Prep 4...d5 and 4...Bb4
Build a 10-move file for both replies to 4.h3, since they are the only ones that question your move order.
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Four Knights Game
4.h3 and the fork trick: a cheap weapon that pays 71%.
Score71%+11% vs your average
Win chance after move 1262%+9% vs your average
Blunders per game0.46−0.31 vs your average
Clock left at move 109:27−5s vs your average
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h1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. h3 Bc5 5. Nxe5
What it says about you
You play 3.Nc3 and then the offbeat 4.h3, a waiting move that invites 4...Bc5?!, which you punish with 5.Nxe5, the fork trick. It is practical, trappy 10|0 thinking: you pick a line where the natural developing move is already an inaccuracy. It works: 71% over 24 games, and a win chance at move 12 of 62 against a 53 baseline.
How you play it
Your main line shows opponents stepping straight into 4...Bc5 5.Nxe5. After 5...Nxe5 6.d4 the bishop has to move, and you regain the piece with dxe5, leaving you with the centre and the bishop pair. You come out ahead, with win chance 62 at move 12 and 58 at move 20. Blunders are lowest here at 0.46 per game, and you convert 14 of 16 winning positions (88%). Games are short (35 moves on average), and your 7 losses have zero draws alongside them. Losses split evenly between middlegame and endgame, 3 each, with 1 timeout, and every recent mistake came after move 35 as the clock ran down.
What you're missing
- 01
Late-game tactics under the clock: 47.Bxf7+ instead of Be4+ took 94% to 50% with 57 seconds left, and 77.Rxf4 instead of Rh7 at 0.9 seconds lost the game. The opening edge is being given back in time scrambles.
- 02
Clean-up in won endings: 38.cxb4 instead of Bf1 (86% to 50%) lost a bishop in a trade, and 35.Bc4 instead of Ra8+ (75% to 50%) missed a rook check. These are missed forcing moves, not deep ideas.
- 03
Your clock at move 10 is 567 seconds, a few seconds below your baseline, in an opening where your moves should be pure prep. Small, but that time is exactly what you are short of at move 47.
- 04
Every game is filed as Main line, so the data can't show how you fare against 4...d5 or 4...Bb4, the replies that make 4.h3 look like a lost tempo. With 24 games, that gap in your prep is a guess, not a statistic.
How to improve it
- 01
Know the critical defence to the fork trick: 5...Bxf2+ 6.Kxf2 Nxe5 7.d4 gives you the bishop pair and the centre, but your king sits on f2. Plan to reconnect with Rf1 and Kg1, and don't go chasing the knight too early.
- 02
After 5...Nxe5 6.d4, the 6...Bd6 7.dxe5 Bxe5 line is simple: you get a pleasant edge with f4 or Bd3 and O-O. Also check the 6...Bb4 7.dxe5 Nxe4 counterpunch so it doesn't surprise you.
- 03
Have fixed answers to 4...d5 and 4...Bb4, where Black uses your h3 tempo to hit the centre. Know a safe, equal line in both so the gambit-light approach doesn't backfire against prepared opponents.
- 04
Since your games are short and tactical, bank time early. Play the first 8-10 moves on autopilot and keep at least 60 seconds more for the ending.
Where it goes wrong
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| Main line | 24 | 71% |
Winning positions converted here: 88% (14 of 16).
Recent mistakes in this opening
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
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vs cottonhat (2248) · 15-01-26 →
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vs cottonhat (2248) · 15-01-26 →
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vs Drowsy_chess (2178) · 14-01-26 →
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vs Drowsy_chess (2178) · 14-01-26 →
Next steps
Train rook-check endgame tactics
Do 20 puzzles on checks and intermezzos in minor-piece and rook endings. Two of your recent late misses were a check you didn't play (Ra8+, Be4+).
Play faster through move 10
Aim for 580+ seconds at move 10 in this line. It is prep, and you need that time in the scrambles you keep losing.
Drill it
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the Four Knights Game, and every game you've played in it.