Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Symmetrical Variation (6… d6 7. Ne2)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Ne2
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. Ne2. 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 13 times by this move order. White won 69%, 8% were drawn and Black won 23%. The most popular continuation is 7… Ne7 (38% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.13 (Stockfish, depth 53; best line 7… Ne7 8. c3 Ba5 9. Ba4 Ng6 10. Ng3)
- ECO
- C49
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/ppp2ppp/2np1n2/1B2p3/1b2P3/3P1N2/PPP1NPPP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 1 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 d6 7. Ne2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 11 | |
| All | 13 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Ne7 | 5 (38%) | |
| 7… Bg4 | 4 (31%) | |
| 7… h6 | 2 (15%) | |
| 7… a6 | 1 (8%) | |
| 7… Qe7 | 1 (8%) |
Master games
299 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 36%, Black 24%). The strongest:
- GM Yangyi Yu (2752) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2764) 1-0 · Saint Louis Rapid 2019 · 2019-08-11
- GM Yangyi Yu (2720) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2780) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-04
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2739) – GM So, W. (2754) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Super Blitz Poland · 2026-05-09
- GM B. Adhiban (2668) – GM Levon Aronian (2780) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com IoM Masters · 2018-10-25
- GM Richard Rapport (2716) – GM Dmitry Jakovenko (2733) 1/2-1/2 · Gibraltar Masters 2015 · 2015-02-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TregubenkoKolya_2010 (2625) – FM fbf96 (2623) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- FM uhlmannfan (2532) – Figurenklotz (2490) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Bear_Puh (2453) – ShadowMessmer (2523) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 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
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.