Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Nc3/2...Nc6/3. f4/3...exf4

Vienna Gambit
a b c d e f g h 8 8 7 7 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN) r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/2n5/8/4Pp2/2N5/PPPP2PP/R1BQKBNR w
Moves: 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 exf4

Vienna Gambit

The accepted line of the Vienna Gambit is a popular opening and can be traced all the way back to the 19th century, used by top players like Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker. It frequently leads to a wild game and White gains a strong center at the expense of losing the ability to castle allowing Black to make serious inroads into the White Kingside. Oftentimes, Black will force White's king to move up the chessboard in their attack. With perfect play, Black most likely holds a small advantage.

Here, White only has two serious replies: 4. Nf3 (Knight Variation) or 4. d4 (Steinitz Gambit) to defend Black's incoming Qh4+.

Theory table

For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation..

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 exf4

	4	5	6
1	Nf3 g5	d4 g4	Ne5 Nxe5	-/+
2	...	g3 g4	Nh4 f3	=/+
3	d4 Qh5+	Ke2 d6	Nf3 Bg4	∞