Bishop's Opening
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4
The Bishop's Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO C23, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4. Black is to move. 8 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 374,020 times by this move order. White won 51%, 4% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nf6 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2… Nf6 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. Nge2 O-O 5. O-O)
- ECO
- C23
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/2B1P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 1 2- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Bc4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 217,372 | |
| 1500-1999 | 147,338 | |
| 2000+ | 9,310 | |
| All | 374,020 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… Nf6 Berlin Defense | 120,250 (32%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 119,948 (32%) | |
| 2… Bc5 Boi Variation | 47,134 (13%) | |
| 2… d6 | 37,946 (10%) | |
| 2… c6 Philidor Counterattack | 9,937 (3%) | |
| 2… Qf6 | 7,886 (2%) | |
| 2… Qh4 | 4,581 (1%) | |
| 2… h6 | 3,877 (1%) |
Master games
2,590 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 19%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2769) 1/2-1/2 · 6th Norway Blitz 2018 · 2018-05-27
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2776) 0-1 · Titled Tue 19th Aug Late · 2025-08-19
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2792) – GM Javokhir Sindarov (2777) 1/2-1/2 · WR Blitz Miami 2026 · 2026-07-27
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2816) – GM Quang Liem Le (2729) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2025 · 2025-10-17
- GM Levon Aronian (2785) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2750) 0-1 · Chess.com Rapid Wk9 KO · 2022-04-10
Search all games of the Bishop's Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2854) – GM gmbrewchess (2987) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- IM Chigorinez (2712) – NM Andrey11976 (2812) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Superstitions_Guy (2768) – IM clinclincaja (2724) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Pawn Game (1. e4 e5) 1. e4 e5
Continuations
- Bishop's Opening: Berlin Defense C24 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6
- Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5
- Bishop's Opening: Calabrese Countergambit C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 f5
- Bishop's Opening: Khan Gambit C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 d5
- Bishop's Opening: Philidor Counterattack C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 c6
- Bishop's Opening: Anderssen Gambit C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 b5 3. Bxb5 c6
- Bishop's Opening: Thorold Gambit C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 b5 3. Bxb5 f5
- King's Gambit Declined: Classical, Svenonius Variation C30 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. f4 d6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 exf4
More Bishop's Opening lines (all)
- Bishop's Opening: Calabrese Countergambit, Jaenisch Variation C23
- Bishop's Opening: Four Pawns 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
- Bishop's Opening: Lopez Variation C23
- Bishop's Opening: Lopez Variation, Lopez Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit C23
- Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit, La Bourdonnais-Denker 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.