Vienna Game

Vienna Game
7	7
6	6
5	5
4	4
3	3
2	2
1	1
Moves	1.e4 e5 2.Nc3
ECO	C25–C29
Named after	Vienna, Austria
Parent	Open Game

The Vienna Game is an opening in chess that begins with the moves:

1. e4 e5

2. Nc3

White's second move is less common than 2.Nf3, and is also more recent.

The original idea behind the Vienna Game was to play a delayed King's Gambit with f4 (the Vienna Gambit), but in modern play White often plays more quietly (for example, by fianchettoing his king's bishop with g3 and Bg2). Black most often continues with 2...Nf6. The opening can also lead to the Frankenstein–Dracula Variation.

Weaver W. Adams famously claimed that the Vienna Game led to a forced win for White.^[1] Nick de Firmian concludes in the 15th edition of Modern Chess Openings, however, that the opening leads to equality with best play by both sides.^[2]

This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

^ "Mr. Adams and his cronies may be linked to the radical right wing of chess. For all their faulty analysis, they must be given credit for introducing healthy controversy into the staid annals of opening theory. ... Weaver is not content with such halfway measures as equality. All or nothing – right-wing logic, true to form." Evans, Larry (1970). Chess Catechism. Simon and Schuster. pp. 146–47, 153. ISBN 0-671-21531-0.
^ de Firmian, Nick (2008). Modern Chess Openings: MCO-15. Random House Puzzles & Games. pp. 114–20. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7.

[1] "Mr. Adams and his cronies may be linked to the radical right wing of chess. For all their faulty analysis, they must be given credit for introducing healthy controversy into the staid annals of opening theory. ... Weaver is not content with such halfway measures as equality. All or nothing – right-wing logic, true to form." Evans, Larry (1970). Chess Catechism. Simon and Schuster. pp. 146–47, 153. ISBN 0-671-21531-0.

[2] Firmian, Nick (2008). Modern Chess Openings: MCO-15. Random House Puzzles & Games. pp. 114–20. ISBN 978-0-8129-3682-7.

[1]

[2]