Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (7. O-O Nb6)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. O-O Nb6
The Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D76, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. O-O Nb6. 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 6 times by this move order. White won 33%, 17% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 8. Nc3 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 8. e4 Bg4 9. d5 Qd7 10. Nc3 c6)
- ECO
- D76
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/1n4p1/8/3P4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 2 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. O-O Nb6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Nc3 | 3 (50%) | |
| 8. h3 | 2 (33%) | |
| 8. e4 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
266 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 28%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Veselin Topalov (2749) 1-0 · GCT Rapid Paris 2017 · 2017-06-22
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2817) – GM Teimour Radjabov (2757) 1/2-1/2 · 81st Tata Steel GpA · 2019-01-13
- GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2621) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2804) 0-1 · World Rapid 2021 · 2021-12-26
- GM Wenjun Ju (2560) – GM Sam Shankland (2720) 1-0 · FTX Road to Miami Prelim · 2022-07-11
- GM Baadur Jobava (2603) – GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2676) 0-1 · Titled Tue 4th Aug 2pm · 2020-08-04
Search all games of the Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Mind_Soul (2594) – waterisl1fe (2571) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- FM Mind_Soul (2571) – Sawa-169 (2528) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- FM TorVik-2 (2451) – TryingBetter7 (2408) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (6… Nxd5 7. O-O) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. O-O
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 (7… c5 8. O-O) D75
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (7… c5 8. dxc5) D75
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation D77
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Modern Defense D77
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Polgar 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.