D75
- Moves
- 15 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp2ppbp/6p1/2pn4/3P4/2N2NP1/PP2PPBP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 1 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. g3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2 c5 8. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8… cxd4 | 1 (100%) |
Master games
19 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 32%, Black 21%). The strongest:
- GM Nana Dzagnidze (2529) – GM Wenjun Ju (2558) 1-0 · IMSA Blitz w 2016 · 2016-03-01
- GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. (2471) – GM Jules Moussard (2571) 1/2-1/2 · London Classic Open 2016 · 2016-12-15
- GM Jonathan Hawkins (2579) – IM Alberto Suarez Real (2438) 1-0 · 4NCL Div 1b 2018-19 · 2018-11-10
- FM Nicolo Napoli (2303) – IM Claudio Javier Minzer (2445) 1-0 · Eivissa Masters 2021 · 2021-09-06
- Linus Johansson (2277) – IM Pouya Idani (2462) 1/2-1/2 · WY BU18 2012 · 2012-11-09
Search all games of the Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM TorVik-2 (2452) – TryingBetter7 (2406) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3
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. dxc5) D75
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (7. O-O Nb6) D76
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation D77
- 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.