Caissa Codex
D85

Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation, Kramnik's Line

Chess diagram: Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation, Kramnik's Line after 8. h3

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

39,241 games: White 46.3% / Draw 7.5% / Black 46.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
16,73317K
16,54617K
2,9872,987
2,7722,772
4545
3939
2727
2323

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.31 White is slightly better

Best play: 8... Nc6 9. Be3 Qa5 10. Bd2 O-O 11. Be2 cxd4 12. cxd4 Qa3 13. d5

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation, Kramnik's Line (ECO D85, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a chess opening that starts 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. h3.

In 39,241 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 46.3%, Black 46.2% and 7.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 8…O-O, in 43% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

How to play against the Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation, Kramnik's Line

8…Nc6 scores best for Black: 51.7%, with Black winning 48.1% and White 44.6% of 17K games. The most played, 8…O-O, scores 48.9% in 17K games, and 8…Qa5 scores lowest: 47.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 8…Nc6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Transpositions

This position is also reached from these lines, by another move order:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Modern Exchange Variation, Kramnik's Line (D85)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/grunfeld-defense-exchange-variation-modern-exchange-variation-kramniks-line

https://chesscodex.org/openings/grunfeld-defense-exchange-variation-modern-exchange-variation-kramniks-line