A28

English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

1,840,475 games: White 52.0% / Draw 5.8% / Black 42.2%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Fianchetto Line	637,794638K
Quiet Line	438,328438K
	257,877258K
English Opening: Four Knights System, Nimzowitsch Variation	209,370209K
Flexible Line	202,674203K
Korchnoi Line	73,98074K
	6,7866,786
	5,3865,386

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.16 The position is about equal

Best play: 4. e4 Bb4 5. d3 d6 6. a3 Bc5 7. b4 Bb6 8. Be3 Bg4

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: Black scores 47% under 1400, 45% at 2200 and up and 47% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	420K
1400–1799	890K
1800–2199	984K
2200 and up	361K
Masters, over the board	18K

Master games

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 27, 2026

Overview

English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation (ECO A28, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 (3 moves).

In 1,840,475 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 52.0%, Black 42.2% and 5.8% were drawn. White's most played move here is 4. g3, in 35% of those games.

It branches into 7 named variations; the most played are English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Fianchetto Line and English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Quiet Line. In all, 15 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation

4. e4 (English Opening: Four Knights System, Nimzowitsch Variation) scores best for White: 55.6%, with White winning 52.6% and Black 41.3% of 209K games. The most played, 4. g3, scores 55.1% in 638K games, and 4. d3 scores lowest: 53.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4. e4.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Popularity by year

The English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation peaked in 2019 at 0.085% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.065% in 2025.

0.071%0.065%0.085%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.071%	25,404
2017	0.076%	41,622
2018	0.08%	62,566
2019	0.085%	105,546
2020	0.08%	233,377
2021	0.073%	283,854
2022	0.07%	264,185
2023	0.07%	261,905
2024	0.066%	237,029
2025	0.065%	224,069
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.066%	71,959

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Variations (7)

Transpositions

A27 English Opening: King's English Variation, Three Knights System then 3…Nf6

All 15 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation (A28)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-four-knights-variation