Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Symmetrical Variation (7. Bg5 Ne7)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 Ne7
The Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Symmetrical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C49, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 Ne7. It is a line of the Four Knights Game. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 6 times by this move order. White won 17%, 16% were drawn and Black won 67%. The most popular continuation is 8. Bxf6 (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. d4 Kh8 10. Bd3 Bxc3)
- ECO
- C49
- Moves
- 14 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp1nppp/3p1n2/1B2p1B1/1b2P3/2NP1N2/PPP2PPP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 2 8- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 Ne7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 8. Bxf6 | 4 (67%) | |
| 8. Nd5 | 1 (17%) | |
| 8. Nh4 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
110 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 24%, draw 37%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Daniel Dardha (2646) – GM Anish Giri (2748) 0-1 · FIDE World Bl Team Final · 2025-06-15
- GM Arkadij Naiditsch (2710) – GM Kiril Georgiev (2637) 0-1 · TCh-CRO Ia Liga 2013 · 2013-09-18
- GM Milos Perunovic (2614) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2685) 1/2-1/2 · 40th Olympiad Open · 2012-09-05
- GM Milos Perunovic (2602) – GM Gabriel Sargissian (2686) 1/2-1/2 · 41st Olympiad Open 2014 · 2014-08-11
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2660) – GM Samuel Sevian (2578) 1-0 · Lake Sevan 2015 · 2015-07-19
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM MassterofMayhem (2650) – AlwaysLookingForMore (2708) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Eliasbaruc (2362) – lidenbrook (2381) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Y-Viktoriia (2244) – NeueEroeffnungen (2337) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Symmetrical Variation (6. d3 d6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6
Continuations
- Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Symmetrical Variation, Blake Variation C49 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Bg5 Ne7 8. Nh4 c6 9. Bc4 d5 10. Bb3 Qd6
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.