Ponziani Opening
The Ponziani Opening is a chess opening that begins with the moves:
1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. c3
It is one of the oldest chess openings, having been discussed in the literature by 1497. It was advocated by Howard Staunton, generally considered the world’s strongest player from 1843 to 1851, in his 1847 book The Chess-Player’s Handbook. For some decades, it was often called “Staunton’s Opening” or the “English Knight’s Game” as a result. Today, it is usually known by the name of Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani, whose main contribution to the opening was his introduction, in 1769, of the countergambit 3…f5!?
The opening is now considered inferior to 3.Bb5, the Ruy Lopez and 3.Bc4, the Italian Game and is accordingly rarely seen today at any level of play. Black’s main responses are 3…Nf6, leading to quiet play and 3…d5, leading to sharp play. Ponziani’s countergambit 3…f5!? was successfully played in the grandmaster game Hikaru Nakamura vs Julio Becerra Rivero, US Championship 2007.
| Opening Name | Chess Notation | MICOS Code |
|---|---|---|
| Ponziani Opening | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 | C13.001.PO |
| Romanishin Defence | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Be7 | C13.002.PO |
| Spanish Attack | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.Bb5 | C13.003.PO |
| Spanish Attack: Harrwitz Attack - Nikitin Gambit | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.Bb5 dxe4 5.Nxe5 Qd5 6.Qa4 | C13.004.PO |
| Caro-Kann Gambit | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.Qa4 Bd7 | C13.005.PO |
| Steinitz Defence | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.Qa4 f6 | C13.006.PO |
| Leonhardt Defence | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.Qa4 Nf6 | C13.007.PO |
| Counter-Gambit: 3…f5 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 f5 | C13.008.PO |
| Counter-Gambit: Schmidt Attack | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 f5 4.d4 d6 5.d5 | C13.009.PO |
| Counter-Gambit: Cordel Defence | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 f5 4.d4 d6 5.d5 fxe4 6.Ng5 Nb8 7.Nxe4 Nf6 8.Bd3 Be7 | C13.010.PO |
| Jaenisch Counter-Attack | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 | C13.011.PO |
| Neumann Gambit | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Bc4 | C13.012.PO |
| Breyer Opening | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.b4 | C13.013.PO |
| Jaenisch Counter-Attack: 4…d5 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d3 d5 | C13.014.PO |
| Jaenisch Counter-Attack: 5.Nbd2 | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d3 d5 5.Nbd2 | C13.015.PO |
| Vukovic Gambit | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 Nxe4 5.d5 Bc5 | C13.016.PO |
| Reti Defence | 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nge7 | C13.017.PO |
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