Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Steinitz Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. d3
The Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Steinitz Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C29, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. d3. 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 80 times by this move order. White won 41%, 4% were drawn and Black won 55%. The most popular continuation is 4… dxe4 (39% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.71 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4… exf4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bxf4 Bb4 7. exd5)
- ECO
- C29
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/5n2/3pp3/4PP2/2NP4/PPP3PP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 36 | |
| 1500-1999 | 31 | |
| 2000+ | 13 | |
| All | 80 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… dxe4 | 31 (39%) | |
| 4… d4 | 22 (28%) | |
| 4… exf4 | 7 (9%) | |
| 4… Bb4 | 6 (8%) | |
| 4… Nc6 | 5 (6%) | |
| 4… Bc5 | 4 (5%) | |
| 4… c6 | 1 (1%) | |
| 4… Ng4 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
7 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 14%, Black 57%). The strongest:
- GM Shanglei Lu (2514) – GM Hua Ni (2637) 0-1 · TCh-CHN 2012 · 2012-06-28
- CM Thomas Villiers (2161) – Mikhail Sedykh (2119) 1-0 · 1st 4NCL Online Open 2020 · 2020-07-12
- Ales Sojka (2124) – Jaromir Krys (2051) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-CZE 1 Liga Vychod · 2015-04-12
- Svante Norlander (1754) – Michael Wunnink (2251) 0-1 · N1 Reykjavik Open 2014 · 2014-03-04
- Jacqui Grobbelaar (1460) – WFM Sune Du Toit (1719) 0-1 · ch-RSA w 2014 · 2014-01-05
Search all games of the Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Steinitz Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- roman01021990 (2022) – FM Artem_0degov (2771) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- DerGrosseFriedrich (2172) – Chessfann345 (2410) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- roman01021990 (2022) – Kazakh_Pod_Kumysom (2504) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
Vienna Game: Vienna Gambit, Main Line 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5
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.