Open games & French

Four Knights Game

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6

The Four Knights Game starts with 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 and is catalogued under ECO C47, in the open games & french half of the book. The catalog indexes 49 lines inside it, grouped into 40 named variations.

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Current setup

Move ideas

  1. 1.e4

    Claims the center with a pawn and opens lines for the queen and king’s bishop.

    Idea: Build quick development and make early castling possible.

  2. 1…e5

    Meets White’s center directly and opens lines for Black’s queen and bishop.

    Idea: Fight for equal central space in a balanced, open position.

  3. 2.Nf3

    Develops the king’s knight and attacks Black’s e5-pawn.

    Idea: Increase central pressure while getting ready to castle.

  4. 2…Nc6

    Defends e5 while developing the queen’s knight toward the center.

    Idea: Hold the central pawn and keep several classical setups available.

  5. 3.Nc3

    Develops the knight to c3, bringing it into the game.

    Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.

  6. 3…Nf6

    Develops the knight to f6, bringing it into the game.

    Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.

  7. 4.Nd5

    Repositions the knight to d5, where it influences a new part of the board.

    Idea: Improve the piece’s activity and support the next stage of the plan.

Book continuations

Waiting for Lichess game popularity.

0 moves
This is the end of the indexed line.

Named variations

Each line below is an indexed entry under Four Knights Game. Open one to load it on the board and keep exploring from that position.

16 more named lines sit inside this family — the tree above walks all of them.

Openings from the same volume

ECO groups openings by the structures they lead to, so these families tend to share plans with the Four Knights Game.