Ponziani Opening

After 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6, White plays 3. c3, preparing d4. The move c3 takes the natural square from the queen's knight, which is the strategic cost. Black's main replies attack that plan before White finishes it.

16 lines in the book · ECO C44 · 5,190 tagged puzzles in the source database

Play the main line

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Ponziani Opening

Play the next move in the line.

  1. e4
  2. e5
  3. Nf3
  4. Nc6
  5. c3

Move by move

  1. White pawn moves from e2 to e4.
  2. Black pawn moves from e7 to e5.
  3. White knight moves from g1 to f3.
  4. Black knight moves from b8 to c6.
  5. White pawn moves from c2 to c3.

Variations

Caro Gambit1 lines · C44Jaenisch Counterattack4 lines · C44Leonhardt Variation1 lines · C44Neumann Gambit1 lines · C44Ponziani Countergambit2 lines · C44Romanishin Variation1 lines · C44Réti Variation1 lines · C44Spanish Variation2 lines · C44Steinitz Variation1 lines · C44Vukovic Gambit1 lines · C44

Named gambits and traps

6 lines in this family have "gambit" or "trap" in the name. The list shows 6.

Puzzles from this opening

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Puzzle rating 1,475 · played 3,992 times in the source set

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