Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5
The Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C47, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5. It is a line of the Four Knights Game. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2,850 times by this move order. White won 54%, 4% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nxe5 (95% of games).
Engine evaluation: −2.18 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4… Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 6. e5 Ng8 7. Bc4)
- ECO
- C47
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/4N3/4P3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,654 | |
| 1500-1999 | 999 | |
| 2000+ | 197 | |
| All | 2,850 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nxe5 | 2,718 (95%) | |
| 4… Bc5 | 34 (1%) | |
| 4… d6 | 25 (1%) | |
| 4… Bb4 | 18 (1%) | |
| 4… Nxe4 | 13 (0%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 9 (0%) | |
| 4… Qe7 | 9 (0%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 8 (0%) |
Master games
186 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 8%, Black 51%). The strongest:
- GM Jeffery Xiong (2692) – FM Vjacheslav Weetik (2423) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Nov Early · 2022-11-01
- GM Daniil Dubov (2720) – FM Oleksii Bilych (2347) 1-0 · Titled Tue 1st Mar Early · 2022-03-01
- IM Alexander Velikanov (2387) – GM Christopher Woojin Yoo (2603) 1-0 · Titled Tue 10th Sep Late · 2024-09-10
- FM Luca Silva (2309) – GM Ihor Samunenkov (2616) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Jul 2026 · 2026-07-21
- Kacper Polok (2228) – GM Markus Ragger (2651) 0-1 · European Blitz 2014 · 2014-12-19
Search all games of the Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ilipawn (2563) – FM luisangel1808 (2524) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- joobree (2517) – FM luisangel1808 (2529) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Reale_asriel (2370) – varvar12c (2418) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Four Knights Game 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6
Continuations
- Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit, Oldtimer Variation C47 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 6. e5 Ng8 7. Bc4 Bb4 8. Qf3 f5
- Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit, Plasma Variation C47 · 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
More Four Knights Game lines (all)
- 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: 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
- Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation, Belgrade Gambit C47
- Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation, Belgrade Gambit, Modern Defense 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.