Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3
Three Knights Variation
1.2.3.4.
What Is The Three Knights Variation?
The Grünfeld invites White to build a broad pawn center, then tears it down with the g7 bishop and ...c5. With 4.Nf3 White refuses the invitation, developing a piece instead of grabbing space with 4.cxd5 and 5.e4. The Three Knights Variation is restraint as a weapon: it denies Black the big-center target that every Grünfeld player is trained to demolish.
White then picks a system: Qb3 pressuring d5, Bg5 or Bf4 for fast piece play, or a solid e3 setup. Black castles and strikes with ...c5 anyway, fighting for the long diagonal. Games turn on the d5 tension: resolve it on your terms and you keep a stable space edge, while Black takes over the moment ...c5 lands and the g7 bishop opens up.
The Named Lines Of The Three Knights Variation
| Line | Moves |
|---|---|
| Burille Variation | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 |
| Petrosian System | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5 |
| Hungarian Attack | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bf4 |
| Hungarian Variation | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 |
| Paris Variation | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Bd3 |
| Vienna Variation | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 O-O 6.Qb3 |
| Burille Variation, Reversed Tarrasch | 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.e3 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.O-O Nc6 |