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 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 of the 3...f5 in 1769.
Although it is considered inferior to other third move options such as the Ruy Lopez (3.Bb5), it has a reputation for leading to and play. It is typically only used as a surprise weapon by modern players. The move c3 supports a later d4 push and also enables early development of the queen, with White frequently playing Qa4. Black's usual response is either 3...Nf6 or 3...d5. Magnus Carlsen used it for a victory in 2013.
History The Ponziani is one of the oldest known openings, having been first discussed in chess literature by no later than 1497. It was mentioned in both of the earliest chess treatises: the Repetición de Amores y Arte de Ajedrez con ci Iuegos de Partido by Lucena and the Göttingen manuscript. Today the opening bears the surname of Domenico Lorenzo Ponziani. Although Ponziani did analyze the opening in 1769, his principal contribution was the introduction of the 3...f5!?Howard Staunton, The Chess-Player's Handbook, Henry G. Bohn, 1847, p. 182. Later the opening was favored by Howard Staunton, who in The Chess-Player's Handbook (1847) called it "so full of interest and variety, that its omission in many of the leading works on the game is truly unaccountable. ... it deserves, and, if we mistake not, will yet attain a higher place in the category of legitimate openings than has hitherto been assigned to it."
Nomenclature Staunton cumbersomely referred to the opening as "The Queen's Bishop's Pawn Game in the King's Knight's Opening", as did George H. D. Gossip in The Chess Player's Manual (1888, American edition 1902).G. H. D. Gossip and S. Lipschütz, The Chess Player's Manual, David McKay, 1902, p. 237. Napoleon Marache, one of the leading American players, similarly called it the "Queen's Bishop's Pawn Game" in his 1866 manual.N. Marache, Marache's Manual of Chess, Dick & Fitzgerald, 1866, p. 78. In their treatise Chess Openings Ancient and Modern (1889, 1896), E. Freeborough and the Reverend C.E. Ranken called it "Staunton's Opening".E. Freeborough and C.E. Ranken, Chess Openings Ancient and Modern, First Edition, Trübner and Co., 1889, p. 43.E. Freeborough and C.E. Ranken, Chess Openings Ancient and Modern, Third Edition, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co., 1896, p. 45. In an appendix to later editions of Staunton's work, R.F. Green, editor of British Chess Magazine, also called it "Staunton's Opening", directing those seeking a definition of "Ponziani's Game" to the former name.Howard Staunton, The Chess-Player's Handbook, George Bell & Sons, 1890, pp. 534, 537. In his own treatise Chess, Green only used the term "Staunton's Opening". R.F. Green, Chess, George Bell & Sons, 1908 (reprint of 1889 1st ed.), p. 56. Green referred to 3...f5 as "Ponziani's Counter Gambit".Staunton 1890, p. 534. Chess historian H. J. R. Murray in his celebrated 1913 work A History of Chess called the opening simply the "Staunton",H. J. R. Murray, A History of Chess, Oxford University Press, 1913, p. 784. . explaining that he was using "the ordinary names of the Openings as used by English players of the present day".Murray, p. 784 n. 10. James Mason in his treatise The Art of Chess (Fourth Edition c. 1910?) referred to the opening as the "Ponziani–Staunton Attack".James Mason, The Art of Chess, Fourth Edition, David McKay, c. 1910?, p. 359. The famous German Handbuch des Schachspiels, which went through eight editions between 1843 and 1916, called it the "Englisches Springerspiel" (English Knight's Game).Paul Rudolf von Bilguer, Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa, and Carl Schlechter, Handbuch des Schachspiels, Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1916, p. 581. The Reverend E.E. Cunnington in The Modern Chess Primer (Thirteenth Edition 1933) referred to it as the "Ponziani Opening (sometimes called Staunton's)".Rev. E.E. Cunnington, The Modern Chess Primer, David McKay, 13th ed. 1933, p. 181.
Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion, in his 1895 treatise The Modern Chess Instructor (Part II), called the opening the "Ponziani Opening",Wilhelm Steinitz, The Modern Chess Instructor, Edition Olms AG, Zürich, 1990 (reprint), Part II (originally published in 1895), p. 1. . Steinitz wrote that it "is also called the English Knight's Game, or Staunton's Opening". Id. as did his successor, Emanuel Lasker, in Lasker's Manual of Chess.Dr. Emanuel Lasker, Lasker's Manual of Chess, Dover Publications, 1960, p. 53. Similarly, Frank Marshall in Chess Openings,F. J. Marshall, Chess Openings, British Chess Magazine, 1904, p. 47. the authors of Modern Chess Openings (Second Edition 1913),R.C. Griffith and J.H. White, Modern Chess Openings, Second Edition, Longmans, Green and Co., 1913, p. 81. and Siegbert Tarrasch in The Game of Chess (1931, English translation 1938)Siegbert Tarrasch, The Game of Chess, David McKay, 1938, p. 299. called it "Ponziani's Opening". William Cook in The Chess Players' Compendium (Fifth Edition 1910) called it "Ponziani's Game",William Cook, The Chess Players' Compendium, David McKay, 1910, p. 87. while Francis Joseph Lee and Gossip in The Complete Chess – Guide (1903) called it "Ponziani's Knight's Game".F. J. Lee and G. H. D. Gossip, The Complete Chess – Guide, John Grant, Edinburgh, 1903, p. 55. Contemporary authors likewise call it the "Ponziani Opening",Larry Kaufman, The Chess Advantage in Black and White, David McKay, 2004, p. 342. . "Ponziani's Opening",Nick de Firmian, Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition (commonly referred to as MCO-15), McKay Chess Library, 2008, p. 135. . or simply the "Ponziani".
Overview
The Ponziani is rarely played today except as a surprise weapon, because Black has the pleasant choice between easily and attempting to obtain an advantage with sharper play. White's third move prepares to build a powerful with 4.d4, a logical objective also seen in the more popular Ruy Lopez and Giuoco Piano. However, 3.c3 is somewhat premature because the move: 1) takes away the most natural square for White's ,Tarrasch, p. 299. 2) temporarily creates a on d3, and 3) a pawn rather than a piece, leaving White behind in development and not well placed to meet a counterattack in the . Moreover, unlike in the Giuoco Piano, where White's d4 advance attacks Black's on c5, in the Ponziani d4 will not gain a . On the positive side, the move 3.c3 creates a second diagonal for the white queen.
As early as 1904, Marshall wrote that, "There is no point in White's third move unless Black plays badly. ... White practically surrenders the privilege of the first move."Marshall, p. 47. At the time, this was a minority view. Lasker's Chess Magazine responded, "In trying to set aside all teachings of former masters, Mr. Marshall has attempted the impossible." Andy Soltis, Frank Marshall, United States Chess Champion: A Biography with 220 Games, McFarland & Company, 1994, p. 70. . More recently, Graham Burgess called the Ponziani "a relic from a bygone age, popular neither at top level nor at club level".Graham Burgess, The Mammoth Book of Chess, Carroll & Graf, 1997, p. 133. . Bruce Pandolfini has said, Curiously, every great teacher of openings who investigated the Ponziani has concluded that it leads to interesting play and deserves to be played more often. Yet it has never captured the fancy of chessplayers in general, and it remains to be seen whether the Ponziani is an opening of the past or of the future.Bruce Pandolfini, Chess Openings: Traps and Zaps, Fireside, 1989, p. 90. .
In Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur, Max Euwe and Walter Meiden wrote, "What should one do with this opening? It is no opening for beginners, because tactics predominate in the play. There are no simple strategic principles to govern the general lines in this opening."
Jaenisch Variation: 3...Nf6
3...Nf6 is considered Black's safest course and probably a deterrent to possible Ponziani adopters because positions arise ranging from the highly chaotic to dull passiveness. White's usual response is 4.d4, consistent with the idea behind 3.c3. Black's most common response is then 4...Nxe4, though 4...exd4 is a frequent alternative.
After 4...Nxe4, White usually responds with 5.d5. Black must move the knight to safety with 5...Ne7 or 5...Nb8, or may sacrifice it with 5...Bc5, inviting sharp complications.
Traditional line: 4.d4 Nxe4 5.d5 Ne7 5...Ne7 often continues 6.Nxe5 Ng6, (not 6...d6 when 7.Bb5+ wins ) and now either 7.Qd4 Qf6 8.Qxe4 Qxe5, a more recent try 7.Qf3, or 7.Nxg6 hxg6 8.Qe2 Qe7 9.Bf4 d6 10.Na3 Rh5 11.0-0-0 Rf5 leads to equality according to MCO-15.MCO-15, p. 136.
Quiet draws are common in this line, though there are reasonable winning chances for White in the type of endgame that emerges. An example draw in the 7.Qd4 line is Medvedev vs. Milgram, ICCF 1991.
Retreat line: 5...Nb8 5...Nb8 is also ; the most common continuation is 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Qd4, after which Black has the options of retreating the threatened knight with 7...Nf6 or 7...Nd6, counterattacking with 7...d6 or 7...f6, or defending the knight with 7...f5.
Vuković Gambit: 5...Bc5
5...Bc5, which has been referred to as the Vuković Gambit or Fraser Defense, is an extremely sharp line where Black allows White to capture the threatened knight. The main line continues 6.dxc6 Bxf2+ 7.Ke2 Bb6 8.Qd5 Nf2 9.Rg1 0-0 10.cxb7 Bxb7 11.Qxb7 Qf6, leaving Black down a knight and bishop for two pawns, including a on e5. Black plans to later play ...e4 and White's knight on f3. A possible continuation is 12.Na3 e4 13.Nc4 Rab8 14.Qd5 exf3+ 15.gxf3 Rfe8+ 16.Kd2 Ne4+ 17.fxe4 Bxg1=.Jeroen Bosch, A Dangerous Piece Sacrifice, New In Chess Yearbook 112 (2014), p. 121,
9.cxb7 Bxb7 10.Qxb7 Nxh1, returning material, is also seen. 7...bxc6 is also possible for Black, typically continuing 8.Qa4 f5 9.Nbd2.
4...exd4 4...exd4 leads to a position that can also arise in the Göring Gambit. It tends to lead to more double-edged play than after 4...Nxe4. White's usual next move is 5.e5, with the typical replies for Black 5...Nd5 and 5...Ne4.
After 5...Nd5, White's most common response is 6.cxd4, typically followed by 6...Bb4+ 7.Bd2 or 6...d6. The main alternatives are the aggressive developing moves 6.Qb3, 6.Bc4, and 6.Bb5.
After 5...Ne4, White's most common response is 6.Qe2, typically continuing 6...f5 7.exf6 (en passant) d5. 6.cxd4 is the main alternative, which Black may reply to with 6...d5 or 6...Bb4+.
Other lines After 4.d4 exd4 5.e5, 5...Qe7 and 5...Ng4 are occasionally seen alternatives. 4.d3 most often continues 4...d5 (4...Be7 is a less aggressive alternative) followed by 5.Nbd2 or 5.Qc2. The line is also frequently reached via 3...d5 4.d3 Nf6. The move d3 locks White's king's bishop inside a , so developing it to e2 is typical.
3...d5 3...d5 is an aggressive response, striking back in the center. Unlike in some other openings featuring an early 3...d5, such as the Scandinavian Defense, after 4.exd5 Qxd5, White cannot play Nc3, winning a tempo on Black's queen, as White's pawn occupies c3. Instead, the usual move is 4.Qa4, where White indirectly threatens to win Black's e-pawn by pinning the knight. Black must choose either to defend the e-pawn with 4...f6 or 4...Qd6 (but not 4...Bd6, as this blocks Black's queen's protection of the d-pawn), or be prepared to sacrifice a pawn with either 4...Bd7 or 4...Nf6.
Steinitz Variation: 4.Qa4 f6