Van Geet Opening: Sicilian Two Knights
1. Nc3 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
The Van Geet Opening: Sicilian Two Knights is a chess opening classified as ECO A00, reached after 1. Nc3 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4. It is a line of the Van Geet Opening. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 106 times by this move order. White won 55%, 3% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 4… g6 (30% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.28 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 4… g6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4)
- ECO
- A00
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp1ppppp/2n5/8/3N4/2N5/PPP1PPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. Nc3 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 16 | |
| 1500-1999 | 33 | |
| 2000+ | 57 | |
| All | 106 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… g6 | 32 (30%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 18 (17%) | |
| 4… Nxd4 | 16 (15%) | |
| 4… e5 | 10 (9%) | |
| 4… d6 | 9 (8%) | |
| 4… e6 | 9 (8%) | |
| 4… d5 | 8 (8%) | |
| 4… Qb6 | 3 (3%) |
Master games
261 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 18%, Black 39%). The strongest:
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2720) – GM Sergei Rublevsky (2702) 1-0 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-14
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2720) – GM Ivan Cheparinov (2681) 1-0 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-13
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2720) – GM Krishnan Sasikiran (2639) 1-0 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-13
- GM Christian Bauer (2630) – GM Loek Van Wely (2654) 0-1 · 5th Blitz Marathon 2014 · 2014-06-07
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2631) – GM Yuriy Kuzubov (2643) 0-1 · Gladiators May 27th-28th · 2020-05-27
Search all games of the Van Geet Opening: Sicilian Two Knights and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- elcondorprasa (2365) – Seuss (2420) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- elcondorprasa (2337) – Sheryak (2444) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- elcondorprasa (2344) – Eslovenia_Patagonia (2342) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Van Geet Opening 1. Nc3
More Van Geet Opening lines (all)
- Van Geet Opening: Battambang Variation A00
- Van Geet Opening: Billockus-Johansen Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Damhaug Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Dougherty Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Dunst-Perrenet Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Düsseldorf Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Gladbacher Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Hector Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Hergert Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Hulsemann Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Jendrossek Gambit A00
- Van Geet Opening: Kluever Gambit A00
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.