Ponziani Opening: Vukovic Gambit

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 Nxe4 5. d5 Bc5

The Ponziani Opening: Vukovic Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 Nxe4 5. d5 Bc5. 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 216 times by this move order. White won 38%, 1% were drawn and Black won 61%. The most popular continuation is 6. dxc6 (48% of games).

Engine evaluation: −0.36 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 6. dxc6 Bxf2+ 7. Ke2 Bb6 8. Qd5 Nf2)

ECO: C44
Moves: 10 plies
FEN: r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n5/2bPp3/4n3/2P2N2/PP3PPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 1 6
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 Nxe4 5. d5 Bc5

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	57	37%63%
1500-1999	99	33%66%
2000+	60	48%50%
All	216	38%61%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
6. dxc6	104 (48%)	38%62%
6. Be3	102 (47%)	42%57%
6. Qe2	4 (2%)	25%75%
6. Be2	3 (1%)	100%
6. Bc4	1 (0%)	100%
6. Qa4	1 (0%)	100%
6. b4	1 (0%)	100%

Master games

104 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 9%, Black 53%). The strongest:

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2730) – GM Gabriel Sargissian (2686) 1-0 · FIDE World Rapid 2014 · 2014-06-18
IM Bogdan Belyakov (2495) – GM Igor Lysyj (2596) 1-0 · ch-RUS Blitz 2019 · 2019-10-17
GM Vugar Rasulov (2478) – GM Aleksandar Indjic (2607) 1/2-1/2 · PNWCC Online Blitz JP 22 · 2021-03-21
GM Aleksei Pridorozhni (2589) – IM Javokhir Sindarov (2449) 0-1 · 22nd Voronezh Master Open · 2018-06-21
FM Pablo Lopez Varela (2293) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2716) 0-1 · TCh-ESP Rapid 2022 · 2022-09-24

Search all games of the Ponziani Opening: Vukovic Gambit and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Satranc599 (2477) – FM DiogenesSinopeus (2599) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Satranc599 (2510) – magma1312 (2345) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Guary26 (2371) – ChudinovK (2412) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack (3. c3 Nf6) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6

More Ponziani Opening lines (all)

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.