Caissa Codex
D89

Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Spassky Variation 13. cxd4 Be6

Chess diagram: Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Spassky Variation after 13…Be6

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Statistics from Lichess

40,147 games: White 43.7% / Draw 7.7% / Black 48.6%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Sokolsky Variation 19,71720K
8,7528,752
5,7765,776
3,5403,540
1,0111,011
372372
264264
152152

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.08 The position is about equal

Best play: 14. Rc1 Bxa2 15. Qa4 Be6 16. h4 Bd7 17. Qa3 b5 18. h5 Re8

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

Overview

Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Spassky Variation (ECO D89, Closed & Semi-Closed Games) is a variation of the Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Classical Variation, reached after 1. 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 (13 moves).

In 40,147 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 43.7%, Black 48.6% and 7.7% were drawn. White's most played move here is 14. d5, in 49% of those games.

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How to answer 13…Be6

14. Rc1 scores best for White: 53.2%, with White winning 49.4% and Black 43.0% of 5,776 games. The most played, 14. d5, scores 48.3% in 20K games, and 14. Qd2 scores lowest: 42.7%. Stockfish's first choice is also 14. Rc1.

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

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 7…c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Be6, the position after Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Classical Variation also goes on to:

Transpositions

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Grünfeld Defense: Exchange Variation, Spassky Variation (D89)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/grunfeld-defense-exchange-variation-spassky-variation-3

https://chesscodex.org/openings/grunfeld-defense-exchange-variation-spassky-variation-3