Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Alekhine Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Be7 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Nxe5
The Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Alekhine Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C27, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Be7 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Nxe5. 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 5 times by this move order. White won 60%, 0% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 7… g6 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.20 (Stockfish, depth 36; best line 7… g6 8. Nxc6 dxc6 9. Qd1 a5 10. O-O)
- ECO
- C27
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/ppppbppp/2nn4/4N2Q/8/1BN5/PPPP1PPP/R1B1K2R b KQkq - 0 7- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Be7 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Nxe5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… g6 | 2 (40%) | |
| 7… Nxe5 | 2 (40%) | |
| 7… O-O | 1 (20%) |
Master games
50 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 20%, Black 46%). The strongest:
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2732) – GM David Paravyan (2610) 0-1 · Bullet Chess Winners 2024 · 2024-06-10
- GM Evgeniy Najer (2646) – GM Dmitrij Kollars (2618) 0-1 · Titled Tue 6th Jun Late · 2023-06-06
- GM Robert Hess (2591) – GM Dmitrij Kollars (2607) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 22nd June · 2021-06-22
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2768) – IM Emin Ohanyan (2385) 1-0 · Titled Tue 28th Feb Early · 2023-02-28
- IM Harshavardhan G B (2441) – GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (2611) 0-1 · Titled Tue 3rd Jun Early · 2025-06-03
Search all games of the Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Alekhine Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kotletka_94 (2423) – mwelin77 (2434) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- taras05 (2382) – FM Muifel (2407) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Satranc_Oyuncusu1223 (2406) – ShirtOverHeadYesss (2369) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Monster Declined 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Qh5 Nd6 5. Bb3 Be7
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.