Three Knights Opening (2… Nc6 3. Nc3)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3

The Three Knights Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO C46, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3. Black is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 153,604 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (51% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.06 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 3… Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6)

ECO: C46
Moves: 5 plies
FEN: r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4p3/4P3/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 3 3
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	102,284	48%48%
1500-1999	44,552	50%46%
2000+	6,768	51%43%
All	153,604	49%47%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
3… Nf6 Four Knights Game	78,003 (51%)	48%47%
3… Bc5	37,412 (24%)	48%48%
3… d6	12,543 (8%)	49%46%
3… Bb4 Three Knights Opening (3. Nc3 Bb4)	12,023 (8%)	49%47%
3… a6	2,495 (2%)	51%46%
3… f5 Winawer Defense	2,165 (1%)	48%49%
3… h6	2,113 (1%)	50%45%
3… f6	988 (1%)	54%41%

Master games

1,367 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 15%, Black 39%). The strongest:

GM Grigoriy Oparin (2660) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2771) 0-1 · Saint Louis Blitz 2025 · 2025-08-15
GM Naroditsky, D. (2619) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2023 · 2023-07-19
GM Laurent Fressinet (2702) – GM Etienne Bacrot (2705) 1/2-1/2 · 4th Grand Prix FFE 2012 · 2012-10-07
GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2606) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2760) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Feb Late · 2025-02-25
GM Aryan Tari (2623) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2683) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Dec Late · 2023-12-19

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

winx_m (2933) – vistagusta (2819) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
GM Chewbacca18 (2791) – winx_m (2949) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
GM Chewbacca18 (2796) – winx_m (2945) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6

Continuations

Four Knights Game C47 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6
Three Knights Opening (3. Nc3 Bb4) C46 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bb4
Three Knights Opening: Steinitz Defense C46 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6
Three Knights Opening: Winawer Defense C46 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 f5

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.