Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted, Main Line
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 O-O 9. O-O
The Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO C47, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 O-O 9. O-O. 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 111 times by this move order. White won 53%, 12% were drawn and Black won 35%. The most popular continuation is 9… cxd5 (76% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.04 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 9… Bg4 10. f3 Bh5 11. dxc6 Qd4+ 12. Kh1)
- ECO
- C47
- Moves
- 17 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/p1p2ppp/2p2n2/3P4/1b6/2NB4/PPP2PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 2 9- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 O-O 9. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 1500-1999 | 12 | |
| 2000+ | 96 | |
| All | 111 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 9… cxd5 | 84 (76%) | |
| 9… Bg4 | 26 (23%) | |
| 9… Bxc3 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
1,490 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 28%, draw 47%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Liren Ding (2804) 1/2-1/2 · 34th ECC Open 2018 · 2018-10-17
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) – GM Anish Giri (2764) 1/2-1/2 · Skilling Open KO 2020 · 2020-11-25
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2774) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2842) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2020 · 2021-04-23
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2820) 1/2-1/2 · FTX Crypto Cup KO 2021 · 2021-05-27
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2793) – GM Liren Ding (2806) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2022 · 2022-07-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM Chewbacca18 (2796) – winx_m (2945) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2752) – GM enmQ (2821) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Kruciatos (2732) – Chess1Love0 (2799) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4
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 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
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.