Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Spielmann Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 a6 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nxe5 Nxe4 7. Nxe4 Qd4 8. O-O Qxe5 9. Re1 Be6 10. d4 Qd5
The Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Spielmann Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C48, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 a6 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nxe5 Nxe4 7. Nxe4 Qd4 8. O-O Qxe5 9. Re1 Be6 10. d4 Qd5. 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 6 times by this move order. White won 50%, 17% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 11. Ng5 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 11. Bg5 Bd6 12. b3 b5 13. Rc1 b4)
- ECO
- C48
- Moves
- 20 plies
- FEN
r3kb1r/1pp2ppp/p1p1b3/3q4/3PN3/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQR1K1 w kq - 1 11- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 a6 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. Nxe5 Nxe4 7. Nxe4 Qd4 8. O-O Qxe5 9. Re1 Be6 10. d4 Qd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 11. Ng5 | 3 (50%) | |
| 11. Bg5 | 1 (17%) | |
| 11. Nc5 | 1 (17%) | |
| 11. Bf4 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- FM Mike Ivanov (2177) – Georgios Terzakis (1162) 1-0 · 27th Heraklion Open 2019 · 2019-09-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Djager97 (2484) – SuperSayienZ (2394) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- qutris (2356) – samaraB7 (2321) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- kstrac (2217) – pl-ayer1552 (2185) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Ranken Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 a6 5. Bxc6
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.