Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Bb5
The Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Bb5. It is a line of the Ponziani Opening. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 339 times by this move order. White won 45%, 6% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 4… dxe4 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: −1.43 (Stockfish, depth 40; best line 4… dxe4 5. Nxe5 Qg5 6. d4 Qxg2 7. Rf1)
- ECO
- C44
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/ppp2ppp/2n5/1B1pp3/4P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQK2R b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Bb5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 109 | |
| 1500-1999 | 172 | |
| 2000+ | 58 | |
| All | 339 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… dxe4 | 171 (50%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 39 (12%) | |
| 4… Bd7 | 36 (11%) | |
| 4… f6 | 35 (10%) | |
| 4… a6 | 14 (4%) | |
| 4… Qd6 | 9 (3%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 9 (3%) | |
| 4… Bd6 | 7 (2%) |
Master games
49 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 8%, Black 51%). The strongest:
- GM Shanglei Lu (2607) – GM Jun Zhao (2616) 1/2-1/2 · 3rd China Mind Team · 2015-08-31
- IM Damian Lewtak (2332) – GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov (2645) 1-0 · Titled Tue 30th Sep 2025 · 2025-09-30
- IM Viacheslav Borisenko (2289) – GM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen (2555) 0-1 · World Blitz 2018 · 2018-12-29
- CM Matfey Rogov (2191) – GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2620) 1-0 · Titled Tue 16th Apr Early · 2024-04-16
- FM Seyed Kian Poormosavi (2297) – IM Denis Lazavik (2465) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 30th Nov · 2021-11-30
Search all games of the Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Grappler1990 (2485) – siete7729 (2515) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- superkramsky (2472) – swynwr (2496) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- BigRusBoss (2388) – Boess (2344) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Ponziani Opening 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3
Continuations
- Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation, Harrwitz Attack, Nikitin Gambit C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Bb5 dxe4 5. Nxe5 Qd5 6. Qa4
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: Romanishin Variation C44
- Ponziani Opening: Réti Variation 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.