Bishop's Opening: Philidor Counterattack
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 c6
The Bishop's Opening: Philidor Counterattack is a chess opening classified as ECO C23, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 c6. It is a line of the Bishop's Opening. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 9,937 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nf3 (29% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. Qg4 g6 5. d3 Nf6)
- ECO
- C23
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1p1ppp/2p5/4p3/2B1P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK1NR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 5,589 | |
| 1500-1999 | 4,105 | |
| 2000+ | 243 | |
| All | 9,937 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nf3 | 2,850 (29%) | |
| 3. d3 | 1,446 (15%) | |
| 3. Qf3 | 1,357 (14%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 1,219 (12%) | |
| 3. Qh5 | 1,171 (12%) | |
| 3. d4 | 426 (4%) | |
| 3. Bxf7+ | 393 (4%) | |
| 3. a3 | 333 (3%) |
Master games
90 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 13%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- GM Sergei Rublevsky (2688) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2707) 1/2-1/2 · Siberian Bank Cup · 2012-11-18
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2608) – GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2566) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess Q2Sw · 2023-08-23
- GM Olexandr Bortnyk (2608) – GM Avital Boruchovsky (2536) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th Oct Early · 2023-10-24
- GM Dmitry Kryakvin (2577) – FM Anthony He (2337) 0-1 · PNWCC Opening Bl 1.e4 e5 · 2020-12-05
- GM Tong(QD) Xiao (2492) – IM Xinyang Nie (2364) 1/2-1/2 · ch-CHN Blitz 2024 · 2024-11-14
Search all games of the Bishop's Opening: Philidor Counterattack and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IGamingH1rXD (2547) – Brokeno_smekla (2699) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- IM KamranShirazi (2411) – Cuchi_Sabio (2460) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- PitZampas (2329) – tulumsanatcisi (2399) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Bishop's Opening 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4
Continuations
- Bishop's Opening: Lisitsyn Variation C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. exd5 cxd5 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Nxd7 7. dxe5 Nxe5 8. Ne2
More Bishop's Opening lines (all)
- Bishop's Opening: Anderssen Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation 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: Lopez Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lopez Variation 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.