Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Ultra-Delayed Exchange Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5 7. cxd5 cxd5
The Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Ultra-Delayed Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO D79, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5 7. cxd5 cxd5. 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 25 times by this move order. White won 44%, 20% were drawn and Black won 36%. The most popular continuation is 8. Nc3 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 8. Ne5 Ne4 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Nc6)
- ECO
- D79
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/pp2ppbp/5np1/3p4/3P4/5NP1/PP2PPBP/RNBQ1RK1 w - - 0 8- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5 7. cxd5 cxd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 10 | |
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 25 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Nc3 | 20 (80%) | |
| 8. Ne5 | 3 (12%) | |
| 8. Bd2 | 1 (4%) | |
| 8. e3 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
144 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 36%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Maxim Matlakov (2674) – GM Anish Giri (2773) 1/2-1/2 · Chess.com Rapid Wk8 Swiss · 2022-04-02
- GM Gabriel Sargissian (2664) – GM Nihal Sarin (2652) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 · 2021-11-03
- GM Raunak Sadhwani (2628) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2675) 1/2-1/2 · Chess.com RCC Wk12 Swiss · 2022-04-30
- GM Ihor Samunenkov (2533) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2755) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Sep Early · 2024-09-10
- GM Rohith Krishna S (2484) – GM So, W. (2753) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 3rd Feb 2026 · 2026-02-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ton61820 (2563) – Imreallybadjs (2516) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- banaccomg (2288) – legoski (2458) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- MeuhMeuh3000 (2313) – Ozryel (2369) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Neo-Grünfeld Defense: Classical Variation, Original Defense 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5
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 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.