Three Knights Opening
Chess opening · ECO C46 · 5 half-moves
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3
The Three Knights Opening is reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3. It is Black's move in the position shown.
It branches from the King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation with 3. Nc3.
How often it is played
The Three Knights Opening and its variations appeared in 1.3% of games — 40,453 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 35 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 50%, 4.2% were drawn and Black won 46%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.16 — which is level. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Italian Game | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 | 4.6% |
| Scotch Game | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 | 2.0% |
| Ruy Lopez | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 | 1.7% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Four Knights Game | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 | 0.74% |
| Three Knights Opening: Winawer Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 f5 | 0.03% |
| Three Knights Opening: Steinitz Defense | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 | 0.01% |
| Three Knights Opening: Schlechter Variation | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nd5 Nf6 | 0.00% |
Check your own games
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