The Naroditsky Variation: the Four Knights line named after Danya
The Naroditsky Variation is 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nd5. White leaves the e4-pawn hanging and puts a knight in the centre. The move is named after grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, who often played it in fast online games. In November 2026 it is the opening of the month in the Opening Roulette tournaments on Chess.com, in his memory.
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e f 1 h Who was Daniel Naroditsky?
Daniel Naroditsky, Danya to his viewers, was an American grandmaster. In 2007 he won the World Youth Championship in the under-12 section. At 14 he published his first book, Mastering Positional Chess.
But most chess players know him from his videos. He was one of Chess.com's main commentators and streamed lessons on YouTube and Twitch. People especially loved his speedruns. He would start from a very low rating and work his way up, often with one chosen opening, explaining his decisions as he went. In August 2025 he won the US National Blitz Championship with a perfect 14 out of 14.
Daniel Naroditsky died on 19 October 2025. He was 29.
Where the name comes from
Naroditsky often played 4.Nd5 in fast online games, including on the Champions Chess Tour a few months before his death.
Eight days after he died, the Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown began in Saint Louis. Hikaru Nakamura played 4.Nd5 there against Gukesh and against Magnus Carlsen, and both games were drawn. He said that paying homage to Naroditsky mattered more to him than winning at all costs.
Soon the move carried his name. By the end of 2025 the "Naroditsky Variation" was in Chess.com's opening database, and early in 2026 it joined the official list of opening names on Lichess.
Two lines with his name
If you searched for "Naroditsky Four Knights Scotch", you were probably after something else. In his speedruns he often played the Scotch Four Knights, 4.d4, with White. One viewer even collected those games, with his explanations, into a study on Listudy.
Officially, though, the Naroditsky Variation is 4.Nd5 and nothing else. It does have a relative, the Belgrade Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nd5), where the same knight jumps to d5 one move later.
The idea behind 4.Nd5
After 4.Nd5 nothing protects the pawn on e4. In return the knight stands on a strong central square, and the c-pawn is free to go to c3 and support d4.
If Black takes the pawn, 4...Nxe4, White usually plays 5.d4 or 5.Qe2 and brings the pieces out quickly against the knight on e4.
8 7 2 a c d e f 1 h The engine calls the position after 4.Nd5 equal. It shows about −0.1, which is practically zero. Black's strongest answers are 4...Nxe4 and 4...d6, and the quieter 4...Bc5 and 4...Be7 also hold the balance. Chess.com says much the same: with accurate play Black equalises, but the move catches an unprepared opponent off guard.
What the games say
The numbers below are from rated Lichess blitz, rapid and classical games, grouped by the average rating of the two players.
Since the move got its name, people play it more often, but mostly strong players. Among players rated 2200+, from January 2024 to September 2025 it came up in about one game in 95 after 3...Nf6. Since November 2025 it's one game in 52, almost twice as often. Between 1600 and 2200 the rise is smaller: from one game in 600 to one in 460. And between 1400 and 1600 nothing has changed, at about one in 340.
Here is White's score after 4.Nd5 in games since November 2025. A win counts as one point and a draw as half.
| Average rating | After 4.Nd5 | All games after 3...Nf6 |
|---|---|---|
| 1400–1599 | 42% | 51% |
| 1600–1799 | 45% | 52% |
| 1800–1999 | 54% | 52% |
| 2000–2199 | 58% | 52% |
| 2200+ | 53% | 53% |
So below 1800 the move tends to hurt White. Between 1400 and 1600 Black most often just takes the pawn on e4 (swapping knights is almost as common), and after the capture White scores about 37%.
From 1800 to 2000 it scores about as well as the usual moves. From 2000 to 2200 it does clearly better. And at 2200+ it's back to average.
A trap for Black
Below 1600 Black very often swaps knights straight away: 4...Nxd5 5.exd5, in more than a quarter of games. Now the knight on c6 is attacked, and one of the two most common replies is to retreat it with 5...Ne7.
8 7 2 a c d e f 1 h That's already inaccurate. The knight no longer guards e5, and after 6.Nxe5 White wins a pawn. Black wins it back on d5, but White stays slightly better: the engine gives White more than half a pawn.
5...Nd4 or the sharp 5...e4 are stronger. Simplest of all is not to swap knights: 4...Nxe4, or the calm 4...Bc5.
So is it any good?
So 4.Nd5 holds up. The engine calls it equal, and in recent games among players rated 1800 and up it scores no worse than the usual moves.
If you play the Opening Roulette in November, start with 4...Nxe4 as Black and 5.d4 as White. By the engine's assessment, those are the best moves for both sides.
Next time you play 4.Nd5, you'll know whose move it is.
More on this position: our Four Knights Game guide, and the Halloween Gambit, where White sacrifices a knight on move four instead. And if you want a line like this to stick: how to study chess openings.
Four Knights Game guide →