Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack
Chess opening · ECO C44 · 6 half-moves
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6
The Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack is reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Ponziani Opening with 3… Nf6.
How often it is played
The Ponziani Opening: Jaenisch Counterattack and its variations appeared in 0.20% of games — 5,886 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 186 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 49%, 3.8% were drawn and Black won 48%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at -0.11 — which is level. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Italian Game | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 | 4.6% |
| Scotch Game | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 | 2.0% |
| Ruy Lopez | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 | 1.7% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Ponziani Opening: Neumann Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Bc4 | 0.03% |
| Ponziani Opening: Vukovic Gambit | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 Nxe4 5. d5 Bc5 | 0.00% |
Check your own games
Paste a game, or share one straight from lichess or chess.com, and Chess Analyzer names the opening, marks where the game left known theory and grades every move after it.
Open the analyzer