Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation, Belgrade Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5
The Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation, Belgrade Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C47, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5. It is a line of the Four Knights Game. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 539 times by this move order. White won 53%, 3% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nxd5 (24% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.17 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5… Nb4 6. Nxf6+ Qxf6 7. a3 Nc6 8. Bd3)
- ECO
- C47
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/3N4/3pP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 145 | |
| 1500-1999 | 207 | |
| 2000+ | 187 | |
| All | 539 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nxd5 | 128 (24%) | |
| 5… Nxe4 | 124 (23%) | |
| 5… Bc5 | 74 (14%) | |
| 5… Be7 | 69 (13%) | |
| 5… d6 | 60 (11%) | |
| 5… Bb4+ | 34 (6%) | |
| 5… Nb4 | 27 (5%) | |
| 5… h6 | 17 (3%) |
Master games
536 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 16%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-30
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-30
- GM Naroditsky, D. (2619) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Losers 2023 · 2023-07-21
- GM Naroditsky, D. (2619) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-19
- GM Naroditsky, D. (2619) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 1-0 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-19
Search all games of the Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation, Belgrade Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- PracticingEndgames (2434) – siete7729 (2539) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Arkadygroznyyy (2440) – engine_failure (2509) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- chesfupanda (2478) – clejercas (2470) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4
Continuations
- Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation, Belgrade Gambit, Modern Defense C47 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5 Nxe4 6. Qe2 f5
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.