ChessScreenshot

Vienna Game

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 · C25–C29

Starting positionWhite to move

0 / 11

Qh5 is the point and the risk

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.

The idea

White develops the queen's knight first, keeping f2–f4 in reserve and often steering into a delayed King's Gambit with a tempo already spent.

Main line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Nd6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.Nf3

What White wants

  • Develop with Nc3 and Bc4 and keep the f4 break available
  • Attack the f6 knight and the f7 square while Black is uncastled
  • Choose between a positional g3 setup and a sharp f4 advance

What Black wants

  • Stake a claim in the centre and meet Qh5 carefully
  • Play ...Nc6, ...Bb4 or ...d5 to get counterplay
  • Trade pieces before White's kingside attack materialises

Key idea

Understand this and the moves stop needing to be memorised.

Qh5 is the point and the risk

After ...Nxe4, Qh5 is not check: the f7 pawn blocks the diagonal to e8. The queen threatens Qxf7# with the bishop on c4 and also eyes e5. Black's ...Nd6 covers f7 while attacking the bishop, showing why the queen sortie needs accurate follow-up.

Common mistake

Assuming Qh5 forces Black to defend passively. The reply ...Nd6 both covers f7 and attacks the bishop on c4, so White must respond to that tempo rather than continue an attack as though the queen had given check.

Representative position

The position this opening is aiming at. Copy the FEN, or open it in the analysis board and let the engine tell you what it is worth.

r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2nn4/4p2Q/8/1BN2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1B1K2R b KQkq - 5 6

Analyze this position

Variations

1 line branching from here.

Related openings

Vienna Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 · C29The Vienna with f4 — a King's Gambit where the knight is already developed on c3, giving White a faster attack but sharp central counterplay from ...d5.King's Gambit1.e4 e5 2.f4 · C30–C39White offers the f-pawn to deflect Black's e5 pawn and build an unopposed centre of e4 and d4 — romantic, risky and still dangerous today.Italian Game1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 · C50–C59The oldest opening in chess: the bishop takes the diagonal that points at f7, the weakest square in Black's camp, and both sides develop fast.Four Knights Game1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 · C46–C49Both sides develop all four knights before committing a pawn, producing one of the most solid and symmetrical openings in chess.