Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack (3. c3 Nf6)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6
The Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6. It is a line of the Ponziani Opening. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 22,126 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4. d4 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4. d4 Nxe4 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nxe5 Bd6)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/4p3/4P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 11,889 | |
| 1500-1999 | 9,243 | |
| 2000+ | 994 | |
| All | 22,126 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. d4 | 12,503 (57%) | |
| 4. d3 Jaenisch Counterattack (3… Nf6 4. d3) | 4,684 (21%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 1,273 (6%) | |
| 4. Qc2 | 1,086 (5%) | |
| 4. Bc4 Neumann Gambit | 934 (4%) | |
| 4. Bb5 | 593 (3%) | |
| 4. Qe2 | 321 (1%) | |
| 4. Ng5 | 125 (1%) |
Master games
1,059 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 16%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) – Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) – LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-12
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2784) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) 0-1 · Chessbrah Inv May 2020 · 2020-05-15
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2779) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2779) 1-0 · Champions Showdown Blitz · 2016-11-14
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2861) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2698) 1-0 · 75th Tata Steel GpA · 2013-01-15
Search all games of the Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- MeeTion01 (2839) – kuhmft (2853) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- MeeTion01 (2828) – Shahin_Za_Shiraz (2551) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- MandibleusZygomidus (2528) – Mallorca10Barcelona (2682) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ponziani Opening 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3
Continuations
- Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack (3… Nf6 4. d3) C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d3
- Ponziani Opening: Neumann Gambit C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Bc4
- Ponziani Opening: Vukovic Gambit C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 Nxe4 5. d5 Bc5
More Ponziani Opening lines (all)
- Ponziani Opening: Caro Gambit 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: 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
- Ponziani Opening: Steinitz Variation 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.