Bishop's Opening: Lopez Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qe2
The Bishop's Opening: Lopez Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C23, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qe2. It is a line of the Bishop's Opening. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 121 times by this move order. White won 50%, 2% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (34% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.38 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 3… Nf6 4. Nf3 O-O 5. d3 c6 6. Bb3)
- ECO
- C23
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/pppp1ppp/8/2b1p3/2B1P3/8/PPPPQPPP/RNB1K1NR b KQkq - 3 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qe2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 78 | |
| 1500-1999 | 39 | |
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 121 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nf6 | 41 (34%) | |
| 3… d6 | 27 (22%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 20 (17%) | |
| 3… Qf6 | 15 (12%) | |
| 3… Qe7 | 7 (6%) | |
| 3… Qh4 | 3 (2%) | |
| 3… Nh6 | 3 (2%) | |
| 3… Bxf2+ | 1 (1%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- yimi_15matoma (2204) – ah1377 (2206) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Cahaya_gemilang (2110) – krzi161038 (2134) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- Cahaya_gemilang (2122) – accademia42 (2119) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5
Continuations
- Bishop's Opening: Lopez Variation, Lopez Gambit C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qe2 Nf6 4. f4
- Bishop's Opening: Lopez Gambit C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qe2 Nc6 4. c3 Nf6 5. f4
More Bishop's Opening lines (all)
- Bishop's Opening C23
- Bishop's Opening: Anderssen Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Calabrese Countergambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Calabrese Countergambit, Jaenisch Variation C23
- Bishop's Opening: Four Pawns Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Khan Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Countergambit (3. c3 d5) C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Countergambit (4. Bxd5 Nf6) C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Countergambit, Walker Variation C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lisitsyn Variation C23
- Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit C23
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.