Bishop's Opening: Ponziani Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4
The Bishop's Opening: Ponziani Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C24, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4. It is a line of the Bishop's Opening. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 8,460 times by this move order. White won 56%, 3% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 3… exd4 (49% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.18 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3… exd4 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Nbxd2)
- ECO
- C24
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/5n2/4p3/2BPP3/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 3,636 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4,032 | |
| 2000+ | 792 | |
| All | 8,460 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… exd4 | 4,182 (49%) | |
| 3… Nxe4 | 1,805 (21%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 750 (9%) | |
| 3… d6 | 722 (9%) | |
| 3… d5 | 521 (6%) | |
| 3… Bd6 | 157 (2%) | |
| 3… Bb4+ | 94 (1%) | |
| 3… Qe7 | 78 (1%) |
Master games
193 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 12%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2557) – IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2449) 1-0 · World Blitz Women 2017 · 2017-12-29
- IM Emil Stefanov (2350) – IM Nikolas Theodorou (2554) 1/2-1/2 · Pan-Am Intercollegiate · 2021-01-04
- FM Karol Kucza (2337) – GM Eduardas Rozentalis (2523) 0-1 · 57th Rubinstein Mem Open · 2021-08-17
- GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (2552) – WGM Tatiana Dornbusch (2302) 1-0 · ch-EUR Women Blitz 2017 · 2017-10-23
- FM Justin Chen (2322) – GM Lukasz Jarmula (2459) 0-1 · Titled Tue 31st May Late · 2022-05-31
Search all games of the Bishop's Opening: Ponziani Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- EpicEffects (2526) – kichot (2557) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Ma-Tei (2464) – Empire_State_of-Mind (2610) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Ma-Tei (2479) – m_d1386 (2531) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Bishop's Opening: Berlin Defense 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6
Continuations
- Bishop's Opening: Urusov Gambit C43 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nf3
- Bishop's Opening: Warsaw Gambit C24 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3
More Bishop's Opening lines (all)
- Bishop's Opening C23
- Bishop's Opening: Anderssen Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation C23
- Bishop's Opening: Calabrese Countergambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Calabrese Countergambit, Jaenisch Variation C23
- Bishop's Opening: Four Pawns Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Khan Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Countergambit (3. c3 d5) C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Countergambit (4. Bxd5 Nf6) C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Countergambit, Walker Variation C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lisitsyn Variation C23
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.