Vienna Game: Frankenstein-Dracula Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4
The Vienna Game: Frankenstein-Dracula Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C27, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4. It is a line of the Vienna Game. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 867 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nxe4 (35% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.20 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Qxe5+ Qe7 6. Qxe7+ Bxe7)
- ECO
- C27
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/2B1n3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQK1NR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 163 | |
| 1500-1999 | 406 | |
| 2000+ | 298 | |
| All | 867 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nxe4 | 303 (35%) | |
| 4. Bxf7+ | 259 (30%) | |
| 4. Qh5 | 223 (26%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 25 (3%) | |
| 4. d3 | 24 (3%) | |
| 4. Qf3 | 16 (2%) | |
| 4. Qe2 | 8 (1%) | |
| 4. Nge2 | 3 (0%) |
Master games
378 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 24%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev16_202209170930 (3611) – Berserk dev10_20220912 (3509) 1-0 · TCEC 23 Premier 2022 · 2022-09-30
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2745) – GM So, W. (2767) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2020-02-21
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2746) – GM So, W. (2767) 0-1 · chess.com Speed 2019 · 2019-12-05
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2708) – GM Anish Giri (2764) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-11-16
- GM Naroditsky, D. (2619) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2763) 1-0 · Titled Tue 19th Nov Late · 2024-11-19
Search all games of the Vienna Game: Frankenstein-Dracula Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM ikica77 (2686) – Kruciatos (2643) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- ZhangXS (2674) – CogitoErgoVinco (2642) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- derdimcokanacan (2646) – slouuurps (2667) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Vienna Game: Stanley Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4
Continuations
- Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Monster Declined C27 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Be7
- Vienna Game: Adams' Gambit C27 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Nc6 6. d4
- Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Frankenstein-Dracula Variation C27 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Nc6 6. Nb5 g6 7. Qf3 f5 8. Qd5 Qe7 9. Nxc7+ Kd8 10. Nxa8 b6
More Vienna Game lines (all)
- Vienna Game C25
- Vienna Game: Anderssen Defense C25
- Vienna Game: Fyfe Gambit C25
- Vienna Game: Giraffe Attack C25
- Vienna Game: Hamppe-Meitner Variation C25
- Vienna Game: Hamppe-Muzio Gambit C25
- Vienna Game: Hamppe-Muzio, Dubois Variation C25
- Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense C25
- Vienna Game: Omaha Gambit C25
- Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation (2… Nc6 3. g3) C25
- Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation (5. Nge2 d5) C25
- Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation, Mariotti Gambit C25
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.