Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6
The Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO C25, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6. It is a line of the Vienna Game. White is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 84,263 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nf3 (38% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 3. Nge2 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4)
- ECO
- C25
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/4p3/4P3/2N5/PPPP1PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 2 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 38,917 | |
| 1500-1999 | 39,673 | |
| 2000+ | 5,673 | |
| All | 84,263 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nf3 | 31,739 (38%) | |
| 3. Bc4 | 28,427 (34%) | |
| 3. f4 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense | 9,183 (11%) | |
| 3. d3 | 4,490 (5%) | |
| 3. Bb5 | 3,627 (4%) | |
| 3. g3 Paulsen Variation (2… Nc6 3. g3) | 2,376 (3%) | |
| 3. a3 | 1,075 (1%) | |
| 3. b3 | 643 (1%) |
Master games
1,075 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 18%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) – Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-11-13
- Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) – LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) 1-0 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-11-13
- Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) – Igel 3.5.5 (3502) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- Igel 3.5.5 (3502) – Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
- RubiChess 20230823 (3508) – KomodoDragon 3.2 (3587) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
Search all games of the Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- kuhmft (2858) – Superstitions_Guy (2770) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- IM Jamorris94 (2791) – Superstitions_Guy (2800) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- IM Aphelios00 (2724) – IM shuriks91 (2815) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Vienna Game 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3
Continuations
- Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense C25 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4
- Vienna Game: Fyfe Gambit C25 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. d4
- Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation (2… Nc6 3. g3) C25 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3
- Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Three Knights Variation C28 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6
- Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Meitner-Mieses Gambit C25 · 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Qg4 Qf6 5. Nd5
More Vienna Game lines (all)
- Vienna Game: Anderssen Defense 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: Omaha Gambit C25
- Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation (5. Nge2 d5) C25
- Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation, Mariotti Gambit C25
- Vienna Game: Philidor Countergambit C25
- Vienna Game: Pierce Gambit, Rushmere Attack C25
- Vienna Game: Zhuravlev Countergambit C25
- Vienna Game: Falkbeer Variation C26
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.