Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation (5… Qe7 6. f4)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxe5 Qe7 6. f4
The Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C48, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxe5 Qe7 6. f4. 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 15 times by this move order. White won 20%, 13% were drawn and Black won 67%. The most popular continuation is 6… Nxb5 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.34 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 6… Nxb5 7. Nxb5 d6 8. Nf3 Qxe4+ 9. Kf2)
- ECO
- C48
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1b1kb1r/ppppqppp/5n2/1B2N3/3nPP2/2N5/PPPP2PP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxe5 Qe7 6. f4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8 | |
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 15 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Nxb5 | 12 (80%) | |
| 6… c6 | 2 (13%) | |
| 6… Nxe4 | 1 (7%) |
Master games
5 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 20%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Li Chao2 (2683) – GM Gabor Papp (2595) 1-0 · PRO League Group Stage · 2020-01-29
- GM Mikhail Al. Antipov (2588) – GM Benjamin Gledura (2644) 1-0 · ChessKid Cup Div 3 W · 2023-05-22
- GM Mikhail Al. Antipov (2606) – FM Panesar Vedant (2391) 1/2-1/2 · Julius Baer Play-In 2023 · 2023-07-24
- IM Dashgyn Ibadov (2360) – GM David Paravyan (2597) 0-1 · Titled Tue 15th Aug Late · 2023-08-15
- Jonatan Akeborg (1671) – Arvid Fridman (1746) 0-1 · Uppsala Open 2023 · 2023-08-13
Highest-rated Lichess games
- tigra522 (2486) – Sagitario999 (2577) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- shenatsi52 (2191) – pushkarajvs (2131) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 0s
- dux66 (2046) – trek17x (2269) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 300 + 8s
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.