Four Knights Game: Glek System (6… Nxc3 7. bxc3)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nxc3 7. bxc3
The Four Knights Game: Glek System is a chess opening classified as ECO C47, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nxc3 7. bxc3. It is a line of the Four Knights Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 40 times by this move order. White won 35%, 8% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 7… Bd6 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7… Bc5 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 h6 10. a4)
- ECO
- C47
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/2n5/4p3/8/2P2NP1/P1PP1PBP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nxc3 7. bxc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5 | |
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 24 | |
| All | 40 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Bd6 | 20 (50%) | |
| 7… Bc5 | 6 (15%) | |
| 7… Bg4 | 3 (8%) | |
| 7… e4 | 3 (8%) | |
| 7… Be7 | 3 (8%) | |
| 7… f6 | 2 (5%) | |
| 7… f5 | 1 (3%) | |
| 7… Be6 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
335 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 25%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2753) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2803) 1-0 · Geneva Masters KO 2013 · 2013-06-30
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2712) – GM Liren Ding (2766) 1/2-1/2 · IMSA Rapid 2016 · 2016-02-27
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2712) – GM Evgeny Tomashevsky (2728) 0-1 · IMSA Basque 2016 · 2016-03-02
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2792) – GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2632) 1-0 · Naroditsky Mem Blitz 2026 · 2026-07-04
- GM Francisco Vallejo Pons (2703) – GM Sam Shankland (2718) 1/2-1/2 · 4th Prague Masters 2022 · 2022-06-13
Search all games of the Four Knights Game: Glek System and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- PawnsTractorist (2579) – IM roggefeller (2732) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- PawnsTractorist (2598) – calculus9001 (2551) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- PawnsTractorist (2563) – Washington91 (2571) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Four Knights Game: Glek System (3… Nf6 4. g3) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3
More Four Knights Game lines (all)
- Four Knights Game C47
- Four Knights Game: Gunsberg Variation C47
- Four Knights Game: Gunsberg Variation, Provincial Opening C47
- Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit C47
- Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit, Oldtimer Variation C47
- Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit, Plasma Variation C47
- Four Knights Game: Italian Variation (3… Nf6 4. Nc3) C47
- Four Knights Game: Italian Variation, Noa Gambit C47
- Four Knights Game: Naroditsky Variation C47
- Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation C47
- Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted C47
- Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted, Main Line C47
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.