Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation, Marshall Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxe5 Bc5 6. O-O O-O
The Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation, Marshall Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C48, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxe5 Bc5 6. O-O 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 1 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 7. d3 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.48 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 7. Bc4 d6 8. Nf3 Bg4 9. Be2 Nxe2+)
- ECO
- C48
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pppp1ppp/5n2/1Bb1N3/3nP3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 3 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxe5 Bc5 6. O-O O-O
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 1 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. d3 | 1 (100%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- el-juego-de-calamar (2145) – Bakiuzumaki (2136) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
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.