Three Knights Opening: Schlechter Variation

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nd5 Nf6

The Three Knights Opening: Schlechter Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C46, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nd5 Nf6. It is a line of the Three Knights Opening. White is to move.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 481 times by this move order. White won 47%, 5% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nxb4 (61% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.50 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 5. Nxb4 Nxb4 6. d4 d6 7. c3 Nc6)

ECO: C46
Moves: 8 plies
FEN: r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/3Np3/1b2P3/5N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 6 5
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nd5 Nf6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	353	46%49%
1500-1999	116	48%47%
2000+	12	67%33%
All	481	47%48%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
5. Nxb4	293 (61%)	44%50%
5. c3	80 (17%)	56%39%
5. Nxf6+	54 (11%)	46%50%
5. a3	15 (3%)	40%60%
5. Bc4	14 (3%)	57%43%
5. Bb5	9 (2%)	67%33%
5. Bd3	5 (1%)	20%80%
5. Nxe5	4 (1%)	25%75%

Master games

57 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 30%, draw 21%, Black 49%). The strongest:

GM Jeffery Xiong (2649) – GM Alexey Sarana (2675) 1/2-1/2 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 20th Nov 2025 · 2025-11-20
GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2600) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2698) 0-1 · Chess.com Open PlayIn1 · 2026-03-16
GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2600) – GM Andrey Esipenko (2698) 0-1 · Titled Tue 10th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-10
GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2547) – GM Alexey Sarana (2686) 1-0 · Titled Tue 16th Sep 2025 · 2025-09-16
GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2533) – GM Maxim Matlakov (2596) 0-1 · Titled Tue 8th Sep 2026 · 2026-09-08

Search all games of the Three Knights Opening: Schlechter Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

chessgrandfather1975 (2609) – GM Stoichess (2702) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
TheTremendousPatzer (2465) – DiabloDiabloDiablo (2652) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
TheTremendousPatzer (2459) – DiabloDiabloDiablo (2658) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Three Knights Opening (3. Nc3 Bb4) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bb4

More Three Knights Opening lines (all)

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.