Ponziani Opening: Caro Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 Bd7
The Ponziani Opening: Caro Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 Bd7. It is a line of the Ponziani Opening. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 168 times by this move order. White won 39%, 4% were drawn and Black won 57%. The most popular continuation is 5. exd5 (82% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.07 (Stockfish, depth 53; best line 5. exd5 Nd4 6. Qd1 Nxf3+ 7. Qxf3 Nf6)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r2qkbnr/pppb1ppp/2n5/3pp3/Q3P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNB1KB1R w KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 Bd7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 32 | |
| 1500-1999 | 80 | |
| 2000+ | 56 | |
| All | 168 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. exd5 | 138 (82%) | |
| 5. Bb5 | 17 (10%) | |
| 5. Nxe5 | 8 (5%) | |
| 5. d3 | 3 (2%) | |
| 5. Qb3 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
157 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 16%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- GM Yi Wei (2752) – GM Anish Giri (2757) 1/2-1/2 · TechM GCL 2026 · 2026-09-08
- GM Nijat Abasov (2664) – GM Bassem Amin (2695) 1/2-1/2 · European Online CC Final · 2021-03-31
- GM Alexander Morozevich (2659) – GM Anatoly Karpov (2617) 1/2-1/2 · 18th Moscow Stars Prelim · 2022-07-17
- IM Renato Terry (2500) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2743) 0-1 · Titled Tue 25th Aug 2026 · 2026-08-25
- IM Renato Terry (2508) – GM Dmitrij Kollars (2634) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 2nd Jul 2026 · 2026-07-02
Search all games of the Ponziani Opening: Caro Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Potferdek (2495) – Knight_ofthelight73 (2516) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Potferdek (2475) – Carcelario85 (2470) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 2s
- Guary26 (2366) – siete7729 (2533) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ponziani Opening 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3
More Ponziani Opening lines (all)
- Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack (3. c3 Nf6) C44
- Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack (3… Nf6 4. d3) C44
- Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack (4. d3 d5) C44
- Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack (4… d5 5. Nbd2) C44
- Ponziani Opening: Leonhardt Variation C44
- Ponziani Opening: Neumann Gambit C44
- Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit C44
- Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit, Schmidt Attack C44
- Ponziani Opening: Romanishin Variation C44
- Ponziani Opening: Réti Variation C44
- Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation C44
- Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation, Harrwitz Attack, Nikitin Gambit C44
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.