Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Ne5 c6 7. g4
The Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B01, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Ne5 c6 7. g4. It is a line of the Scandinavian Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 17 times by this move order. White won 47%, 0% were drawn and Black won 53%. The most popular continuation is 7… Be6 (59% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 7… Be6 8. Nc4 Qc7 9. Ne3 g6 10. f4)
- ECO
- B01
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rn2kb1r/pp2pppp/2p2n2/q3Nb2/3P2P1/2N5/PPP2P1P/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Ne5 c6 7. g4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 15 | |
| All | 17 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Be6 | 10 (59%) | |
| 7… Be4 | 4 (24%) | |
| 7… Bg6 | 3 (18%) |
Master games
84 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 25%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Vugar Asadli (2579) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2767) 0-1 · 7th Gashimov Mem Blitz · 2021-12-23
- GM Vasif Durarbayli (2609) – GM Igor Kovalenko (2647) 1-0 · Sunway Sitges Open 2019 · 2019-12-21
- GM Bartlomiej Macieja (2583) – GM Ioannis Papaioannou (2619) 1-0 · 41st TCh-GRE · 2013-07-05
- GM Alan Pichot (2630) – GM Leonardo Tristan (2535) 0-1 · Abierto ArcelorMittal · 2020-09-20
- GM Praggnanandhaa R (2618) – GM Leonardo Tristan (2535) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 19th Oct · 2021-10-19
Search all games of the Scandinavian Defense: Grünfeld Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Meatloaf927 (2719) – FM rychessmaster1 (2725) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Sawa-169 (2491) – MathsChessForever (2587) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Ecade (2298) – GlobuleBlanc (2248) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Scandinavian Defense: Classical Variation 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5
More Scandinavian Defense lines (all)
- Scandinavian Defense (1. e4 d5) B01
- Scandinavian Defense (1… d5 2. b3) B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Collijn Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Goteborg System B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Anderssen Counterattack, Orthodox Attack B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Blackburne-Kloosterboer Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Boehnke Gambit B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Bronstein Variation B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Gubinsky-Melts Defense B01
- Scandinavian Defense: Icelandic-Palme Gambit B01
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.