What's the best opening for white against four knights game?

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0bz

i play four knights game a lot, as white and as black, against any opponent, but it's time to learn new stuff so what's the best defense against four knights game?

0bz

i meant for black not for white - sorry

Expertise87

I like 5...Nd4. Look up the games of Kramnik in this line.

moonnie

There are many variations here.

From my head white can play: Bb5, g3, a3 (underestimated move btw) and d4. Ofcourse white can also play Bc4 but black is okay there

Fear_ItseIf
Expertise87 wrote:

I like 5...Nd4. Look up the games of Kramnik in this line.

can you give the specific line please?
though i have a feeling you mean the ruy four knights? 

bigyugi9

if you mean english 4 knights then g3 is the main move.

Pacifique
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NimzoRoy

5...Nd4 Rubinstein's variation IMHO BUT....

did it ever occur to you that total strangers cannot tell what is the best line for YOU? A lot of what's "best" depends on your style, taste, preferences and playing strength. You need to figure out minor details such as if you like/dislike: open/semi-open/closed games, attacking/defending/counter-attacking, tactical or positional play etc.

Fear_ItseIf

do you guys mean this?


 I cant find reference to a four knight 5..nd4 anywhere

Pacifique
[COMMENT DELETED]
NimzoRoy
Fear_ItseIf wrote:

 I cant find reference to a four knight 5..nd4 anywhere

Try looking in the Game Explorer and then type "Four Knights Game - Rubinstein Variation" into a search engine...

SchachMatt

I have also read that 4...Nd4 is the best move, but I prefer Bb4, as did Capablance.  It is also recommended by Nigel Davies and Mihail Marin in their repetoire books.

Fear_ItseIf

ok, I was confused because three people put 5..nd4 instead of 4..nd4

Fear_ItseIf

I assumed there was a special inbetween move that was considered stronger than the immediate 4..nd4

0bz

wow!! so active forum with and so many good people, it's the first time i post on this forum, i used to ask on yahooanswers.com and i received 1 or 2 answers max, from now on I'll always post here, thanks to each and everyone of you!!

moonnie

I play 4. .. Nd4 to. The mentioned intermediate move comes 1 move later. If white plays 5. Nxe5 black should not respond with 5. ... Nxb5 as white gets an advantage but instead blacks should play Qe7 leading to a equal game

moonnie

After Bc5 Nxe5 is considered slightly annoying for black

Expertise87

A few comments.

Yes, I typo'd on my cell phone and meant 4...Nd4 and was assuming White was playing 4.Bb5. 4.Bc4 is a blunder and Black is simply better after 4...Nxe4. 4.g3 Nxe4 is also fine for Black although here White can at least go into reasonable stuff by declining the Knight.

Expertise87

I guess I should say that I think it's a mistake and I think Black is very slightly better following 7...Ne7 8.c3 f5 9.Bc2 e4 rather than stating that Black is simply better. In any event I think it's a bad move even with your comment, pfren.

Expertise87

Another comment is that 7...Nb4 is quite interesting after the apparently forced 8.a3 f5 9.Bxb7 Bxb7 10.axb4 and now either 10...e4 or 10...Bd6. Black has the two Bishops, more space, more central control, and some decent activity for the b-pawn. White has the open a-file.