Portuguese Opening
1. e4 e5 2. Bb5
The Portuguese Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO C20, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Bb5. 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 5,727 times by this move order. White won 42%, 5% were drawn and Black won 53%. The most popular continuation is 2… c6 (30% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.21 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 2… Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Ba4 d5 5. exd5)
- ECO
- C20
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/1B2p3/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQK1NR b KQkq - 1 2- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Bb5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4,339 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,338 | |
| 2000+ | 50 | |
| All | 5,727 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… c6 | 1,733 (30%) | |
| 2… Nf6 | 1,570 (27%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 633 (11%) | |
| 2… a6 | 601 (10%) | |
| 2… Bc5 | 561 (10%) | |
| 2… Qh4 | 141 (2%) | |
| 2… Bb4 | 137 (2%) | |
| 2… Qf6 | 108 (2%) |
Master games
81 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 14%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Daniil Dubov (2714) – GM Levon Aronian (2782) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2021 · 2021-11-11
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2725) – GM So, W. (2769) 0-1 · Aimchess Rapid Div 1 L · 2023-07-13
- GM Nihal Sarin (2723) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2676) 1-0 · V Menorca Cerrado 2026 · 2026-04-07
- GM Daniil Dubov (2701) – GM Shant Sargsyan (2649) 0-1 · CrunchLab Masters Div 3 L · 2024-07-22
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2734) – GM Valery Kazakouski (2603) 0-1 · Titled Tue 7th May Late · 2024-05-07
Search all games of the Portuguese Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Le-Cheval-de-Troie (2457) – liangchess (2498) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- terchon (2394) – Lipsrow4 (2541) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- terchon (2410) – zyz7 (2474) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Pawn Game (1. e4 e5) 1. e4 e5
Continuations
- Portuguese Opening: Miguel Gambit C20 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bb5 Bc5 3. b4
- Portuguese Opening: Portuguese Gambit C20 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bb5 Nf6 3. d4
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.