Vienna Game: Heyde Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 f5 6. d4
The Vienna Game: Heyde Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C29, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 f5 6. d4. It is a line of the Vienna Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 39 times by this move order. White won 38%, 3% were drawn and Black won 59%. The most popular continuation is 6… Bb4 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.39 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… Be7 7. Nh3 O-O 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. Ne2)
- ECO
- C29
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp3pp/8/3pPp2/3Pn3/2N2Q2/PPP3PP/R1B1KBNR b KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 f5 6. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 26 | |
| 2000+ | 12 | |
| All | 39 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… Bb4 | 20 (51%) | |
| 6… c5 | 7 (18%) | |
| 6… Nc6 | 7 (18%) | |
| 6… Be6 | 3 (8%) | |
| 6… Be7 | 2 (5%) |
Master games
8 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 0%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- GM Mikhail Bryakin (2483) – FM Ulrich Zimmermann (2280) 1-0 · Titled Tue 10th Oct Early · 2023-10-10
- Justin Storn (2063) – IM Mark Timmermans (2392) 0-1 · Titled Tue 12th Dec Late · 2023-12-12
- Victor Nikitin (1896) – GM Arkadi Eremeevich Vul (2225) 0-1 · Kolomna Rapid 2018 · 2018-02-17
- Matej Peroutka (1662) – Martin Hyrs (1869) 1-0 · Znojmo Rapid Open 2026 · 2026-08-01
- WCM Larisa Sokolova (1690) – WCM Kaia Gayle (1741) 0-1 · 46th Olympiad Women 2026 · 2026-09-27
Search all games of the Vienna Game: Heyde Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- burningman1 (2247) – andygrig (2186) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
- Grini777 (2149) – Fantasticchess2000 (2226) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s
- sokratis206 (2101) – donlulas_23 (2262) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Bardeleben Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3 f5
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.