Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation (5… Nxd5 6. Nf3)
1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nf3
The Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D71, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nf3. 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 6… O-O (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 38; best line 6… O-O 7. O-O Nb6 8. Qd3 Nc6 9. Rd1)
- ECO
- D71
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/ppp1ppbp/6p1/3n4/3P4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 1 6- PGN
1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… O-O | 1 (100%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- IM Artiom Stribuk (2474) – IM Ryo Chen (2395) 1-0 · 31st Abu Dhabi Masters · 2025-08-16
- IM Liam Vrolijk (2433) – FM Jakub Kosakowski (2404) 1-0 · 81st Tata Steel TOP · 2019-01-25
- IM John C Pigott (2384) – Benedikt Stefansson (1395) 1-0 · GAMMA Reykjavik Open 2019 · 2019-04-13
Search all games of the Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tasogare20-new (1970) – klausjesper (1998) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
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: 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 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.