Grünfeld Defense: all variations and ECO codes
59 named lines across 22 ECO codes (A56–E60), spanning ECO volumes A, D, E. Source: the CC0-licensed lichess.org opening database.
The idea
Black fianchettoes first and only then strikes the center with d5, deliberately allowing White to build a big classical pawn center with cxd5/e4 in exchange for immediate, sustained pressure against that center from the fianchettoed bishop and a well-timed c5 or Nb6 later. It’s among the sharpest mainstream replies to 1.d4 that begin with an early ...g6, trading the King’s Indian’s slower buildup for a more direct, immediate fight over the center.
The main line
How the main line scores at your rating
Real Lichess win rates for 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5, playing as black: the family’s other variations are not separately tracked for win rate yet, main line only.
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| Rating band | Games | White / draw / Black | Score for black | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1400-1600 | 78 | Not enough games at this band yet. | |||
| 1600-1800 | 166 | Not enough games at this band yet. | |||
| 1800-2000 | 315 | Not enough games at this band yet. | |||
| 2000+ | 485 | Not enough games at this band yet. | |||
All 59 named variations
Every named line in the Grünfeld Defense family, from the CC0-licensed ECO classification: not separately tracked for win rate, but every ECO code and move sequence is real, sourced data.
- D80Grünfeld Defense (main line)1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5
- D90Three Knights Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3D90Three Knights Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7
- D94Burille Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3
- A56Reversed Tarrasch1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.e3 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.O-O Nc6
- D91Petrosian System1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5
- D92Hungarian Attack1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bf4
- D93Hungarian Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3
- D94Paris Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Bd3
- D95Vienna Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Qb3
- D80Gibbon Gambit1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.g4
- D80Lundin Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Nxe4 dxe4 6.Qd2 c5
- D80Lutikov Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.f3
- D80Murrey Attack1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.f3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Na4
- D80Stockholm Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5
- D80Zaitsev Gambit1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.h4
- D96Russian Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3D97Russian Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4
- D81Accelerated Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Qb3
- D97Byrne Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Nc6
- D97Hungarian Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 a6
- D97Levenfish Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 b6
- D97Prins Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Na6
- D97Szabo Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 c6
- D98Keres Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 9.Be2 Nb6 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.O-O-O
- D98Smyslov Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Bg4D99Smyslov Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 9.Qb3
- D99Yugoslav Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Bg4 8.Be3 Nfd7 9.Qb3 c5
- D82Brinckmann Attack1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4
- D83Grünfeld Gambit1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O
- D83Botvinnik Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Rc1 c5 7.dxc5 Be6
- D83Capablanca Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Rc1
- D83Reshevsky Gambit1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.Rc1 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Qa5
- D84Grünfeld Gambit Accepted1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Nxd5 Qxd5 8.Bxc7
- D85Exchange Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5
- D85Modern Exchange Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3D85Modern Exchange Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5D85Modern Exchange Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Rb1
- D85Kramnik’s Line1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.h3
- D85Pawn Grab Line1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Rb1 O-O 9.Be2 Nc6 10.d5 Bxc3+
- D85Nadanian Attack1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Na4
- D86Classical Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4
- D86Larsen Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Ne2 Qd7D86Larsen Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Ne2 Qd7 9.O-O b6
- D86Simagin’s Improved Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Ne2 Nc6
- D86Simagin’s Lesser Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Ne2 b6
- D87Seville Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.O-O Bg4 11.f3 Na5 12.Bxf7+
- D87Spassky Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 O-OD88Spassky Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.O-O cxd4 11.cxd4D89Spassky Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.O-O Bg4 11.f3 Na5 12.Bd3 cxd4 13.cxd4 Be6
- D89Sokolsky Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 O-O 9.O-O Nc6 10.Be3 Bg4 11.f3 Na5 12.Bd3 cxd4 13.cxd4 Be6 14.d5
- D90Flohr Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qa4+
- D94Flohr Defense1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O Bf5
- D94Makogonov Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.b4
- D94Opocensky Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Bd2
- D94Smyslov Defense1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O Bg4
- D95Botvinnik Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Qb3 e6
- D95Pachman Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Bxc4 O-O 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.Ng5
- E60Counterthrust Variation1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 d5
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