Ponziani Opening

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3

The Ponziani Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO C44, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3. Black is to move. 8 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 49,842 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (44% of games).

Engine evaluation: −0.13 (Stockfish, depth 67; best line 3… d5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nbd2 Bd6 6. Be2)

ECO: C44
Moves: 5 plies
FEN: r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4p3/4P3/2P2N2/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3
PGN: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3

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

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	24,859	51%46%
1500-1999	22,715	50%46%
2000+	2,268	50%45%
All	49,842	50%46%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
3… Nf6 Jaenisch Counterattack (3. c3 Nf6)	22,126 (44%)	49%47%
3… Bc5	12,918 (26%)	53%43%
3… d6	5,282 (11%)	52%44%
3… d5	4,132 (8%)	43%53%
3… f5 Ponziani Countergambit	1,272 (3%)	45%52%
3… h6	1,106 (2%)	51%44%
3… a6	892 (2%)	53%43%
3… Be7 Romanishin Variation	434 (1%)	51%43%

Master games

546 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 13%, Black 38%). The strongest:

GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) – GM So, W. (2770) 1-0 · Chess24 Banter Final 2020 · 2020-09-24
GM Li Chao2 (2683) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2709) 0-1 · PRO League KO Stage 2020 · 2020-09-25
GM Sergei Movsesian (2658) – GM Peter Leko (2707) 1/2-1/2 · World Blitz 2015 · 2015-10-14
GM Baadur Jobava (2705) – GM David Anton Guijarro (2651) 1/2-1/2 · 21st European Teams · 2017-11-05
GM Baadur Jobava (2603) – GM Sergey Karjakin (2752) 1-0 · Speed Chess Invitational · 2020-10-25

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

Highest-rated Lichess games

MeeTion01 (2899) – Mysterious_Spy (2797) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
MeeTion01 (2839) – kuhmft (2853) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
GM athena-pallada (2888) – Kruciatos (2673) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6

Continuations

Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack (3. c3 Nf6) C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6
Ponziani Opening: Ponziani Countergambit C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 f5
Ponziani Opening: Réti Variation C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nge7
Ponziani Opening: Romanishin Variation C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Be7
Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Bb5
Ponziani Opening: Caro Gambit C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 Bd7
Ponziani Opening: Leonhardt Variation C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 Nf6
Ponziani Opening: Steinitz Variation C44 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 f6

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.