Open games & French

Vienna Game

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3

The Vienna Game starts with 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 and is catalogued under ECO C25, in the open games & french half of the book. The catalog indexes 41 lines inside it, grouped into 40 named variations.

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Current setup

Move ideas

  1. 1.e4

    Claims the center with a pawn and opens lines for the queen and king’s bishop.

    Idea: Build quick development and make early castling possible.

  2. 1e5

    Meets White’s center directly and opens lines for Black’s queen and bishop.

    Idea: Fight for equal central space in a balanced, open position.

  3. 2.Nc3

    Develops the knight to c3, bringing it into the game.

    Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.

  4. 2Nc6

    Develops the knight to c6, bringing it into the game.

    Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.

  5. 3.Bc4

    Develops the bishop to c4, bringing it into the game.

    Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.

  6. 3Nf6

    Develops the knight to f6, bringing it into the game.

    Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.

  7. 4.f4

    Advances the f-pawn to gain kingside space and control new squares.

    Idea: Create useful wing space while keeping the central structure flexible.

  8. 4Nxe4

    Captures the pawn on e4 and changes the local pawn or piece balance.

    Idea: Remove an active defender and improve the moving piece’s influence.

  9. 5.Nf3

    Develops the knight to f3, bringing it into the game.

    Idea: Improve piece coordination and clear the back rank for castling and the rooks.

Book continuations

Waiting for Lichess game popularity.

0 moves
This is the end of the indexed line.

Named variations

Each line below is an indexed entry under Vienna Game. Open one to load it on the board and keep exploring from that position.

16 more named lines sit inside this family — the tree above walks all of them.

ECO groups openings by the structures they lead to, so these families tend to share plans with the Vienna Game.