Three Knights Opening: Steinitz-Rosenthal Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5
The Three Knights Opening: Steinitz-Rosenthal Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C46, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5. It is a line of the Three Knights Opening. Black 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 33%, 17% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bg7 (83% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 5… Bg7 6. Bg5 Nce7 7. Nxd4 c6 8. Nc3)
- ECO
- C46
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1p1p/2n3p1/3N4/3pP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nd5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bg7 | 5 (83%) | |
| 5… Na5 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
64 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 18%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Aleksander Delchev (2614) – GM Daniele Vocaturo (2536) 1-0 · 33rd Benasque Open · 2013-07-09
- IM Zaur Mammadov (2470) – GM Andrei Istratescu (2630) 0-1 · 17th Dubai Chess Open · 2015-04-08
- GM Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (2563) – IM Ernesto J. Fernandez Guillen (2477) 1-0 · Titled Tue 16th May Late · 2023-05-16
- GM David Paravyan (2586) – IM Ernesto J. Fernandez Guillen (2454) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 3rd Jan Late · 2023-01-03
- IM Steve Berger (2435) – GM Maxime Lagarde (2604) 0-1 · PRO League Group Stage · 2019-01-21
Search all games of the Three Knights Opening: Steinitz-Rosenthal Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Endoy900 (2413) – NIGHTMAREMAGNUS2015 (2440) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- buldym (2322) – radu77 (2325) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Nighthaak (2250) – Alexey_Korovin53 (2193) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Three Knights Opening: Steinitz Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6
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.