Who should play it?
The Vienna Game has the image of being very solid, but also a little home-made. The first part of the assessment is undoubtedly true. The Vienna Game is a rock-solid opening that follows general opening principles and is therefore ideal for those at the beginning of their chess career. White does not need to demonstrate any great feats of memory to play the Vienna Game. As a rule, it is White who can decide to what extent opening theory knowledge should be tested and whether the game should become sharper. The Vienna Game is therefore well suited to building up an opening repertoire based on the move 1. e4.
For Black, on the other hand, the Vienna Game is usually a rather unpleasant surprise. Objectively speaking, White's play in the opening phase is largely harmless, but Black must be careful not to get lost in the "jungle of unpretentiousness" and suddenly give White the opportunity to play their game.
Regardless of whether you are Black or White in a game. It is always worth studying the Vienna Game because the moves here are essentially based on general opening principles.
Would you like to learn this opening? Here you will find specialised opening training courses for the Vienna Game.