Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense
The Max Lange Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6, one of Black's two usual replies to the Vienna Game; the other is 2...Nf6. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
12,954,205 games: White 51.0% / Draw 4.5% / Black 44.5%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 4,728,2274.7M | ||
| Three Knights Opening | 4,026,2644M | |
| Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense | 1,850,9101.9M | |
| 713,709714K | ||
| Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation | 619,982620K | |
| 444,661445K | ||
| 161,898162K | ||
| 116,708117K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 6, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.06 The position is about equal
Best play: 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxd4 exd4 6. e5 dxc3 7. exf6 Qxf6
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 48% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 10.3M | |
| 1400–1799 | 12.3M | |
| 1800–2199 | 6.3M | |
| 2200 and up | 642K | |
| Masters, over the board | 1,976 |
Master games
- Mamedyarov, S. – Carlsen, M.
- Nakamura, H. – Carlsen, M.
- Nakamura, H. – Carlsen, M.
- Nakamura, H. – Carlsen, M.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Nakamura, H.
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 Max Lange Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6, one of Black's two usual replies to the Vienna Game; the other is 2...Nf6. The original idea of the Vienna was a delayed King's Gambit with f4, but in modern play White often prefers quieter moves such as 3.Bc4 or 3.g3.
Main lines
- 3.Bc4 is White's most common move. Black most often answers 3...Nf6, and after 4.d3 the game reaches the Berlin-Vienna Hybrid, a position also reached from the Bishop's Opening.
- 3.f4 is the Vienna Gambit in its traditional sense: White offers a pawn to gain control of the centre, as in the King's Gambit. After 3...exf4 4.d4 White plays the Steinitz Gambit, a favourite of the first World Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz; it allows 4...Qh4+ 5.Ke2, and is rarely seen today.
- 3.g3, the Paulsen Variation, is named after Louis Paulsen, who won three games with it at the Vienna tournament of 1873.
- 3.Nf3 transposes to the Three Knights Opening.
A trap in the Symmetrical Variation
After 3.Bc4 Black sometimes plays 3...Bc5, the Symmetrical Variation. White's 4.Qg4 is awkward to meet, and 4...Kf8 and 4...g6 are thought to be the best replies, though neither is appealing. The natural 4...Qf6?? loses to 5.Nd5! Qxf2+ 6.Kd1, when White's king is in no real danger and White threatens Qxg7 and Nxc7+.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 51.0% of the 13 million games and Black 44.5%. Under 1400 the gap is small, 49.3% against 46.4%; from 2200 up it is 50.9% against 42.6%. In 1,976 master games over the board White won 32.6%, Black 27.9%, and 39.5% were drawn.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense
3. f4 (Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense) scores best for White: 55.2%, with White winning 53.2% and Black 42.8% of 1.9M games. The most played, 3. Bc4, scores 54.7% in 4.7M games, and 3. d3 scores lowest: 49.8%. 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: Max Lange Defense is played more than twice as often as in 2016: 0.6% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.27%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.27% | 97,235 |
| 2017 | 0.28% | 152,147 |
| 2018 | 0.3% | 236,702 |
| 2019 | 0.32% | 402,782 |
| 2020 | 0.36% | 1,043,913 |
| 2021 | 0.48% | 1,878,194 |
| 2022 | 0.52% | 1,968,787 |
| 2023 | 0.57% | 2,138,186 |
| 2024 | 0.58% | 2,077,288 |
| 2025 | 0.6% | 2,073,549 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.62% | 677,769 |
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 (5)
Transpositions
All 26 named lines that continue from here
No line matches.
- C25 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense 3 moves
- C25 Vienna Game: Fyfe Gambit 3 moves
- C25 Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation 3 moves
- C25 Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Meitner-Mieses Gambit 5 moves
- C28 Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Three Knights Variation 3 moves
- C28 Bishop's Opening: Vienna Hybrid, Hromádka Variation 5 moves
- C25 Knight Variation 4 moves
- C25 Quelle Gambit 4 moves
- C25 Steinitz Gambit 4 moves
- C25 Paulsen Variation 5 moves
- C25 Mariotti Gambit 5 moves
- C25 Vienna Game: Philidor Countergambit 3 moves
- C28 Vienna Game: Stanley Variation, Bronstein Gambit 5 moves
- C25 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Cunningham Defense 4 moves
- C25 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Hamppe-Allgaier Gambit 6 moves
- C25 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Pierce Gambit 5 moves
- C25 Main Line 5 moves
- C25 Vienna Game: Hamppe-Muzio Gambit 6 moves
- C25 Alapin Variation 6 moves
- C25 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Hamppe-Muzio Gambit 6 moves
- C25 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Fraser-Minckwitz Defense 5 moves
- C25 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Paulsen Defense 5 moves
- C25 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Sörensen Defense 5 moves
- C25 Vienna Gambit, with Max Lange Defense: Steinitz Gambit, Zukertort Defense 5 moves
- C25 Vienna Game: Pierce Gambit, Rushmere Attack 9 moves
- C25 Vienna Game: Hamppe-Muzio, Dubois Variation 8 moves
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: Max Lange Defense (C25)”. Lichess data as of 6 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/vienna-game-max-lange-defense