A08

Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld 4…e6 5. O-O

Chess diagram: Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld after 5. O-O

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

Statistics from Lichess

371,149 games: White 55.8% / Draw 6.5% / Black 37.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	204,637205K
	66,50467K
	26,69827K
	13,96914K
	12,67913K
	10,08810K
	6,5976,597
	6,2216,221

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.24 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... Nf6 6. c4 dxc4 7. dxc5 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 c3 10. bxc3

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 better this line does for White: White scores 54% under 1400, 59% at 2200 and up and 61% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	22K
1400–1799	103K
1800–2199	242K
2200 and up	60K
Masters, over the board	842

Master games

Carlsen, M. – Aronian, L. 1–0, 2022
Carlsen, M. – Firouzja, A. ½–½, 2025
Vachier Lagrave, M. – So, W. ½–½, 2020
Vachier Lagrave, M. – So, W. 1–0, 2019
Carlsen, M. – Praggnanandhaa, R. ½–½, 2022

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

Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld (ECO A08, Flank Openings) is a variation of the Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld, reached after 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. d4 e6 5. O-O (5 moves).

In 371,149 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 55.8%, Black 37.7% and 6.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…Nf6, in 55% 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? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

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

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

How to answer 5. O-O

5…Qb6 scores best for Black: 42.7%, with Black winning 40.1% and White 54.8% of 27K games. The most played, 5…Nf6, scores 42.0% in 205K games, and 5…cxd4 scores lowest: 40.6%. Stockfish's first choice is 5…Nf6.

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

Popularity by year

This line dipped to 0.013% of Lichess games in 2021 and has recovered since: 0.015% in 2025.

0.013%0.015%0.016%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.013%	4,648
2017	0.015%	8,390
2018	0.016%	12,326
2019	0.016%	19,738
2020	0.015%	43,273
2021	0.013%	50,251
2022	0.014%	52,304
2023	0.014%	52,572
2024	0.015%	52,220
2025	0.015%	52,190
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.015%	16,755

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Zukertort Opening: Reversed Grünfeld (A08)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/zukertort-opening-reversed-grunfeld-4