Three Knights Opening
The Three Knights Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3) brings out a third knight. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
20,958,666 games: White 49.3% / Draw 5.0% / Black 45.7%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Four Knights Game | 10,075,85910.1M | |
| 5,771,9375.8M | ||
| 2,057,2772.1M | ||
| 1,411,6031.4M | ||
| Winawer Defense | 355,506356K | |
| 306,752307K | ||
| 259,903260K | ||
| 231,229231K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 9, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.07 The position is about equal
Best play: 3... Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the better this line does for White: White scores 50% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 52% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 38M | |
| 1400–1799 | 27.6M | |
| 1800–2199 | 8.7M | |
| 2200 and up | 956K | |
| Masters, over the board | 15K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Nakamura, H. – Carlsen, M.
- Nakamura, H. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Ding Liren
- Carlsen, M. – Nakamura, H.
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 26, 2026
Description
The Three Knights Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3) brings out a third knight. Black's most common reply, 3...Nf6, leads to the Four Knights Game; the name Three Knights Game is used when Black breaks the symmetry with a different third move to avoid the Four Knights, which is often considered drawish.
Origins
An early example is Rosenthal–Steinitz, 1873, reached by the move order 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3: Wilhelm Steinitz answered 3...g6, the defence that bears his name, and won with Black in 38 moves. Today the Three Knights Game is almost never seen at master level, as Black players look for more active tries, even within the Four Knights.
The idea
White develops naturally and keeps the option of d4. If Black plays a passive move such as 3...d6 or 3...Be7, White answers 4.d4 and Black gets a cramped position resembling the Philidor Defense. After 3...Bc5, White can remove Black's grip on e5 with 4.Nxe5! Nxe5 5.d4 Bd6 6.dxe5 Bxe5, a line that tournament practice seems to show favours White.
Main lines
- 3...Nf6, the Four Knights Game.
- 3...Bb4, usually met by 4.Nd5; 4...Nf6 is the Schlechter Variation.
- 3...g6, the Steinitz Defense, typically 4.d4 exd4 5.Nd5 (Steinitz-Rosenthal Variation).
- 3...f5!?, the Winawer Defense, also called the Gothic Defense; 4.Bb5 transposes into the Schliemann Defense of the Ruy Lopez.
- With the black knight on f6 instead of c6, the similar position is Petrov's Three Knights Game, which also usually leads to the Four Knights.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Simple, natural development.
- Passive replies by Black are met by 4.d4, leaving Black cramped.
Weaknesses
- Black can simply reply 3...Nf6 and steer the game into the Four Knights.
- Strong players rarely meet it, so there is little modern master practice to learn from.
Who should play it
The Three Knights suits players who like quiet, classical development and want to avoid the heavily analysed Ruy Lopez and Italian Game.
The numbers
On Lichess the results are close below 1800: 48.0% for White against 47.4% under 1400, and 48.1% against 47.4% at 1400–1799. From 1800 White pulls ahead, 50.0% against 44.8% at 1800–2199 and 50.1% against 41.4% from 2200 up, where 8.5% of games are drawn. In about 14,600 master games 48.0% were drawn; White won 27.5% and Black 24.5%.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Three Knights Opening
3…Bc5 scores best for Black: 49.3%, with Black winning 47.0% and White 48.4% of 5.8M games. The most played, 3…Nf6, scores 48.2% in 10.1M games, and 3…d6 scores lowest: 46.2%. Stockfish's first choice is 3…Nf6.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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 Three Knights Opening dipped to 0.65% of Lichess games in 2018 and has recovered since: 0.84% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.77% | 274,347 |
| 2017 | 0.66% | 361,930 |
| 2018 | 0.65% | 508,708 |
| 2019 | 0.7% | 875,058 |
| 2020 | 0.82% | 2,390,268 |
| 2021 | 0.84% | 3,286,362 |
| 2022 | 0.81% | 3,032,217 |
| 2023 | 0.83% | 3,108,160 |
| 2024 | 0.83% | 2,976,759 |
| 2025 | 0.84% | 2,898,694 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.83% | 915,433 |
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 (4)
Transpositions
All 46 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- C47 Four Knights Game 3 moves
- C46 Three Knights Opening 3 moves
- C46 Steinitz Defense 3 moves
- C46 Winawer Defense 3 moves
- C47 Glek System 4 moves
- C47 Gunsberg Variation 4 moves
- C47 Halloween Gambit 4 moves
- C47 Naroditsky Variation 4 moves
- C47 Scotch Variation 4 moves
- C48 Spanish Variation 4 moves
- C46 Schlechter Variation 4 moves
- C46 Three Knights Opening: Steinitz-Rosenthal Variation 5 moves
- C47 Glek System 7 moves
- C47 Oldtimer Variation 8 moves
- C47 Plasma Variation 11 moves
- C47 Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation Accepted 4 moves
- C47 Krause Gambit 5 moves
- C47 Oxford Gambit 5 moves
- C48 Classical Variation 4 moves
- C49 Double Spanish 4 moves
- C48 Ranken Variation 5 moves
- C48 Rubinstein Variation 4 moves
- C47 Main Line 9 moves
- C47 Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation, Belgrade Gambit 5 moves
- C47 Leonhardt Defense 5 moves
- C47 Four Knights Game: Scotch Variation, Schmid Defense 5 moves
- C48 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Bardeleben Variation 9 moves
- C49 Double Spanish 6 moves
- C49 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Nimzowitsch Variation 6 moves
- C48 Rubinstein Variation 5 moves
- C48 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Rubinstein Variation Accepted 5 moves
- C48 Marshall Gambit 6 moves
- C48 Marshall Variation 6 moves
- C48 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Spielmann Variation 10 moves
- C47 Modern Defense 6 moves
- C49 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation 6 moves
- C49 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Alatortsev Variation 7 moves
- C48 Maróczy Variation 9 moves
- C49 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Symmetrical Variation 6 moves
- C49 Janowski Variation 8 moves
- C49 Svenonius Variation 7 moves
- C49 Symmetrical Variation 7 moves
- C49 Symmetrical Variation 7 moves
- C49 Metger Unpin 8 moves
- C49 Four Knights Game: Spanish Variation, Symmetrical Variation 10 moves
- C49 Blake Variation 10 moves
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Three Knights Game, version of 25 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Three Knights Opening (C46)”. Lichess data as of 9 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/three-knights-opening