Caissa Codex
C44

Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation

Chess diagram: Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation after 4. Bb5

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

72,956 games: White 44.7% / Draw 4.5% / Black 50.8%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
43,94944K
9,7379,737
5,6925,692
3,6283,628
2,5382,538
2,3912,391
1,5711,571
1,1871,187

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 23, 2026

Engine evaluation

−2.14 Black is clearly better

Even so, White scores 46.9% here in practice: wins plus half the draws in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500.

Best play: 4... dxe4 5. Nxe5 Qg5 6. Qa4 Qxg2 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 8. Qxc6+ Kd8 9. Rf1

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation (ECO C44, Open Games) is a variation of the Ponziani Opening, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Bb5 (4 moves).

In 72,956 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 44.7%, Black 50.8% and 4.5% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…dxe4, in 60% of those games.

It continues into one named variation, Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation, Harrwitz Attack, Nikitin Gambit.

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How to play against the Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation

The most played answer, 4…dxe4, also scores best for Black: 56.7%, with Black winning 54.4% and White 41.0% of 44K games. Of the main answers, 4…Bg4 scores lowest: 46.2%. Stockfish's first choice is also 4…dxe4.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Variations (1)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 3…d5 4. Bb5, the position after Ponziani Opening also goes on to:

Transpositions

This position is also reached from these lines, by another move order:

From here, a move transposes into another named line:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Ponziani Opening: Spanish Variation (C44)”. Lichess data as of 23 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/ponziani-opening-spanish-variation

https://chesscodex.org/openings/ponziani-opening-spanish-variation