Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 f5
The Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 f5. It is a line of the Ponziani Opening. 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 1,272 times by this move order. White won 45%, 3% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 4. exf5 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.42 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 4. exf5 Qf6 5. d4 e4 6. Nfd2 d5)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp2pp/2n5/4pp2/4P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 f5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 436 | |
| 1500-1999 | 729 | |
| 2000+ | 107 | |
| All | 1,272 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. exf5 | 553 (43%) | |
| 4. d4 | 328 (26%) | |
| 4. d3 | 229 (18%) | |
| 4. Bd3 | 47 (4%) | |
| 4. Bb5 | 46 (4%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 19 (1%) | |
| 4. Qc2 | 17 (1%) | |
| 4. Qa4 | 11 (1%) |
Master games
31 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 19%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- IM Renato Terry (2514) – IM Mark Timmermans (2399) 1-0 · Titled Tue 27th Aug Late · 2024-08-27
- IM Renato Terry (2504) – IM Mark Timmermans (2385) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 3rd Aug · 2021-08-03
- IM Renato Terry (2504) – IM Matthew Herman (2383) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 2nd Mar · 2021-03-02
- GM Henrik Danielsen (2510) – WGM Dinara Saduakassova (2340) 1-0 · Politiken Cup 2013 · 2013-07-31
- GM Petr Neuman (2488) – Matej Hrabusa (2319) 1-0 · 25th Czech Open A 2014 · 2014-07-20
Search all games of the Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- WBoar (2545) – acdba (2427) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- antonnete (2313) – Kastling (2395) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- Roma_Alex (2187) – Znat_Kvas (2514) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ponziani Opening 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3
Continuations
- Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit, Schmidt Attack C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 f5 4. d4 d6 5. d5
More Ponziani Opening lines (all)
- Ponziani Opening: Caro Gambit C44
- 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: 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.