Bishop's Opening
ECO C23 · 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4
The Bishop's Opening, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4, develops the bishop to its most active diagonal before committing the knight. It was popular in the 19th century and has been revived as a flexible way to reach Italian or Vienna positions.
Plans for White
White often plays d3, Nf3 and c3 for an Italian-style setup, or Nc3 and f4 for a Vienna-style attack. The early bishop keeps an eye on f7 and allows the f-pawn to stay free.
Plans for Black
The most popular reply is 2...Nf6, attacking e4 and preparing ...d5. Black can also play 2...Bc5 for symmetry or ...c6 and ...d5 for a broad center.
Typical pawn structures
Usually e4/e5 structures; after d3 and c3 a closed Giuoco Pianissimo-like structure appears, while lines with f4 open the f-file in Vienna or King's Gambit style.
Who it suits
Players who want to sidestep the main Petrov lines and like flexible transpositions.
Common traps
The Urusov Gambit (2...Nf6 3.d4) gives White fast development; Black should develop and avoid greedy queen moves.
Variations
- Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. b4
- Bishop's Opening: Urusov Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nf3
- Bishop's Opening: Vienna Hybrid — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nc3
- Bishop's Opening: Berlin Defense — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6
- Bishop's Opening: Calabrese Countergambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 f5
- Bishop's Opening: Lopez Variation — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qe2
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Countergambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. c3 d5
- Bishop's Opening: Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nc3
- Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5
- Bishop's Opening: Khan Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 d5
- Bishop's Opening: Philidor Counterattack — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 c6
- Bishop's Opening: Lewis Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. d4
- Bishop's Opening: Philidor Variation — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. c3
- Bishop's Opening: Ponziani Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4
- Bishop's Opening: Stein Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. f4
- Bishop's Opening: Anderssen Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 b5 3. Bxb5 c6
- Bishop's Opening: del Rio Variation — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. c3 Qg5
- Bishop's Opening: Horwitz Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Nc3 b5
- Bishop's Opening: Paulsen Defense — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6
- Bishop's Opening: Thorold Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 b5 3. Bxb5 f5
- Bishop's Opening: Pachman Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Ne2 Nxe4 4. Nec3
- Bishop's Opening: Warsaw Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. c3
- Bishop's Opening: Kitchener Folly — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Be7 4. Nf3 O-O
- Bishop's Opening: Krejcik Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. f3 Bc5 4. Ne2 Nc6 5. b4
- Bishop's Opening: Lopez Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qe2 Nc6 4. c3 Nf6 5. f4
- Bishop's Opening: Pratt Variation — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. c3 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. e5 d5 6. exf6 dxc4 7. Qh5 O-O
- Bishop's Opening: Lisitsyn Variation — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 c6 3. d4 d5 4. exd5 cxd5 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Nxd7 7. dxe5 Nxe5 8. Ne2
- Bishop's Opening: Four Pawns Gambit — 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. b4 Bxb4 4. f4 exf4 5. Nf3 Be7 6. d4 Bh4+ 7. g3 fxg3 8. O-O gxh2+ 9. Kh1