C49

Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Double Spanish

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

868,032 games: White 48.5% / Draw 6.0% / Black 45.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	299,670300K
	253,726254K
	213,626214K
	51,87452K
	26,95627K
	8,2998,299
	7,1627,162
	2,8882,888

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 28, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.10 The position is about equal

Best play: 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 Bxc3 7. bxc3 d6 8. Nd2 Ne7 9. d4 Bd7

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 46% under 1400, 47% at 2200 and up and 45% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	1.5M
1400–1799	950K
1800–2199	395K
2200 and up	106K
Masters, over the board	2,857

Master games

Carlsen, M. – Nakamura, H. ½–½, 2025
Grischuk, A. – Carlsen, M. 0–1, 2017
Naiditsch, A. – Carlsen, M. 1–0, 2015
Andreikin, D. – Carlsen, M. 0–1, 2015
Carlsen, M. – Praggnanandhaa, R. ½–½, 2023

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

Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Double Spanish (ECO C49, Open Games) is a variation of the Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 (4 moves).

In 868,032 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.5%, Black 45.4% and 6.0% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. O-O, in 35% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played is Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation. In all, 12 named lines continue from it.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake

What would you like to send? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

How to play against the Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Double Spanish

The most played answer, 5. O-O, also scores best for White: 54.2%, with White winning 50.9% and Black 42.5% of 300K games. Of the main answers, 5. a3 scores lowest: 45.5%. Stockfish's first choice is also 5. O-O.

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 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Double Spanish peaked in 2020 at 0.039% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.03% in 2025.

0.034%0.03%0.039%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.034%	12,119
2017	0.032%	17,560
2018	0.034%	26,321
2019	0.033%	40,784
2020	0.039%	113,570
2021	0.038%	148,228
2022	0.033%	123,677
2023	0.033%	122,830
2024	0.031%	111,747
2025	0.03%	104,699
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.031%	33,632

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)

All 12 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Double Spanish (C49)”. Lichess data as of 28 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/four-knights-game-spanish-variation-double-spanish