Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Paulsen Attack
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3
The Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Paulsen Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO C29, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3. It is a line of the Vienna Game. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,836 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nxc3 (53% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.07 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5… f5 6. d3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 d4 8. g3)
- ECO
- C29
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/8/3pP3/4n3/2N2Q2/PPPP2PP/R1B1KBNR b KQkq - 1 5- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 173 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,116 | |
| 2000+ | 547 | |
| All | 1,836 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nxc3 | 980 (53%) | |
| 5… Nc6 | 341 (19%) | |
| 5… f5 Vienna Gambit, Bardeleben Variation | 323 (18%) | |
| 5… Bc5 | 80 (4%) | |
| 5… Be6 | 26 (1%) | |
| 5… Qh4+ | 21 (1%) | |
| 5… Ng5 | 18 (1%) | |
| 5… c6 | 16 (1%) |
Master games
898 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 20%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2756) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2816) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2025 · 2025-11-17
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2767) 1-0 · SpeedChess Final 2024 · 2024-09-06
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2767) 1/2-1/2 · SpeedChess Final 2024 · 2024-09-06
- GM Richard Rapport (2745) – GM Levon Aronian (2745) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Rapid 2023 · 2023-05-22
- GM Richard Rapport (2745) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2724) 1/2-1/2 · Superbet Rapid 2023 · 2023-05-22
Search all games of the Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Paulsen Attack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM filolog (2703) – IM beatles_21 (2761) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- Siiiiiii007 (2626) – siete7729 (2569) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- TheMaskedFelon (2571) – Batman412 (2607) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Main Line 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5
Continuations
- Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Bardeleben Variation C29 · 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.