The Four Knights’ Game Complied by Steven Craig Miller

Introduction 5. d3 Nd4 6. Ba4 (or 6. Bc4) b5 7. Bb3 and now: 1. e4 e5 2. NNNf3 NNNc6 (a) 7. … d5 8. Nxe5 Qe7 9. f4 Nxb3 10. 3. NNNc3 NNNf6 cxb3 Bb7 11. 0-0 dxe4 12. dxe4 Bc5+ cuuuuuuuuC and Black has for the sacri- {rdb1kgs4} ficed . {0p0pdp0p} { dndwhwd} (b) 7. … d6 8. h3 c6 9. 0-0 Nxb3 10. axb3 {dwdw0wdw} 0-0 with a more or less equal position. { d dPdwd} {dwHwdNdw} 5. … 0-0 {P)P)s)P)} {$sGQIBdR} Just as 5. d3 was considered to be inaccu- vllllllllV rate, so also is 5. … d6 after 5. 0-0.

5. … d6 6. Nd5 Bc5 7. d4 exd4 8. Bg5 This is the beginning position of the Four 0-0 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. Nxf6+ gxf6 11. Bh4 ’s Game. Before World War I the Re8 12. Qd3 Qe7 13. Rfe1 Bb4 14. Re2 Four Knight’s Game was very popular, c5 15. e5 and White is better. but by the 1930s it had lost most of its appeal and was considered to be some- 6. d3 d6 what dull, if not also drawish. Then in the 7. BBBg5 1990s, it made a comeback into the inter- national circuit. But this opening has Now we will take a look at four variations: always appealed to beginners (a) 7. … Bg4; (b) 7. … Be6; (c) 7. …

Ne7; & (d) 7. … Bxc3. Part 1: The Spanish Four Knights

B With 4. … BB b4 (a) 7. … BBBg4 cuuuuuuuuC 4. BBBb5 BBBb4 {rds1s4kd} 5. 0-0 {0p0sdp0p} It might seem that it makes little differ- { dn0whwd} ence whether White castles first and then {dBdw0wGw} plays d3, or whether White first plays d3 { g dPdbd} and then castles. But 5. d3 is considered to {dwHPdNdw} be inaccurate since it allows Black piece’s {P)Pds)P)} to become active. {$sdQdRIs} vllllllllV

Copyright © 2003 Steven Craig Miller Copying and distribution of this article is permitted for noncommercial purposes. The Four Knights’ Game complied by Steven Craig Miller Page 2

8. NNNd5 NNNd4 cuuuuuuuuC 9. NNNxb4 NNNxb5 {rds1s4kd} 10. NNNd5 NNNd4 {0p0sdp0p} 11. QQQd2 QQQd7 { ds0whwd} 12. BBBxf6 BBBxf3 {dsdN0wGw} cuuuuuuuuC { d hPdbd} {rdsds4kd} {dwdPdNdw} {0p0qdp0p} {P)P!s)P)} { ds0wGwd} {$sdsdRIs} {dsdN0wdw} vllllllllV { d hPdsd} 11. … NNNxf3 {dwdPdbdw} 12. gxf3 BBBxf3 {P)P!s)P)} 13. BBBxf6 gxf6 {$sdsdRIs} 14. QQQe3 vllllllllV Now after: Here with the g-file open allowing Black to White’s on the g-file, the 13. QQQg5 QQQg4 move 14. Qh3 (although threatening mate) fails to 14. … Kh8. Later in our White has a mate in two: analysis we will see the move Qh3 work.

14. NNNe7+ KKKh8 14. … c6 15. BBBxg7# 14. … Bh5?! 15. Qh6 Bg6 16. f4 c6 17. Black could have avoided this mate with fxe5 fxe5 18. Nf6+ Kh8 19. h4 Rg8 20. 13. … Ne6, and, although White is still Nxg8 Qxg8 21. Kh2 ±. winning, things are not as simple. Going back to the above diagram, White has a 15. QQQxf3 cxd5 simpler win. 16. exd5 ³³³

13. NNNe7+ KKKh8 Instead of White playing 11. Qd2, White 14. BBBxg7+ KKKxg7 could also try 11. Bxf6. 15. QQQg5+ KKKh8 cuuuuuuuuC 16. QQQf6# {rds1s4kd} {0p0sdp0p} The only way for Black to avoid this mate { ds0whwd} would have been 13. … Qxe7 trading the {dsdN0wGw} for a knight. { d hPdbd} {dwdPdNdw} Now we will move backwards through {P)Pds)P)} this variation in order to try to find where {$sdQdRIs} Black should have deviated first. The first vllllllllV place we will start will be move 11 after White plays 11. Qd2: 11. BBBxf6 gxf6 12. QQQd2

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Now in this position, Black can play 12. (c) 7. … NNNe7 … Nxf3 transposing in the above analysis. But if Black plays: 7. … NNNe7 8. NNNh4 c6 12. … BBBxf3 9. BBBc4 d5 cuuuuuuuuC 10. BBBb3 {rds1s4kd} {0p0sdpdp} 10. exd5 Nexd5 11. Ne4 Be7 12. Nf3 = { ds0w0wd} {dsdN0wdw} 10. … QQQd6 { d hPdsd} 11. h3 h6 {dwdPdbdw} 12. BBBxf6 QQQxf6 {P)P!s)P)} 13. QQQh5 d4 {$sdsdRIs} 14. NNNe2 BBBd6 = vllllllllV 13. QQQh6 ««« (d) 7. … BBBxc3

With the g-file still closed, 13. Qh6 This line is known as the Metger Unpin. threatens mate in two. The only way for Black to stop mate is to play Qxf6. 7. … BBBxc3 8. bxc3 QQQe7 This concludes are look at the 7. … Bg4 9. RRRe1 NNNd8 line. This line is usually considered infe- 10. d3 NNNe6 rior, and Black is recommended to try one of the other lines from the following dia- 10. … Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 (11. … Bh5 12. gram. g4 Bg6 13. d5 =) 12. Qxf3 °.

cuuuuuuuuC 11. BBBc1 °°° {rdb1s4kd} {0p0sdp0p} Part 2: The Rubinstein Variation { dn0shwd} of the Spanish Four Knights {dBdw0wGw} { g dPdsd} 1. e4 e5 {dwHPdNdw} 2. NNNf3 NNNc6 {P)Pds)P)} 3. NNNc3 NNNf6 {$sdQdRIs} 4. BBBb5 NNNd4 vllllllllV (b) 7. … BBBe6 This position is not as common in games among beginners since it appears that

Black is violating two basic principles: 7. … BBBe6 first, Black is moving an already devel- 8. NNNd5 BBBxd5 oped piece, and second, it appears that 9. BBBxd5 exd5 Black is dropping the e5 pawn. But among 10. c4 NNNg6 more advanced chess players, 4. … Nd4 is 11. BBBa4 ³³³ considered the main move after 4. Bb5.

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cuuuuuuuuC 9. 0-0 d6 10. exd6 Nf6 11. d7 (11. dxc7?! {rdb1kgs4} Qd6 −) Bxd7 12. Bxd7 Qxd7 ². {0p0pdp0p} { dsdwhwd} 9. … d6 {dBdw0wdw} 10. NNNe3 QQQg5 { d hPdwd} 11. exd6 NNNxd6 {dwHwdNdw} 12. 0-0 NNN4f5 {P)P)s)P)} {$sGQIsdR} 13. Ne1 Nxe3 14. fxe3 Bg4 15. Nf3 Qh5 vllllllllV 16. Qe1 c6 (” Rae8) °. (a) 5. NNNxe5 The Spanish Four Knights 5. NNNxe5 QQQe7 With 4. … BBBc5 6. NNNf3 NNNxb5 7. NNNxb5 QQQxe4 1. e4 e5 8. QQQe2 QQQxe2 2. NNNf3 NNNc6 9. KKKxe2 NNNd5 3. NNNc3 NNNf6 10. RRRe1 f6 = 4. BBBb5

(b) 5. NNNxd4 A common mistake is: 4. Bc4, which al- lows the pawn trick. 5. NNNxd4 exd4 6. e5 dxc3 4. Bc4 Nxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Bd3 dxe4 7. 7. exf6 QQQxf6 Bxe4 Bd6 8. d4 exd4 9. Bxc6 bxc6 10. 8. dxc3 QQQe5 Qd4 0-0 11. 0-0 c5 12. Bc3 Bb7 =. 9. QQQe2 QQQxe2 10. BBBxe2 d5 = 4. … BBBc5 cuuuuuuuuC (c) 5. BBBc4 {rdb1kds4} {0p0pdp0p} 5. BBBc4 c6 { dndwhwd} 6. NNNxe5 d5 {dBgw0wdw} 7. exd5 BBBd6 { d dPdwd} 8. NNNf3 NNNxf3 {dwHwdNdw} 9. QQQxf3 0-0 {P)P)s)P)} 10. h3 b5 {$sGQIsdR} 11. BBBe2 b4 vllllllllV 12. NNNe4 NNNxe4 In this position, it is better to first castle 13. QQQxe4 RRRe8 ¯¯¯ and then take the pawn.

(d) 5. BBBa4 5. 0-0 0-0 (5. … d6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 Bd7 8. Nb3 Bb6 9. Bg5 ³) 6. Nxe5 5. BBBa4 BBBc5 Nxe5 7. d4 Bd6 8. f4 Nc6 9. e5 Be7 10. 6. NNNxe5 0-0 d5 Nb4 11. exf6 Bxf6 12. a3 Bxc3 13. 7. NNNd3 BBBb6 bxc3 Nxd5 14. Qxd5 c6 15. Qd3 cxb5 °. 8. e5 NNNe8 9. NNNd5