Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Gunsberg Counterattack
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. Nd5 Nxd5 7. exd5 e4
The Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Gunsberg Counterattack is a chess opening classified as ECO C49, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. Nd5 Nxd5 7. exd5 e4. It is a line of the Four Knights Game. White is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 8. Ne1 Nd4 9. a4 Nxb5 10. axb5 c6)
- ECO
- C49
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppp1ppp/2n5/1B1P4/1b2p3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 0 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. Nd5 Nxd5 7. exd5 e4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 50%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- GM Pranesh M (2666) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2656) 0-1 · Titled Tue 14th Jul 2026 · 2026-07-14
- IM Bjarke Sahl (2326) – FM Casper Rasmussen (2304) 1-0 · 58th TCh-DEN Ex 2019-20 · 2019-11-24
- FM Roy Vagman (2276) – Nejc Herega (2228) 1-0 · European Youth U18 Teams · 2023-07-25
- FM Ole Christian Moen (2131) – IM Eric Rosen (2356) 1/2-1/2 · Kragero Resort Chess 2023 · 2023-02-24
- Pavel Sedy (2192) – Petr Pokorny (2120) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE 1 Liga Zapad · 2023-12-10
Comes from
Petrov's Defense: Three Knights Game 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3
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.