Trompowsky Attack: Poisoned Pawn Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 c5 3. d5 Qb6 4. Nc3
The Trompowsky Attack: Poisoned Pawn Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A45, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 c5 3. d5 Qb6 4. Nc3. It is a line of the Trompowsky Attack. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 87 times by this move order. White won 59%, 4% were drawn and Black won 37%. The most popular continuation is 4… Qxb2 (70% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4… Qxb2 5. Bd2 Qb6 6. e4 d6 7. f4)
- ECO
- A45
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnb1kb1r/pp1ppppp/1q3n2/2pP2B1/8/2N5/PPP1PPPP/R2QKBNR b KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 c5 3. d5 Qb6 4. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 86 | |
| All | 87 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Qxb2 | 61 (70%) | |
| 4… d6 | 12 (14%) | |
| 4… g6 | 5 (6%) | |
| 4… h6 | 4 (5%) | |
| 4… a6 | 2 (2%) | |
| 4… e6 | 2 (2%) | |
| 4… Qa5 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
482 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 13%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Praggnanandhaa R (2749) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 1-0 · Saint Louis Blitz 2024 · 2024-08-15
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) – GM Javokhir Sindarov (2722) 0-1 · Titled Tue 8th Jul Early · 2025-07-08
- GM Alireza Firouzja (2759) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tuesday 6th Apr · 2021-04-06
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2719) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2746) 0-1 · World Blitz 2018 · 2018-12-30
- GM Dmitry Andreikin (2712) – GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (2726) 1-0 · 2nd IMSA Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-13
Search all games of the Trompowsky Attack: Poisoned Pawn Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Kramich_Aliaksei (2609) – GM novik70 (2529) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Papolabestia123 (2568) – GM novik70 (2564) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Bodoque55 (2556) – Zohaib_Gillani (2536) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Trompowsky Attack 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5
More Trompowsky Attack lines (all)
- Trompowsky Attack: Borg Variation A45
- Trompowsky Attack: Classical Defense A45
- Trompowsky Attack: Classical Defense, Big Center Variation A45
- Trompowsky Attack: Edge Variation A45
- Trompowsky Attack: Edge Variation, Hergert Gambit (6… d5 7. e4) A45
- Trompowsky Attack: Edge Variation, Hergert Gambit (5… Bf5 6. e4) A45
- Trompowsky Attack: Raptor Variation A45
- Trompowsky Attack: Raptor Variation, Hergert Gambit A45
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.