Ponziani: Win Rate by Lichess Rating

Ponziani Opening · 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 · CC0 name list

At 1500–1799 (Lichess rating), White scored 52.4% in 6,337 Ponziani Opening games (±1.2; games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026).

White won 50.8% of them, Black won 46.0%, and 3.2% were drawn.

White scores above 50% at this level (outside the margin)

In games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, White scored 52.4% (±1.2) with the Ponziani Opening in sampled Lichess games at the 1500–1799 Lichess rating level (6,337 games). Observed results, not causation.

Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database) · Page updated: 9 Oct 2026

57.1%

Black's score after 3...d5 at Lichess rating 1500–1799 · 435 games, Oct 2025–Sep 2026 sample

Highest-scoring reply at 1500–1799, among replies with 300+ games: 3...d5.

Position after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3. 20,178 games in this sample reached it — 1,220 of them by a different move order.

At a glance

In this sample, White's score ranged from 48.6% (2100+) to 52.8% (1200–1499).
Treat this spread with caution: the margins are approximate (see How it works).
It appeared most often in the Under 1200 group (0.5% of that group's games).
Draws were most common in the 2100+ group (5.5%).

These are observed results for the selected games (rated, players within 200 rating points of each other). They describe what happened — they do not prove the opening caused the result.

Results by Lichess rating level

Each row shows how the Ponziani Opening games at one rating level ended: White wins, draws and Black wins, across all time controls combined. Rating level is the average Lichess rating of both players.

White won drawn Black won. Ponziani Opening — results by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined (minimum 300 games per row).

Under 12004,055 games

White wins 50.5% · draws 3.1% · Black wins 46.4% · White's score 52.0% ±1.5 · how common 0.5%
1200–14995,860 games

White wins 51.2% · draws 3.2% · Black wins 45.6% · White's score 52.8% ±1.3 · how common 0.5%
1500–17996,337 gamesIn the headline

White wins 50.8% · draws 3.2% · Black wins 46.0% · White's score 52.4% ±1.2 · how common 0.4%
1800–20993,270 games

White wins 50.3% · draws 3.5% · Black wins 46.1% · White's score 52.1% ±1.7 · how common 0.2%
2100+656 games

White wins 45.9% · draws 5.5% · Black wins 48.6% · White's score 48.6% ±3.7 · how common 0.1%

"White's score" = wins + half of draws. "±" is an approximate 95% margin based only on the number of games. It does not cover sampling bias or related games (the same players appear many times), so real uncertainty is larger. "How common" = share of all sampled games at that level that reached this position. Ratings are Lichess ratings; they are not interchangeable with Chess.com or FIDE ratings.

Compare it with another choice from the same position, at the Lichess level and time control you choose: Compare in Find Your Opening (the comparison needs JavaScript)

Results by time control

Each row shows how the Ponziani Opening games ended in one Lichess time control, across all rating levels combined.

Ponziani Opening — results by time control, all rating levels combined (minimum 300 games per row)
Time control	Games	White wins	Draws	Black wins	White's score
Bullet	4,243	50.7%	1.9%	47.4%	51.6%
Blitz	10,586	50.9%	3.6%	45.5%	52.7%
Rapid	5,148	49.9%	4.1%	46.0%	52.0%
Classical	201	Not enough games in this sample

This table and the rating rows are separate summaries: rating levels are not split by time control here, and time controls are not split by rating. Observed results only; approximate uncertainty applies as above.

Most played replies for Black at each level

Top replies with at least 150 games. "Score" is Black's score after that reply (wins + half of draws). These comparisons alone can't show that one reply is reliably better — the margins are approximate and stronger or weaker players may prefer different replies.

Replies to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 by Lichess rating level, all time controls combined
Rating level	Reply · share · games · score
Under 1200	3...Nf6 ·50.9% · 2,063 · 47.9% ±2.1 3...Bc5 ·23.8% · 964 · 46.0% ±3.1 3...d6 ·9.4% · 379 · 48.2% ±5.0
1200–1499	3...Nf6 ·44.2% · 2,588 · 48.2% ±1.9 3...Bc5 ·27.4% · 1,602 · 44.4% ±2.4 3...d6 ·11.9% · 698 · 47.9% ±3.7
1500–1799	3...Nf6 ·41.0% · 2,598 · 47.7% ±1.9 3...Bc5 ·27.7% · 1,752 · 45.6% ±2.3 3...d6 ·12.9% · 816 · 46.0% ±3.4
1800–2099	3...Nf6 ·38.6% · 1,262 · 47.9% ±2.7 3...Bc5 ·25.8% · 843 · 44.1% ±3.3 3...d5 ·13.3% · 436 · 51.1% ±4.6
2100+	3...Nf6 ·44.1% · 289 · 55.9% ±5.6 3...d5 ·26.4% · 173 · 46.2% ±7.1

Up next: related positions with a page

Earlier position: King's Knight Opening: Normal Variation 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 (Italian Game: Evans Gambit)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.Nxf7 (Italian Game: Two Knights Defense, Fried Liver Attack)
Related line: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 (King's Knight Opening)

Other choices from the same position for White: each one's own level and score, as on its page
Opening	Lichess rating level	Games	White's score
vs Italian Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4	1500–1799	64,462	52.0% ±0.4
vs Scotch Game 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4	1500–1799	33,052	54.3% ±0.5
vs Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5	1500–1799	27,954	53.5% ±0.6
vs Three Knights Opening 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3	1500–1799	18,546	52.1% ±0.7

Each row is a separate page with its own games. A difference smaller than the two margins combined is no clear difference. Observed results, not causation.

Download these numbers: Ponziani Opening (CSV), released under CC0. For move-by-move exploration with your own filters, see the free Lichess opening explorer. This independent page lists each rating level and each time control in its own row for comparison.