Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. b4
The Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C23, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. b4. 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 61 times by this move order. White won 48%, 3% were drawn and Black won 49%. The most popular continuation is 3… Bxb4 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.03 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 3… Bxb4 4. c3 Ba5 5. d4 Ne7 6. dxe5)
- ECO
- C23
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/pppp1ppp/8/2b1p3/1PB1P3/8/P1PP1PPP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 35 | |
| 1500-1999 | 25 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 61 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Bxb4 | 33 (54%) | |
| 3… Bb6 | 12 (20%) | |
| 3… Bxf2+ | 5 (8%) | |
| 3… Bd4 | 3 (5%) | |
| 3… Qh4 | 2 (3%) | |
| 3… Qf6 | 2 (3%) | |
| 3… b5 | 2 (3%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
1 over-the-board game is classified under this line (White 0%, draw 0%, Black 100%). The strongest:
- Eugen Raider (1977) – Juerg Steinbrenner (2136) 0-1 · 105 Jahre FC St. Pauli Op · 2015-07-21
Search all games of the Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- LorKin102 (2110) – carlaki (2194) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- jamesir (2026) – TheTacticianWizard (1952) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- euyki (1913) – odysseusnerves (1937) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 3s
Comes from
Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5
Continuations
- Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit, La Bourdonnais-Denker Gambit C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. b4 Bxb4 4. c3
- Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit, McDonnell Double Gambit C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. b4 Bxb4 4. 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: Lopez 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.