1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4
The Vienna Game is a chess opening for White that begins 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3. Instead of the routine 2. Nf3, White develops the queenside knight first, keeping the f-pawn free for a later f4 — a delayed King’s Gambit idea with extra control of d5. This course covers 2... Nc6 3. Bc4, where the bishop eyes f7 and unlocks the venomous Qg4 raid against an early ...Bc5. The companion Vienna Gambit course handles 2... Nf6 3. f4; together they cover both main Black replies.
The Vienna begins 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3. Black’s two main answers split the opening in half: after 2... Nf6 White plays 3. f4, the Vienna Gambit, covered by its own Chessreps course. This course takes the other branch: 2... Nc6 3. Bc4, putting the bishop on its best diagonal before committing the f-pawn. Now 3... Bc5 invites 4. Qg4, attacking the g7-pawn the bishop just stopped defending — the sharpest position in the repertoire. The calmer 3... Nf6 is met by 4. d3, protecting e4 and sidestepping the well-known ...Nxe4 fork trick, after which White plays f4 anyway with a King’s Gambit structure at zero material cost.
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Qg4 Qf6 5. Nd5
Because 3... Bc5 left g7 undefended, 4. Qg4 attacks it at once, and 4... Qf6 defends while counterattacking f2. The point is 5. Nd5!, hitting the queen and c7 simultaneously. Grabbing the pawn with 5... Qxf2+ 6. Kd1 backfires: 6... Qf1+ loses the queen to 7. Bxf1, and otherwise 7. Qxg7 wins the h8-rook while Nxc7+ hangs over Black’s queenside. Black is already walking a tightrope on move five.
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Qg4 g6 5. Qf3
Blocking with 4... g6 is the safer defense, but it permanently weakens the dark squares around Black’s king. White swings back with 5. Qf3, renewing pressure against f7, and after 5... Qf6 6. Nd5 the knight again hits the queen and c7. Even after a queen trade on f3, the c7-fork keeps biting: if the dark-squared bishop ever leaves the b6–c7 defense, Nxc7+ wins the a8-rook, and in some lines White’s attack ends in Bh6 mate.
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. f4 d6 6. Nf3
Against solid development White plays 4. d3 — protecting e4 so the classic ...Nxe4 fork trick never works — and then 5. f4, reaching a King’s Gambit structure without sacrificing a pawn. White’s plans are f5 with a kingside space clamp followed by Bg5, or piece pressure down the f-file. If Black pins with 6... Bg4, the maneuver 7. Na4 hunts down the c5-bishop and wins the bishop pair.
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bb4 5. Ne2
Black pins the c3-knight to discourage White’s setup. 5. Ne2 calmly breaks the pin’s sting and prepares short castling and a later Ng3, where the knight eyes f5 and h5. If Black strikes with 5... d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O, the trade 7... Nxc3 8. bxc3 hands White the half-open b-file and a big center after the bishop retreats — easy, comfortable play for White.
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. f4 exf4 6. Bxf4
Capturing on f4 opens the position, which is exactly what White wants — though Black usually has to take anyway to stop the f5 clamp: 6. Bxf4 develops with tempo toward an open f-file. White follows with Qd2 and long castling, launching a direct attack on the black king with rooks ready to swing to the f- and g-files. Black gets free development too, so this becomes a sharp opposite-intentions middlegame rather than a quiet one.
Facing this Vienna with Black, move order is everything. The single most useful piece of advice: play 3... Nf6 before ...Bc5. With a knight on f6, the whole Qg4 raid is impossible — the queen would simply hang to the knight — and White has to win the game positionally instead of tactically. If you do play 3... Bc5 and meet 4. Qg4, do not grab the f2-pawn: after 4... Qf6 5. Nd5 Qxf2+ 6. Kd1 your queen is in serious danger while g7 and c7 fall apart behind it. Defend g7 honestly with 4... Qf6 and then retreat the queen from danger, or play 4... g6 and accept slightly weakened dark squares — both are playable with accuracy, neither is fun without it. In the 3... Nf6 4. d3 lines, Black equalizes with normal chess: develop the bishop to c5 or b4, castle, and prepare the ...d5 break, which is Black’s main source of counterplay since 2. Nc3 fights for that exact square. Against White’s f4–f5 space-gaining plan, do not sit passively — meet f4 with ...exf4 to open the position before the clamp arrives, or strike in the center first. Throughout, keep an eye on two squares: f7, which the c4-bishop x-rays all game, and c7, the landing square of White’s recurring Nd5 fork tricks.
Aim the c4-bishop at f7 and let Black’s setup choose your weapon. Against ...Bc5, play Qg4 immediately and follow the concrete lines — Nd5 jumps, Qxg7 forks, and Nxc7 tricks do the work. Against ...Nf6, play d3 first, then f4 with a no-risk King’s Gambit structure: push f5 for a kingside clamp with Bg5, or recapture on f4 with the bishop and castle long for a direct attack.
Get ...Nf6 in early to rule out Qg4, develop the bishop to c5 or b4, and castle before the f-pawn arrives. The thematic equalizer is ...d5, played the moment it is properly supported. Trade pieces to drain White’s attack, meet f4 with ...exf4 rather than allowing f5, and never leave c7 or f7 to fend for themselves — White’s tactics run through those two squares.
The opening is named for the city of Vienna, where it was developed and analyzed by Austrian masters in the 19th century; Carl Hamppe was among its early champions, and his name survives in several sharp Vienna gambit lines. The first world champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, contributed the daring Steinitz Gambit (3. f4 exf4 4. d4), marching the king up the board in true romantic-era style. The original idea behind 2. Nc3 was a delayed King’s Gambit: develop first, then play f4 under better circumstances. After decades as a quiet sideline, the Vienna has surged in online popularity, where its early traps and direct attacking plans score heavily in blitz and rapid play at every rating level.
Let's play the Vienna Game.
Let's learn the Vienna Game! If you loved the Vienna Gambit, and want to know what happens if the opponent doesn't play that knight move - this is the course for you. Let's start the same way: pawn to e4.
Let's continue the Vienna Game.
Then to play the Vienna Game, we bring our knight out to c3.
And here is where the game differs from the Vienna Gambit! Going pawn f4 here is no longer a good move because there is no knight to kick away, so what do we do in this situation? Let's play bishop to c4 here.
This is called the Copycat Variation, because so far our opponent has just copied all our moves. Let's put an end to the copying with queen to g4. This is a deadly move and you will win a LOT of games here.
Black has a double attack on our weak f2 pawn. If we don't defend it, we lose on the spot. That's why we play... knight to d5. Yes that's right we completely ignore the attack and just play knight to d5. Trust me and do it.
King to d1 only move.
Black thought it was checkmate, but they missed that our bishop is protecting that square. Bishop to f1 only move.
Black won't often hang their queen, but I included this because, as White, it's crucial to remember that other lines from this position only work because we have a bishop defending that square. That said, over 10,000 games have reached this position, sooo...
We are completely completely winning here. Black is attacking our queen but now we have queen to g7.
Now instead of taking the rook, we should actually play knight takes c7, forking the king and the OTHER rook.
Now instead of taking the other rook, we instead take the bishop! Knight takes bishop on e6. Black cannot capture back because their pawn is pinned.
Now is a good time to attack the black queen and give her the boot. Knight to h3.
It's so so over for Black here. Well done.
This is a good try from black, and it's a bit tricky. If we just take the rook we will lose on the spot because black will bring their light-square bishop out and check us. Let's instead play knight to e2 to give our king some shelter.
Let's recapture with the bishop on e2.
Well done! We are completely safe now and we can capture the rook on the next move. The game is pretty much over.
Black is only thinking one move ahead. Yes, they saved their g pawn, but now we put our queen on f3 and put a ton of pressure on their f pawn.
If Black offers a queen trade, we should play knight to d5, threatening the queen and a fork on c7.
Let's recapture with knight to f3.
Black defended the fork we were threatening. Here, the best move is pawn to d3, surprisingly.
A blunder! Now we have knight to f6 checking the king.
Mate in 1. Can you find it? Hint: bishop to h6.
Oh my GOD that was nasty. Would you believe me if I said this exact sequence has been played thousands and thousands of times?
Let's play pawn to d3 here. This opens up our dark square bishop.
Let's crack open the position with pawn to f4.
Let's continue development with knight to f3.
Here, the best move is knight to a4 attacking Black's bishop since the bishop is preventing us from castling.
Black is adding more pressure to our pinned knight, but this is actually a mistake. First, we capture the bishop on c5 with our knight.
Now we play the killer pawn to c3. Yes - we are actually INVOKING a capture on our knight.
Let's take back with pawn to f3.
This doesn't look great for us, but actually after rook to g1, we are completely winning.
Now we have the fantastic rook to g5, forking the knight and pawn. It also stops any queen to h4 check.
Now we win the game. Rook captures on e5 with check
Well done! We are crushing our opponent here. Between our strong pieces, our ownership of the center, and Black's weak king, I don't see how we can lose this.
Yes. It develops pieces naturally, leads to clear attacking plans, and carries far less theory than the Ruy Lopez or Italian main lines. The tactical lines after 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. Qg4 also teach concrete calculation early.
The Vienna Game is the whole family starting 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3. The Vienna Gambit is its sharpest branch, 2... Nf6 3. f4, where White offers the f-pawn. This course covers the other main branch, 2... Nc6 3. Bc4, which sacrifices nothing.
Completely. The 3. Bc4 lines risk no material, White’s development is natural, and the opening has been played at every level including by world champions of the classical era. Black can equalize with accurate play, as in any sound 1. e4 e5 opening.
Against 2. Nc3, the move 2... Nf6 is the most popular and principled reply. After 2... Nc6 3. Bc4, Black does best to play 3... Nf6 before ...Bc5, which prevents White’s Qg4 attack on g7 entirely and steers the game toward calmer positions.
Three reasons: the f-pawn stays free for f4, giving White King’s Gambit-style attacks without the gambit; the knight defends e4 and controls d5, blunting Black’s main ...d5 break; and Black never gets a Petrov Defense.
Reading about an opening is step one. The trainer at the top of this page drills all 19 lines against the moves real opponents play — the first lines are free.
Train the Vienna Game now