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
The Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D74, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. O-O. It is a line of the Neo-Grünfeld Defense. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 39 times by this move order. White won 38%, 8% were drawn and Black won 54%. The most popular continuation is 7… Nc6 (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.14 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 7… Nb6 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. e3 e5 10. d5)
- ECO
- D74
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/ppp1ppbp/6p1/3n4/3P4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 b - - 1 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 27 | |
| All | 39 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Nc6 | 16 (41%) | |
| 7… c5 | 6 (15%) | |
| 7… Nb6 Delayed Exchange Variation (7. O-O Nb6) | 6 (15%) | |
| 7… c6 | 5 (13%) | |
| 7… Bf5 | 3 (8%) | |
| 7… Bg4 | 2 (5%) | |
| 7… e6 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
198 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 26%, Black 28%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2770) 0-1 · SuperUnited CRO Blitz 2024 · 2024-07-13
- GM Boris Grachev (2670) – GM Yuri Vovk (2588) 1/2-1/2 · 16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015 · 2015-03-04
- GM Alexander Rustemov (2525) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2731) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Apr Early · 2024-04-30
- GM Grigoriy Oparin (2652) – GM Dennis Wagner (2581) 1/2-1/2 · Speed Chess Super Swiss · 2020-10-03
- GM Haik M. Martirosyan (2607) – GM Maksim Chigaev (2604) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2019-02-14
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
- Uhyret2009 (2525) – Wanderkoenig (2568) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3
Continuations
- Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Delayed Exchange Variation (7. O-O Nb6) D76 · 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. O-O Nb6
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.