Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation, Henneberger Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. O-O
The Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation, Henneberger Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C48, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. 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 113 times by this move order. White won 51%, 7% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nxb5 (66% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 5… c6 6. Bd3 Nxf3+ 7. Qxf3 d6 8. Bc4)
- ECO
- C48
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/5n2/1B2p3/3nP3/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b kq - 7 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 24 | |
| 1500-1999 | 44 | |
| 2000+ | 45 | |
| All | 113 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nxb5 | 75 (66%) | |
| 5… c6 | 22 (19%) | |
| 5… Bc5 | 6 (5%) | |
| 5… a6 | 4 (4%) | |
| 5… Nxf3+ | 3 (3%) | |
| 5… Nxe4 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5… Bb4 | 1 (1%) | |
| 5… Ng4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
178 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 29%, Black 26%). The strongest:
- GM Teimour Radjabov (2753) – GM Hao Wang (2744) 1-0 · 10th Norway Armageddon · 2022-06-09
- GM Richard Rapport (2718) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2695) 1-0 · Esipenko-Rapport m Blitz · 2025-02-22
- GM Richard Rapport (2718) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2695) 1/2-1/2 · Esipenko-Rapport m Blitz · 2025-02-22
- GM Yangyi Yu (2735) – GM Jules Moussard (2654) 1-0 · 56th Biel GM Rapid 2023 · 2023-07-16
- GM Eric Hansen (2613) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2745) 0-1 · CGC KO 2022 · 2022-09-22
Highest-rated Lichess games
- b8b1 (2427) – bebitou123 (2474) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- IM Djager97 (2487) – DrLaPompa (2397) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- BobGertrud (2397) – Kolya259 (2393) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
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.