B01

Van Geet Opening: Grünfeld Defense

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Statistics from Lichess

187,369 games: White 49.7% / Draw 4.9% / Black 45.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	84,01784K
	44,47044K
	17,11717K
	13,00713K
	7,3177,317
Van Geet Opening: Grünfeld Defense, Steiner Gambit	4,1594,159
	2,4432,443
Blackmar-Diemer Gambit: Lemberger Countergambit, Lange Gambit	2,0292,029

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

Engine evaluation

+0.19 The position is about equal

Best play: 4. Bc4 f5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. d3 Nf6 7. Nf3 Bd6 8. Ng5 Qe7

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

By rating

The stronger the players, the worse this line does for Black: Black scores 50% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	260K
1400–1799	111K
1800–2199	116K
2200 and up	20K
Masters, over the board	53

Master games

Lu Shanglei – Harikrishna, P. ½–½, 2018
Khusnutdinov, R. – Harikrishna, P. 1–0, 2018
Wang Chen – Zeng, C. 0–1, 2018
Gareev, T. – Sarkar, J. ½–½, 2015
Brodsky, M. – Raetsky, A. ½–½, 1993

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

Van Geet Opening: Grünfeld Defense (ECO B01, Semi-Open Games) is a variation of the Scandinavian Defense, reached after 1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 dxe4 3. Nxe4 e5 (3 moves).

In 187,369 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.7%, Black 45.5% and 4.9% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. Nf3, in 45% of those games.

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Description

How to play against the Van Geet Opening: Grünfeld Defense

4. Bc4 scores best for White: 56.6%, with White winning 54.1% and Black 40.8% of 44K games. The most played, 4. Nf3, scores 52.5% in 84K games, and 4. d3 scores lowest: 44.6%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. Bc4.

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

Popularity by year

The Van Geet Opening: Grünfeld Defense dipped to 0.0063% of Lichess games in 2017 and has recovered since: 0.008% in 2025.

0.0067%0.008%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0067%	2,404
2017	0.0063%	3,474
2018	0.0069%	5,442
2019	0.0067%	8,358
2020	0.0067%	19,682
2021	0.007%	27,220
2022	0.007%	26,202
2023	0.0074%	27,673
2024	0.0076%	27,333
2025	0.008%	27,674
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0081%	8,874

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Transpositions

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Van Geet Opening: Grünfeld Defense (B01)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/van-geet-opening-grunfeld-defense