Tree path 5 levels King's Pawn Game › King's Knight Opening › Normal Variation › Ponziani Opening › Steinitz Variation
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game C20
- King's Knight Opening C40
- Normal Variation C44
- Ponziani Opening C44
- Steinitz Variation C44 you are here
Ponziani Opening: Steinitz Variation
Overview
Ponziani Opening: Steinitz Variation is a variation within the Open Games family, indexed as ECO C44.
The Open Games group covers open games — classical 1.e4 e5 openings where both sides contest the centre directly with pawns.
The line arises from 8 plies — specifically the moves 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. Qa4 f6.
It is a variation of Ponziani Opening, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- C44
- Group
- Open Games (C)
- Plies
- 8
- Parent
- Ponziani Opening
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
36,433 games · White 45.3% / Draw 5.1% / Black 49.6%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Bb5 | 14,096 | |
| exd5 | 12,319 | |
| d3 | 8,920 | |
| d4 | 622 | |
| Be2 | 185 | |
| Bd3 | 176 | |
| h3 | 27 | |
| b4 | 21 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:51:52
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