Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation, Grinberg Gambit
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Bf5 4. e4
The Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation, Grinberg Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A53, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Bf5 4. e4. It is a line of the Old Indian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 21 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nxe4 (48% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.42 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 4… Bxe4 5. Nxe4 Nxe4 6. Qb3 Qc8 7. g4)
- ECO
- A53
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rn1qkb1r/ppp1pppp/3p1n2/5b2/2PPP3/2N5/PP3PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Bf5 4. e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 14 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 21 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nxe4 | 10 (48%) | |
| 4… Bg6 | 8 (38%) | |
| 4… Bxe4 | 3 (14%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 0%, Black 67%). The strongest:
- FM Eduardo Peralta (2218) – GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2605) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 13th July · 2021-07-13
- IM Daniel Barria Zuniga (2341) – CM Vladimir Mikhailovsky (2216) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 20th Apr · 2021-04-20
- Bozidar M Djordjevic (1983) – FM Drasko Begus (2275) 0-1 · Belgrade Cup 2024 · 2024-05-11
Highest-rated Lichess games
- CM SouthAfricanWolf (2595) – JelenaZ (2597) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Diversion_1234 (2215) – lobouno (2181) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Squid1003 (2121) – Alcantrix (2128) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Bf5
More Old Indian Defense lines (all)
- Old Indian Defense (1… d6 2. c4) A41
- Old Indian Defense (2. c4 d6) A53
- Old Indian Defense: Aged Gibbon Gambit A53
- Old Indian Defense: Czech Variation, with Nc3 A53
- Old Indian Defense: Czech Variation, with Nf3 A53
- Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation, Fianchetto Variation A53
- Old Indian Defense: Janowski Variation, Main Line A53
- Old Indian Defense: Duz-Khotimirsky Variation A54
- Old Indian Defense: Tartakower-Indian A54
- Old Indian Defense: Two Knights Variation A54
- Old Indian Defense: Ukrainian Variation A54
- Old Indian Defense: Normal Variation A55
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.