Vienna Game

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This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves.

Vienna Game
Moves	1.e4 e5 2.Nc3
ECO	C25-C29
Named after	Vienna, Austria
Parent	Open Game
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The Vienna Game is a chess opening characterised by the moves

1. e4 e5

2. Nc3

giving the position shown to the right.

White's second move is less common than 2.Nf3, which can lead to the Ruy Lopez, Giuoco Piano, Scotch Game and other openings. The original idea behind 2.Nc3 was to play a kind of delayed King's Gambit with an eventual f4, but in modern play White often plays more quietly, for example by fianchettoing his king bishop with g3 and Bg2. Black most often continues with 2...Nf6, but 2...Nc6 is also quite playable.

Weaver W. Adams, whom Grandmaster Larry Evans described as "linked to the radical right wing of chess," once claimed that the Vienna Game led to a forced win for White.^[1] However, Grandmaster Nick de Firmian, in the 14th edition of Modern Chess Openings, concludes that the opening leads to equality with best play by both sides.^[2]

Contents 1 2...Nf6 1.1 3.f4 1.2 3.Bc4 1.3 3.g3 1.4 3.a3 2 2...Nc6 2.1 Hamppe-Muzio Gambit 3 References 4 External links 5 Literature

[edit] 2...Nf6

White has three major options: 3.f4, 3.Bc4 and 3.g3. Also possible, but usually without independent significance, is 3.Nf3, when 3...Nc6 reaches a Four Knights Game.

[edit] 3.f4

3.f4 is usually met by 3...d5, striking back in the centre, since 3...exf4 4.e5 Qe7 5.Qe2 forces Black's knight to retreat. After 4.fxe5 Nxe4, either 5.Nf3, 5.Qf3 or 5.d3 usually follows. White sometimes obtains open lines and attacking chances, but black can usually hold the balance without serious trouble.

[edit] 3.Bc4

3.Bc4 leads to a position which can also be reached from the Bishop's Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4). Black has several choices here; 3...Bc5 can transpose to the King's Gambit Declined after 4.d3 d6 5.f4 Nc6 6.Nf3; 3...Nc6 4.d3 and then 4...Na5, 4...Bc5 or 4...d6 are all playable; while 3...Nxe4 is also possible since 4.Nxe4 d5, forking bishop and knight, is quite good for Black. After 3...Nxe4, White normally continues instead 4.Qh5 (threatening Qxf7#) 4...Nd6 5.Bb3 when Black can either go for the relatively quiet waters of 5...Be7 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Nxe5 g6 8.Qe2 Nd4, leading to equality, ^[3], or the complexities of 5...Nc6 6.Nb5 g6 7.Qf3 f5 8.Qd5 Qe7 9.Nxc7+ Kd8 10.Nxa8, which the Irish correspondence chess player and theorist Tim Harding extravagantly dubbed "the Frankenstein-Dracula Variation."^[4]

[edit] 3.g3

3.g3 is a quiet continuation in which White fianchettos his king's bishop, a line played by Vasily Smyslov on a few occasions, most notably in a win over Lev Polugaevsky in the 1961 USSR Championship. That game continued 3...d5 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Be6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Re1 Bf6 9.Ne4 O-O 10.d3 Be7 11.a3 Nb6 12.b4, resulting in a position which the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings assesses as slightly better for White. The main line today, however, is considered to be 5...Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bd6 7.Nf3 O-O 8.O-O. A major alternative for Black is 3...Bc5 (3...Nc6 normally transposes into one of the other lines).

[edit] 3.a3

In addition to these lines, the late American master Ariel Mengarini advocated the whimsical 3.a3, sometimes called Mengarini's Opening. It is not a serious try for advantage, but is essentially a useful waiting move that gives White an improved version of Black's position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6. First, the "Reversed Ruy Lopez" with 3...Bb4 is obviously ruled out. Second, after 3...d5, 4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Qh5!? gives White an improved version of the Steinitz Variation of the Scotch Game, since Black can never play ...Nb4, an important idea for White in the mirror-image position. Third, after 3...Bc5, 4.Nf3 gives a reversed Two Knights Defense. Then the typical 4...Ng4 may be met by 5.d4 exd4 6.Na4, when 6...Bb4+, White's usual move in the mirror-image position, is impossible. After 4...Ng4, White may also play improved versions of the Ulvestad Variation (6.b4 in the above line) and Fritz Variation (6.Nd5 c6 7.b4), since when White plays b4 his pawn is protected, unlike in the mirror-image position. If Black plays more quietly with 3...Bc5 4.Nf3 Nc6, then 5.Nxe5! Nxe5 6.d4 gives White some advantage. The best line for Black may be 3...Bc5 4.Nf3 d5 5.exd5 0-0 (better than 5...e4 6.d4, when the normal 6...Bb4 is impossible), and if 6.Nxe5, 6...Re8 7.d4 Bxd4! 8.Qxd4 Nc6, as in the mirror-image line. Also possible is 3...Bc5 4.Nf3 d6, when Black stands well after 5.Bc4 Be6, while 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 gives White little or no advantage.

[edit] 2...Nc6

White can again play 3.f4, with a type of King's Gambit, or 3.g3. In either case, 3...d5? would be a weak response losing a pawn, unlike after 2...Nf6. Most often, White plays 3.Bc4, when the solid 3...Nf6 transposes to the 2...Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 line. Weaker is 3.Bc4 Bc5, when 4.Qg4! is awkward to meet. 4...Kf8 and 4...g6 are thought the best moves, but neither is too appealing for Black. The natural 4...Qf6? is considered dubious because of 5.Nd5! Qxf2+ 6.Kd1, when White's king is in no real danger, and White has multiple threats: 7.Qxg7; 7.Nxc7+; and 7.Rf1 (attacking along the half-open f-file) Qd4 8.d3 threatening to trap Black's queen with 9.c3.

[edit] Hamppe-Muzio Gambit

The Hamppe-Muzio Gambit (or Vienna Hamppe-Muzio Gambit) characterised by the moves

1.e4 e5

2.Nc3 Nc6

3.f4 exf4

4.Nf3 g5

5.Bc4 g4

6.0-0 gxf3

7.Qxf3

As with its close relative, the sharp Muzio Gambit, white gives up a piece in the hope of establishing a powerful attack against the black kingside. It is named after Austrian theoretician Carl Hamppe and classified under ECO code C25.

The Dubois variation continues 7...Ne5 8.Qxf4 Qf6.

[edit] References

1. ^ Evans, Larry (1970). Chess Catechism. Simon and Schuster, 147, 153. ISBN 671-21531-0. 
2. ^ de Firmian, Nick (1999). Modern Chess Openings. David McKay Company, 112-15. ISBN 0-8129-3084-3. 
3. ^ de Firmian, Nick (1999). Modern Chess Openings. David McKay Company, 112. ISBN 0-8129-3084-3. 
4. ^ Schiller, Eric (1998). Standard Chess Openings. Cardoza Publishing, 39. ISBN 0-940685-72-8. 

[edit] External links

• Vienna Game in Opening Theory section of Chess Wikibook

[edit] Literature

• László Jakobetz, László Somlai: Die Wiener Partie. Dreier, 1994, ISBN 3929376121