Bishop's Opening: Berlin Defense

The Berlin Defense is 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6, Black's most common and most active reply to the Bishop's Opening. The knight attacks e4 and forces White to decide at once how to defend the pawn.

The idea

The usual answer is 3.d3. Black then has to watch for a later f2-f4 from White, a delayed King's Gambit. Because many lines transpose, White sometimes uses the Bishop's Opening as a way to reach the Giuoco Piano without allowing Petrov's Defense: 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bc5 is the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo.

Main lines

After 3.d3:

• 3...c6, the Paulsen Defense, is the most well-regarded reply. Black aims to build a strong centre with ...d5 and gain a tempo on the bishop; play usually goes 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3, and then most often 5...Bd6. It is the most common line that cannot be reached from the Italian Game or the Vienna.
• 3...Nc6 transposes to the Modern Bishop's Opening after 4.Nf3, or reaches the Vienna Hybrid after 4.Nc3.
• 3...Bc5 is also common and often transposes to the Giuoco Piano after a later ...Nc6.

White can also avoid d3. The most common alternative is 3.Nc3, a position also commonly reached from the Vienna Game. 3.d4, the Ponziani Gambit, usually aims for the Urusov Gambit after 3...exd4 4.Nf3. 3.Nf3 usually intends the Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit, 3...Nxe4 4.Nc3.

The numbers

On Lichess White wins 50.5% of the 18 million games and Black 45.3%. White leads at every level, for example 49.9% against 46.4% under 1400 and 48.4% against 44.8% from 2200 up. In 7,755 master games over the board 44.6% were drawn, White won 33.3% and Black 22.1%.