Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit, Plasma Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Nc6 6. d5 Ne5 7. f4 Ng6 8. e5 Ng8 9. d6 cxd6 10. exd6 Qf6 11. Nb5 Rb8
The Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit, Plasma Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C47, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Nc6 6. d5 Ne5 7. f4 Ng6 8. e5 Ng8 9. d6 cxd6 10. exd6 Qf6 11. Nb5 Rb8. It is a line of the Four Knights Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5 times by this move order. White won 20%, 0% were drawn and Black won 80%. The most popular continuation is 12. Be3 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.76 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 12. Be3 b6 13. Qe2 Kd8 14. O-O-O Ba6)
- ECO
- C47
- Moves
- 22 plies
- FEN
1rb1kbnr/pp1p1ppp/3P1qn1/1N6/5P2/8/PPP3PP/R1BQKB1R w KQk - 3 12- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Nc6 6. d5 Ne5 7. f4 Ng6 8. e5 Ng8 9. d6 cxd6 10. exd6 Qf6 11. Nb5 Rb8
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 12. Be3 | 2 (40%) | |
| 12. g4 | 1 (20%) | |
| 12. g3 | 1 (20%) | |
| 12. Qe2+ | 1 (20%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Reale_asriel (2397) – berort08 (1082) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- Satsat70 (1575) – geo1chess (1612) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- Alex4gr (1592) – Dimooon_2014 (1591) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 5s
Comes from
Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5
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: Gunsberg Variation C47
- Four Knights Game: Gunsberg Variation, Provincial Opening C47
- Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit, Oldtimer 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.