Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation, Marshall Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Ba4 Bc5 6. Nxe5 O-O
The Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation, Marshall Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C48, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Ba4 Bc5 6. Nxe5 O-O. It is a line of the Four Knights Game. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 2 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 7. Nd3 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.02 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 7. Nd3 Bb6 8. e5 Ne8 9. Nd5 d6)
- ECO
- C48
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppp1ppp/5n2/2b1N3/B2nP3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK2R w KQ - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Ba4 Bc5 6. Nxe5 O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 2 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. Nd3 | 2 (100%) |
Master games
29 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 55%, draw 14%, Black 31%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Morozevich (2760) – GM Peter Svidler (2769) 1-0 · Makedonia Palace GP · 2013-05-23
- GM Richard Rapport (2693) – GM Etienne Bacrot (2714) 1/2-1/2 · Breisacher Memorial · 2013-07-31
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2658) – GM Peter Leko (2707) 1-0 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-14
- GM Pranesh M (2627) – GM Ray Robson (2650) 1-0 · World Blitz 2025 · 2025-12-30
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2645) – GM Karen H. Grigoryan (2609) 1-0 · World Junior Open 2015 · 2015-09-07
Highest-rated Lichess games
- foduck (2169) – Bogdan666 (2187) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- Eskaspi (1770) – friendly_potato_007 (1818) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 300 + 3s
Comes from
Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation (4. Bb5 Nd4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4
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.