Vienna Frankenstein Dracula Variation

Does anyone play White against this variation and, if so, how do you handle it?

I like the Vienna when I get to play Bc4 and get in an early f4 before Nf3, but lately if I see 2...Nf6, I've chickened out and played Nf3 instead of Bc4 and end up with a Four Knights, Giuocco Piano, or what chess.com calls "Philidor Defense, Exchange Variation" and others call "Vienna Game, Falkbeer Variation."

I've been a little afraid of opening things up too much if the game opens 1 e4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6. If I play 3 Bc4, Black can play 3...Nxe4!?, an engine-recommended move though giving no advantage to either side, which is the Frankenstein-Dracula Variation of the Vienna Game.

The continuation 4 Nxe4 d5! forks the White N and B and regains the piece and the engines say Black is now 1/2 a pawn equivalent ahead.

4 Qh5! is the move recommended by Eric Schiller's book The Frankenstein-Dracula Variation in the Vienna Game, The Modern Vienna Game by Ovetchkin and Soloviov, as well as Stockfish-8 20-ply: though by only +0.16 pawn equivs. favoring White.  The game typically proceeds:

4 NF3 is what Schiller calls the "dubious" Boden-Kieseritsky Gambit, for which Stockfish 8 says neither side has an advantage but, after the moves allegedly favoring Black from John Watson's Big Book of Busts as shown below, Stockfish still thinks White is about 1/2 pawn equiv. ahead no matter which of a few top moves Black make for move 9:

As I want to take the chance on the playing White against the F-D variation in the future, and since I like White vs 3...Nc6 and 3...Bc5, which are actually played more often than 3...Nxe4, I want to be ready for Frankenstein-Dracula. Chess.com's Opening Explorer says Black won 37% of the time with it vs 31% for White and in the 311 master games that continued 4 Qh5, Black won 34% vs 32% for White.

So I'm wondering: anyone here who has success with White against Frankenstein and Dracula?

I'd play like this:

Nothing Frankensteinian, just a normal chess possition.

ok but u didnt give the main variation...

It is a total mess and this is the line which gave the idea to call it Dracula Frankenstein variation.

Anyone who would see this for the first time could be scared...

Is it correct for black? I don't know but at least it is fun, and scary...

IM poucin: All right, thanks for posting it. Engines suggest that white should win but the local master database has 78 games with W/D/L score 40%/19%/41%. Personally, I'd prefer to play as white anyway.

poucin wrote:

 

LoL Sorry baby, I was careless mentioning engines and database scores in your presence!

Thanks for the info guys. I see I'm in for some crazy stuff.

Now we can also wait for Stalin-Hitler variation.

Yigor that joke is not in good taste.

I prefer white in the "normal" lines, but I'm very tactical and prefer these types of positions.  I would suggest that you avoid this line by playing 2. Bc4, this way you can answer Nf6 with 3. d4!

I don't see the problem with 3.d4 for black...

U just transpose into 1.e4 e5 major lines with d4 played soon which don't cause any problems...

Eric Schiller ( The Frankenstein-Dracula Variation in the Vienna Game, c.2000, pp. 9-10), has the answer:

"The variation 3...Nxe4 is very old. It was played by such luminaries as Tarrasch and Marco in the 19th Century, and by 1907 was the subject of theoretical scrutiny... In 1974 the ECO with the Vienna section edited by Larsen, claimed an advantage for white... One of the most thorough examinations of the opening appeared in 1976, in Tim Harding's The Vienna Game, where the Frankenstein-Dracula Variation got its name...: "In this chapter a game between Dracula and the Frankenstein Monster would not seem out of place. The nervous reader should avoid this line with either colour..."

http://www.chessmail.com/xtras/frank_drac.html

Thanks. Great reference and entertainment - and it's from four actual games!

In the op's variation 3. f4 and 3. g3 (and 3. Nf3 but that's boring) are mainlines. If you want to play an early f4 anyway and you want to avoid the fork trick you might look at 3. f4 which is the actual Vienna Gambit. Regarding the Schiller book I wouldn't trust it. I don't have the Harding book or know how good it is. I've only read his chess mail column (posted above) back when it was on chess cafe.

Edit: I just saw the thank you for link to Harding's entertaining article. No problem. It's a fun line.

By the way, the move order in your example: 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 should NOT, in my opinion, be immediately transposed into the Vienna because of the 3 Nc3 Nxe4 possibility. 3 d3 is better and then 4 Nc3 5 f4 can win a lot of games.  The high school team I coached in the 90's won three consecutive county championships in a competitive county (3 of state top 10 teams) and 3rd, 4th, and 5th place State Championships trophies riding that Bishop's Opening - that was before Kasparov played it, it was still out-of-favor for 60 years, and a lot of opponents didn't know it and thought we were going for a cheap Scholar's Mate. We had the most trouble if Black played an early ....Bc5, but otherwise the game planning is pretty easy for white if you can get in Nc3, f4, and maybe f5 after e4, Bc4, d3 - and making game planning a part of a teenager's game is a big advantage.

One reason I began this thread is that I'm considering going back to the Bishop's Opening and maybe transposing to the Vienna or Giuoco or K's Gambit Declined from there.

Vampires without teeth, how cruel!

I thought that was an irish gambit reversed..  Learn something new everyday.

Thanks for the insights.