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Grünfeld Defense (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5)
How do Grünfeld Defense games actually end? Across 6,847 Lichess games that reached the position after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5, White won 44.6%, 5.9% were drawn and Black won 49.4%. Below: the main line move by move, the most played continuations (the favorite is 4.cxd5), the rating effect and the opening's history.
The main line, move by move
| Move | Position name | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.d4 | Queen's Pawn Game | 697,933 | 50.4% | 4.7% | 44.9% |
| 1...Nf6 | Indian Defense | 179,238 | 45.6% | 5.0% | 49.4% |
| 2.c4 | Indian Defense: Normal Variation | 97,129 | 46.6% | 5.0% | 48.4% |
| 2...g6 | Indian Defense: West Indian Defense | 29,431 | 46.0% | 5.2% | 48.8% |
| 3.Nc3 | King's Indian Defense | 24,004 | 46.8% | 5.3% | 47.9% |
| 3...d5 | Grünfeld Defense | 6,847 | 44.6% | 5.9% | 49.4% |
| 4.cxd5 | - | 2,842 | 46.6% | 6.7% | 46.7% |
| 4...Nxd5 | Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation | 2,834 | 46.6% | 6.7% | 46.8% |
| 5.e4 | - | 2,314 | 45.7% | 6.6% | 47.7% |
The 5 most common continuations (for White)
| Move | Variation | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.cxd5 | - | 2,842 | 46.6% | 6.7% | 46.7% |
| 4.Nf3 | - | 1,391 | 46.1% | 5.2% | 48.7% |
| 4.e3 | - | 982 | 41.8% | 6.6% | 51.6% |
| 4.Bg5 | - | 588 | 43.9% | 5.3% | 50.9% |
| 4.Bf4 | - | 397 | 45.1% | 4.3% | 50.6% |
How rating changes the same position
| Rating band (average of the pair) | Games | White | Draws | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1600-1799 | 2,281 | 45.5% | 4.5% | 50.0% |
| 2200-2499 | 381 | 44.1% | 7.1% | 48.8% |
The story of the opening
Ernst Grünfeld debuted his defense in Vienna, 1922, and the premiere could not have been more dramatic: among its first victims was Alexander Alekhine, the future world champion. The idea was heresy for its time: invite White to build the perfect center with pawns on d4 and e4, then machine-gun it with c5, Bg7 and pressure down the long diagonal.
The defense starred in the Game of the Century: in 1956 a 13 year old Bobby Fischer used a Grünfeld to sacrifice his queen against Donald Byrne and produce the most celebrated combination in American chess. Decades later Kasparov carried it into his matches against Karpov. It is heavy theory and concrete chess: the rating split makes it visible how much better the Grünfeld performs in the hands of players who studied the consequences of every central exchange.
Compare it with every other opening in the opening statistics archive, or visit its neighbors: London System and English Opening. Nerd aside: chess notation is a 64 square code, cousin to the ones living next door, like binary and Morse.
Source: the Lichess open game database (database.lichess.org, CC0 data), months 2014-06, 2015-01, 2016-01, snapshot of 2026-07-09: blitz, rapid and classical games with the players' average rating between 1600 and 2199, aggregated by move sequence. Variation names and ECO codes: lichess-org/chess-openings (CC0).
Last updated: · Methodology and sources