Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld (3… Nc6 4. d4)
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4
The Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld is a chess opening classified as ECO A08, reached after 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4. It is a line of the Zukertort Opening. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,016 times by this move order. White won 56%, 6% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 4… cxd4 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 4… Nf6 5. O-O e6 6. c4 dxc4 7. dxc5)
- ECO
- A08
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp2pppp/2n5/2pp4/3P4/5NP1/PPP1PPBP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 18 | |
| 1500-1999 | 394 | |
| 2000+ | 604 | |
| All | 1,016 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… cxd4 | 408 (40%) | |
| 4… Nf6 Reversed Grünfeld (4. d4 Nf6) | 194 (19%) | |
| 4… e6 | 188 (19%) | |
| 4… c4 | 86 (8%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 52 (5%) | |
| 4… Bf5 | 47 (5%) | |
| 4… g6 | 14 (1%) | |
| 4… e5 | 10 (1%) |
Master games
350 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 62%, draw 14%, Black 24%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2785) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2786) 1/2-1/2 · 5th Norway Blitz 2017 · 2017-06-05
- GM Maxim Matlakov (2701) – GM Varuzhan Akobian (2633) 1/2-1/2 · Gibraltar Masters 2017 · 2017-01-29
- GM Rasmus Svane (2620) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2656) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Jun 2026 · 2026-06-09
- GM Igor Kovalenko (2645) – GM Arturs Neiksans (2557) 0-1 · Kovalenko-Neiksans Blitz · 2020-06-14
- GM Rasmus Svane (2609) – GM David Gavrilescu (2545) 1-0 · Chess.com Open PlayIn3 · 2026-03-23
Search all games of the Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM umagon20 (2762) – BoneCrusher2020 (2743) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- FM Brastrodamus (2684) – ScaryIndianJunior (2800) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Randomak (2680) – FM Alexboy14 (2754) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Indian Attack: French Variation 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6
Continuations
- Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld (4. d4 Nf6) A08 · 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4 Nf6
- Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld (4… e6 5. O-O) A08 · 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4 e6 5. O-O
More Zukertort Opening lines (all)
- Zukertort Opening (1. Nf3) A04
- Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening: Arctic Defense, Drunken Knight Variation A04
- Zukertort Opening: Basman Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening: Black Mustang Defense A04
- Zukertort Opening: Drunken Cavalry Variation A04
- Zukertort Opening: Dutch Variation A04
- Zukertort Opening: Herrstrom Gambit A04
- Zukertort Opening: Kingside Fianchetto A04
- Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit A04
- Zukertort Opening: Lisitsyn Gambit Deferred A04
- Zukertort Opening: Pirc Invitation A04
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.