Caissa Codex
C23

Bishop's Opening

The Bishop's Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4) is one of the oldest openings in chess. Read the guide

Chess diagram: Bishop's Opening after 2. Bc4

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Statistics from Lichess

52,714,825 games: White 50.3% / Draw 4.2% / Black 45.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Berlin Defense 17,929,54217.9M
17,725,55217.7M
Boi Variation 6,616,6936.6M
5,359,8925.4M
Philidor Counterattack 1,464,4791.5M
695,482695K
Calabrese Countergambit 564,301564K
488,534489K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 8, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.01 The position is about equal

Best play: 2... Nf6 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. Nge2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. h3 Nc6 7. d3

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

By rating

Rating changes little here: White scores 53% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 56% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

PlayersGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400 60.4M
1400–1799 69.6M
1800–2199 20.2M
2200 and up 721K
Masters, over the board 9,323

Master games

Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026

Description

The Bishop's Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Bc4) is one of the oldest openings in chess. White develops the king's bishop at once, aiming at f7, and keeps the knight and the f-pawn flexible. It can transpose into the Italian Game, the Vienna Game or the King's Gambit, and it lets White avoid Petrov's Defense.

Origins

The Bishop's Opening was examined by Lucena and Ruy López, and later played by Philidor, whose influence gave it long-lasting popularity. It fell out of favour after improvements for Black were found in the mid-19th century. Bent Larsen was one of the few grandmasters to play it often, after first using it at the 1964 Interzonal. Garry Kasparov used it occasionally as a surprise, John Nunn has used it to avoid the Petrov, and Peter Leko played it against Vladimir Kramnik at the 2007 World Championship tournament.

The idea

2.Bc4 attacks f7 and stops Black from playing ...d5 easily. White keeps the options of Nf3, Nc3, d3 and even f2–f4, so the opening can be steered into different structures. White sometimes chooses this move order to reach the Giuoco Piano without allowing the Petrov (2.Nf3 Nf6): for example, 2...Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bc5 is the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo.

Main lines

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • Flexible, with many transpositions: White chooses the type of game.
  • Avoids the Petrov, which many 1.e4 players find annoying.
  • Simple development and clear ideas, good for learning open games.

Weaknesses

  • According to Nick de Firmian, it leads to equality with best play by both sides.
  • Black has simple and solid answers, such as 2...Nf6 and ...d5.
  • The early bishop move gives Black some targets, such as ...d5 or ...Na5 at the right moment.

Who should play it

The Bishop's Opening suits flexible 1.e4 players who want to avoid the Petrov and prefer quiet, manoeuvring Italian-style positions, or who like to mix in the Vienna and the King's Gambit. It is effective against opponents who rely on fixed replies to 2.Nf3. It gives the least against well-prepared players who answer 2...Nf6 and aim for a quick ...d5.

The numbers

On Lichess it is played very often at club level. Below 1800 White wins 51% and Black 45%. From 1800 up it narrows to 49–50% against 45–46%. In master games over the board, White wins 34%, Black 22% and 43% are drawn.

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How to play against the Bishop's Opening

2…Nc6 scores best for Black: 48.6%, with Black winning 46.4% and White 49.3% of 17.7M games. The most played, 2…Nf6, scores 47.4% in 17.9M games, and 2…Bc5 scores lowest: 46.7%. Stockfish's first choice is 2…Nf6.

Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings

Popularity by year

The Bishop's Opening has lost ground since 2016: 1.9% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 2.4%.

Numbers by year
YearShare of gamesGames
20162.4%862,327
20172.1%1,142,324
20181.8%1,376,129
20191.8%2,251,797
20202.0%5,758,962
20212.2%8,699,736
20222.2%8,150,441
20232.1%7,817,052
20242.0%7,158,772
20251.9%6,651,061
2026 (Jan–Apr)1.8%1,993,178

Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling

Variations (8)

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 2. Bc4, the position after King's Pawn Game also goes on to:

All 37 named lines that continue from here

Sources

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Bishop's Opening (C23)”. Lichess data as of 8 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/bishops-opening

https://chesscodex.org/openings/bishops-opening