Four Knights Game: Gunsberg Variation, Provincial Opening
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. a3 d6 5. h3
The Four Knights Game: Gunsberg Variation, Provincial Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO C47, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. a3 d6 5. h3. 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 61 times by this move order. White won 52%, 2% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 5… Be7 (30% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.10 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 5… Nd4 6. Bc4 Be7 7. d3 Nxf3+ 8. Qxf3)
- ECO
- C47
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppp2ppp/2np1n2/4p3/4P3/P1N2N1P/1PPP1PP1/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. a3 d6 5. h3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 42 | |
| 1500-1999 | 17 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 61 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Be7 | 18 (30%) | |
| 5… Be6 | 16 (26%) | |
| 5… h6 | 8 (13%) | |
| 5… a6 | 6 (10%) | |
| 5… d5 | 3 (5%) | |
| 5… Bd7 | 3 (5%) | |
| 5… g6 | 3 (5%) | |
| 5… Nd4 | 2 (3%) |
Master games
17 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 24%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- IM Sugar Gan-Erdene (2444) – GM Kirill Alekseenko (2659) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2025 · 2025-12-27
- IM Dmitry V. Sklyarov (2428) – GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2603) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-NOR Elite 2025-26 · 2025-11-02
- IM Cristian Dolezal (2439) – IM Leandro Krysa (2464) 1-0 · 90th ch-ARG 2015 · 2015-10-09
- FM Andrej Ljepic (2341) – GM Dalibor Stojanovic (2449) 1/2-1/2 · Fantastico GM mix 1 2025 · 2025-02-07
- FM Andrej Ljepic (2341) – IM Umut Ata Akbas (2433) 0-1 · Fantastico GM mix 1 2025 · 2025-02-08
Highest-rated Lichess games
- lili1955 (2021) – sidoserm (2018) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
- lili1955 (2016) – dweez00 (2014) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
- MEFTUN0666 (1882) – gitz6666 (1973) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Four Knights Game: Gunsberg Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. a3
More Four Knights Game lines (all)
- Four Knights Game C47
- Four Knights Game: Glek System (3… Nf6 4. g3) C47
- Four Knights Game: Glek System (6… Nxc3 7. bxc3) 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.