Vienna Game: Stanley Variation
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4
What Is The Stanley Variation?
3.Bc4 aims the bishop at f7 and leaves e4 guarded only by the knight on c3, and that is deliberate. Black is invited to take the pawn with 3...Nxe4, and the invitation is real, because 4.Nxe4 d5 forks bishop and knight, so White answers 4.Qh5, hitting e5 and f7. After 4...Nd6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.Nb5 g6 7.Qf3 f5 8.Qd5 Qe7 9.Nxc7+ Kd8 10.Nxa8 b6 you get the Frankenstein-Dracula: White has won a rook, Black hunts the knight on a8.
Decline with 3...Nc6 and the game slows: White builds with d3 and f4 for a King's Gambit style attack, Black answers with ...Na5 to trade off the c4 bishop. Preparation, not intuition, decides these games, and the pawn grab holds only if you know it to move ten.
How Should You Respond To The Vienna Game: Stanley Variation?
You are Black, and the replies spread: 29% play 3...Bc5, 27% 3...Nc6 and 12% 3...Bb4. The bishop on c4 aims at f7 exactly as it does in the Italian, but White has already committed the knight to c3, which takes the c-pawn's square away.
3...Nxe4 is genuinely playable here and it is the move most players are afraid of, because the knight on c3 means White cannot punish it the way the Italian does. After 4.Qh5 the reply 4...Nd6 defends everything. If you would rather keep it simple, 3...Nc6 and 3...Bc5 give an ordinary game. White scores 51% to 46% over 1,780 games.
How Does Play Continue From Here?
| Move | Share | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bc5 | 29% | 613 | |
| Nc6 | 27% | 585 | |
| Bb4 | 12% | 250 | |
| c6 | 11% | 232 |
The Named Lines Of The Stanley Variation
| Line | Moves |
|---|---|
| Reversed Spanish | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bb4 |
| Three Knights Variation | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 |
| Eifel Gambit | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nge2 b5 |
| Meitner-Mieses Gambit | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Qg4 Qf6 5.Nd5 |
| Bronstein Gambit | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.f4 Nxe4 5.Nf3 |
| Monster Declined | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Nd6 5.Bb3 Be7 |
| Alekhine Variation | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Nd6 5.Bb3 Be7 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Nxe5 |
| Frankenstein-Dracula Variation | 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Nd6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.Nb5 g6 7.Qf3 f5 8.Qd5 Qe7 9.Nxc7+ Kd8 10.Nxa8 b6 |