Bishop's Opening: Stein Gambit
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. f4
The Bishop's Opening: Stein Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO C23, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. f4. It is a line of the Bishop's Opening. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 286 times by this move order. White won 59%, 3% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 3… exf4 (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.60 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 3… d5 4. Bxd5 Nf6 5. Qf3 O-O 6. d3)
- ECO
- C23
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqk1nr/pppp1ppp/8/2b1p3/2B1PP2/8/PPPP2PP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. f4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 93 | |
| 1500-1999 | 182 | |
| 2000+ | 11 | |
| All | 286 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… exf4 | 116 (41%) | |
| 3… d6 | 60 (21%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 34 (12%) | |
| 3… Bxg1 | 27 (9%) | |
| 3… Qh4+ | 15 (5%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 10 (3%) | |
| 3… Qf6 | 8 (3%) | |
| 3… f6 | 6 (2%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 83%, draw 17%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- IM Nikolai Vlassov (2397) – FM Milan Brigljevic (2194) 1-0 · Belt and Road Hunan Op B · 2019-07-29
- IM Nikolai Vlassov (2322) – CM Volen Dyulgerov (2181) 1-0 · Titled Tue 3rd Mar 2026 · 2026-03-03
- IM Nikolai Vlassov (2322) – Erick Feitosa Da Silva (2059) 1-0 · 2nd 3-0 Thu 18th Jun 2026 · 2026-06-18
- IM Nikolai Vlassov (2283) – Md Abu Hanif (2073) 1-0 · Titled Tue 27th Jun Late · 2023-06-27
- IM Nikolai Vlassov (2301) – CM Jan Enrique Zepeda Berlanga (2003) 1-0 · Titled Tue 23rd Sep 2025 · 2025-09-23
Search all games of the Bishop's Opening: Stein Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- TrueBidoof (2208) – dancingwith (2255) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- pacemaker99 (2156) – henryrenteria (2199) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 2s
- BauerNetz (2064) – Bislan_0101 (2104) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5
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.