Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit
Also known as Müller-Schulze Gambit or Leipzig Gambit
The Halloween Gambit is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5: in the normally quiet Four Knights Game White gives up a whole knight for a single pawn. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
682,027 games: White 52.6% / Draw 3.6% / Black 43.8%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 655,177655K | ||
| 12,65713K | ||
| 3,5783,578 | ||
| 3,5663,566 | ||
| 2,0572,057 | ||
| 1,5961,596 | ||
| 1,2471,247 | ||
| 973973 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 9, 2026
Engine evaluation
−2.42 Black is clearly better
Even so, White scores 54.4% here in practice: wins plus half the draws in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500.
Best play: 4... Nxe5 5. d4 Ng6 6. e5 Ng8 7. Bc4 c6 8. Qe2 Bb4 9. O-O
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 53% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 663K | |
| 1400–1799 | 570K | |
| 1800–2199 | 360K | |
| 2200 and up | 60K | |
| Masters, over the board | 16 |
Master games
- WindPower – Noritano
- Polok, K. – Ragger, M.
- Kaczmarek, A. – Vignesh, N. R.
- WindPower – Rechenschieber, R. 2. 3. 1. m. x.
- Klepaczka, T. – Bulski, K.
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
Description
The Halloween Gambit is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5: in the normally quiet Four Knights Game White gives up a whole knight for a single pawn. It is also known as the Müller–Schulze Gambit or the Leipzig Gambit.
Origins
The theoretician Oskar Cordel reported in 1888 that club players in Leipzig used the opening with dangerous effect, although he did not believe it was sound. Their name for it, "Gambit Müller und Schulze", does not refer to real players: it is a joking German equivalent of "Smith and Jones". The modern name comes from the German player Steffen Jakob, who explained that many players are shocked, as if by a Halloween mask, when they expect a boring Four Knights and are faced with Nxe5.
The idea
White wants to take the centre with pawns and drive back Black's knights. After 4...Nxe5 White usually plays 5.d4, and Black's attacked knight retreats to g6 or c6.
Main lines
- 5...Ng6 6.e5, chasing the f6-knight. After 6...Ng8 7.Bc4, former World Champion Max Euwe recommended 7...d5 8.Bxd5 c6, claiming a decisive advantage for Black, while Larry Kaufman prefers 8...N8e7. Kaufman calls 5...Ng6 good but unnecessarily risky. According to Eric Schiller, 6...Bb4 is more logical than holding on to the extra piece: after 7.exf6 Qxf6 Black has the better game.
- 5...Nc6 6.d5, chasing the knight again. After 6...Ne5 7.f4 Ng6 8.e5 Ng8 9.d6 cxd6 10.exd6, White's attack is very dangerous and likely to win in practical play: the threat of Nb5–c7 is hard to meet. With precise defence Black may still keep the extra material, but White has reached the aims of the opening.
- 5...Nc6 6.d5 Bb4, Piński's move. Kaufman wrote in 2004 that 7.dxc6 Nxe4 8.Qd4 Qe7, which he credits to the Polish IM Jan Piński, refutes the gambit. In 2020 he added that in one critical line White has no compensation for his poor pawn structure.
Who should play it
The Halloween Gambit is for players who want to shock a Four Knights opponent. Its strength is practical: an unprepared Black player can be overrun quickly, while against Piński's 6...Bb4 theory gives Black the advantage.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 52.6% of the 682,027 games and Black 43.8%, despite the piece. The split stays similar from 1400 to 2199, around 52.5% against 44%. Under 1400 it is 50.7% against 45.6%, and from 2200 up 49.0% against 45.3%. There are too few master games over the board, 16, to say anything.
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Popularity by year
The Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit has gained ground since 2016: 0.028% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.021%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.021% | 7,517 |
| 2017 | 0.024% | 13,111 |
| 2018 | 0.026% | 20,277 |
| 2019 | 0.03% | 37,966 |
| 2020 | 0.03% | 86,855 |
| 2021 | 0.026% | 99,853 |
| 2022 | 0.021% | 78,321 |
| 2023 | 0.027% | 102,920 |
| 2024 | 0.027% | 96,941 |
| 2025 | 0.028% | 97,652 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.027% | 29,983 |
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 (2)
Transpositions
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Halloween Gambit, version of 26 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Four Knights Game: Halloween Gambit (C47)”. Lichess data as of 9 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/four-knights-game-halloween-gambit