Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3
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 equalizes the moment ...c5 lands and the g7 bishop opens up.
How Do You Play Against The Grünfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation?
89% continue 4...Bg7, which is close to automatic, so the useful information here is not the move but the structure. White has developed the knight to f3 rather than taking on d5, keeping the tension and refusing the big centre the Grünfeld is built to attack.
If White will not build a centre for you to attack, the Grünfeld plan has to change from destruction to pressure. Play ...dxc4 to open the game, or ...c6 and ...e6 for a solid Slav-flavoured structure. Do not sit waiting for a centre that is not coming. Black edges it 49% to 48% over 288 games, which is a healthy result for a defence this sharp.
What Do Players Choose At The Decision Point?
| Move | Share | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|
| cxd5 | 40% | 395 | |
| Nf3 | 25% | 251 | |
| Bg5 | 10% | 104 | |
| e3 | 9% | 94 |
How Does Play Continue From Here?
| Move | Share | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bg7 | 89% | 308 | |
| dxc4 | 5% | 16 | |
| c6 | 3% | 12 | |
| Bg4 | 1% | 5 |
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 |