Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation (3. Nf3 c5)
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 c5
The Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C21, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 c5. It is a line of the Center Game. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,520 times by this move order. White won 57%, 3% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bc4 (52% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.32 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. Bc4 Nc6 5. O-O Be7 6. c3 Nf6)
- ECO
- C21
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1p1ppp/8/2p5/3pP3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1,716 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,489 | |
| 2000+ | 315 | |
| All | 4,520 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bc4 Kieseritzky Variation (3… c5 4. Bc4) | 2,344 (52%) | |
| 4. c3 | 1,004 (22%) | |
| 4. Ng5 | 747 (17%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 81 (2%) | |
| 4. e5 | 69 (2%) | |
| 4. b4 | 45 (1%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 44 (1%) | |
| 4. Ne5 | 26 (1%) |
Master games
16 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 75%, draw 6%, Black 19%). The strongest:
- IM Zdravko Vukovic (2406) – GM Pablo Salinas Herrera (2514) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 6th Apr · 2021-04-06
- CM Igor Vujacic (2207) – FM Danil Najdin (2285) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 16th Feb · 2021-02-16
- Chowdhury Saiful Islam (2161) – Mohammad Manik (1947) 1-0 · Saif Powertec Open 2016 · 2016-06-26
- Danilo Nenezic (2193) – Dragan Cadjenovic (1862) 1-0 · 77th ch-MNE 2025 · 2025-02-08
- CM Nitish Nathan (1885) – CM Damian Sliwicki (2168) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Jun Late · 2022-06-28
Search all games of the Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GreatAttacker (2452) – SiSi5i (2429) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- namespace123 (2325) – brayantheking (2333) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- luncur_CSI (2311) – terryalternative (2289) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation (2… exd4 3. Nf3) 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3
Continuations
- Center Game: Kieseritzky Variation (3… c5 4. Bc4) C21 · 1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 c5 4. Bc4
More Center Game lines (all)
- Center Game (1… e5 2. d4) C20
- Center Game (2… exd4 3. Qxd4) C21
- Center Game: Halasz-McDonnell Gambit C21
- Center Game: Halasz-McDonnell Gambit, Crocodile Variation C21
- Center Game: Lanc-Arnold Gambit C21
- Center Game: Lanc-Arnold Gambit, Schippler Gambit C21
- Center Game: Ross Gambit C21
- Center Game: von der Lasa Gambit C21
- Center Game: Berger Variation C22
- Center Game: Charousek Variation C22
- Center Game: Hall Variation C22
- Center Game: Kupreichik Variation C22
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.