Ponziani Opening: Romanishin Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Be7
The Ponziani Opening: Romanishin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Be7. 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 434 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. d4 (74% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.77 (Stockfish, depth 32; best line 4. d4 exd4 5. cxd4 d5 6. exd5 Nb4)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/ppppbppp/2n5/4p3/4P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 129 | |
| 1500-1999 | 276 | |
| 2000+ | 29 | |
| All | 434 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. d4 | 320 (74%) | |
| 4. Bc4 | 43 (10%) | |
| 4. Bb5 | 25 (6%) | |
| 4. d3 | 11 (3%) | |
| 4. Be2 | 10 (2%) | |
| 4. h3 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4. Qb3 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4. b4 | 4 (1%) |
Master games
12 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 83%, draw 0%, Black 17%). The strongest:
- WGM Khayala Abdulla (2219) – FM Alexander A. Chernov (2314) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 21st Dec · 2021-12-21
- CM Tyhran Ambartsumian (2156) – FM Alexander A. Chernov (2314) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Jun Early · 2024-06-25
- IM Janez Barle (2281) – Bojan Persl (2101) 1-0 · 20th Pirc Memorial 2017 · 2017-06-28
- Gerben Van der Hoeven (1962) – Roger D De Coverly (2036) 1-0 · 7th LCT 2013 · 2013-07-19
- FM Zoltan Csapo (2080) – Kian Hwa Lim (1882) 0-1 · FSFMA April 2013 · 2013-04-14
Search all games of the Ponziani Opening: Romanishin Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Satranc599 (2501) – RLCHESS_PNS (2068) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- viv515 (2286) – gebas (2243) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
- unheave (2227) – lt376 (2228) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Ponziani Opening 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3
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: Ponziani Countergambit C44
- Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit, Schmidt Attack 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.