Vienna Game: Anderssen Defense
The Anderssen Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5, an offbeat but playable answer to the Vienna Game. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
2,814,124 games: White 50.8% / Draw 4.0% / Black 45.1%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 995,754996K | ||
| 980,773981K | ||
| 377,364377K | ||
| 161,537162K | ||
| 99,751100K | ||
| 32,67533K | ||
| Vienna Game: Giraffe Attack | 31,36331K | |
| 23,62824K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.23 The position is about equal
Best play: 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nb3 Bb6 7. Bf4 O-O
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
The stronger the players, the worse this line does for Black: Black scores 49% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up and 49% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 3.1M | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.2M | |
| 1800–2199 | 1.2M | |
| 2200 and up | 63K | |
| Masters, over the board | 304 |
Master games
- Safarli, E. – Korobov, A.
- Van Foreest, J. – Demchenko, A.
- Lu Shanglei – Sokolov, I.
- Tal, M. – Knezevic, M.
- Edouard, R. – Van Foreest, L.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Description
The Anderssen Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5, an offbeat but playable answer to the Vienna Game. José Raúl Capablanca played it against Ilya Kan at Moscow 1936.
3.Nf3
After 3.Nf3, the natural 3...Nc6, which transposes to the Three Knights Game, runs into 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Bd6 6.dxe5 Bxe5 7.Bd3, with a large advantage for White. Stronger is 3...d6. The main line then runs 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 O-O 8.Nb3, and Nick de Firmian gives 8...Bb4 9.Bd3 Re8 10.O-O Bxc3 11.bxc3 g5 12.Bg3 Nxe4, when Black's chances are at least equal. 4.Na4 Nd7 5.d3 Ngf6 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Nxc5 Nxc5 9.Ne1 Ne6 10.c3 d5 is about even.
Other third moves
- 3.Bc4 lets Black choose between ...Nf6, ...Nc6 and ...d6.
- 3.f4 d6 leads to the King's Gambit Declined.
- 3.Qg4 is weak: in Tsikhelashvili–Karpov, USSR 1968, 3...Nf6 4.Qxg7 Rg8 5.Qh6 Bxf2+ gave Black a large advantage, since 6.Kxf2 Ng4+ would win White's queen.
- 3.Na4, the Hamppe Variation, can be met by 3...Bxf2+ 4.Kxf2 Qh4+ 5.Ke3 Qf4+ 6.Kd3 d5, the wild line of the famous Immortal Draw, Hamppe–Meitner, Vienna 1872. The quiet 3...Be7 also leaves Black with a good game.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 50.8% of the 2.8 million games and Black 45.1%. From 2200 up White's lead is a little larger, 51.1% against 42.7%. In 304 master games over the board 39.1% were drawn, White won 31.6% and Black 29.3%.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Vienna Game: Anderssen Defense
3. f4 scores best for White: 57.3%, with White winning 55.6% and Black 41.0% of 377K games. The most played, 3. Bc4, scores 53.0% in 996K games, and 3. d3 scores lowest: 50.0%. Stockfish's first choice is 3. Nf3.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
The Vienna Game: Anderssen Defense has gained ground since 2016: 0.12% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.077%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.077% | 27,584 |
| 2017 | 0.067% | 37,111 |
| 2018 | 0.064% | 50,126 |
| 2019 | 0.067% | 83,779 |
| 2020 | 0.078% | 228,125 |
| 2021 | 0.11% | 443,637 |
| 2022 | 0.12% | 442,788 |
| 2023 | 0.12% | 464,679 |
| 2024 | 0.12% | 431,928 |
| 2025 | 0.12% | 424,839 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.12% | 134,737 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (2)
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Vienna Game, version of 7 November 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Vienna Game: Anderssen Defense (C25)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/vienna-game-anderssen-defense