Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation
The Boi Variation, also called the Classical Variation, is 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5, Black's symmetrical reply to the Bishop's Opening. Read the guide
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Statistics from Lichess
6,613,985 games: White 51.2% / Draw 4.2% / Black 44.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 2,211,3582.2M | ||
| 1,065,3411.1M | ||
| 791,522792K | ||
| 709,999710K | ||
| 467,134467K | ||
| Bishop's Opening: Lewis Gambit | 390,433390K | |
| 298,006298K | ||
| Bishop's Opening: Philidor Variation | 292,062292K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 7, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.24 The position is about equal
Best play: 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 a6 7. Nbd2 Ba7
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 44% under 1400, 46% at 2200 and up (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 7.3M | |
| 1400–1799 | 8.9M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.4M | |
| 2200 and up | 42K | |
| Masters, over the board | 175 |
Master games
- Nunn, J. D. – Huebner, R.
- Cruzado Dueñas, C. – Szczepanski, Z.
- Kristiansen, J. – Short, N. D.
- Warakomski, T. – Heberla, B.
- Serazeev, A. I. – Szczepanski, Z.
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 Boi Variation, also called the Classical Variation, is 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5, Black's symmetrical reply to the Bishop's Opening.
The idea
White can transpose to other openings. With 3.Nc3 White enters the Vienna Game, and 3.Nf3 Nc6 is the Giuoco Piano. After 3.d3 the game can also turn into the King's Gambit Declined or the Giuoco Pianissimo. White can keep the game in the Bishop's Opening with the Philidor Variation, 3.c3.
Main lines
- 3.c3, the Philidor Variation, has the main line 3...Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 d5 6.exf6 dxc4 7.Qh5 O-O 8.Qxc5 Re8+ 9.Ne2 d3 10.Be3. Black's most energetic answer is 3...d5, the Lewis Countergambit, named after the English player William Lewis, who published analysis of it in 1834.
- 3.b4, the Wing Gambit, gives positions like those of the Evans Gambit and often transposes into it, for instance by 3...Bxb4 4.c3 Ba5 5.Nf3 Nc6.
- 3.Qf3 and 3.Qh5 are popular among lower-rated players because they threaten Scholar's Mate on f7. The threat is easily met, for example 3.Qh5 Qe7, and the moves are considered inferior, since they hamper White's development or leave the queen exposed and lose time.
The numbers
On Lichess White wins 51.2% of the 6.6 million games and Black 44.6%. White's lead is largest under 1400, 54.1% against 41.8%, and from 2200 up it is 50.7% against 43.6%. There are too few master games over the board, 175, to compare.
Suggest an improvement or report a mistake
How to play against the Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation
3. d4 (Bishop's Opening: Lewis Gambit) scores best for White: 60.1%, with White winning 58.3% and Black 38.1% of 390K games. The most played answer, 3. Nf3, scores lowest: 51.6% in 2.2M games. Stockfish's first choice is 3. Nf3.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White'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: Boi Variation has lost ground since 2016: 0.23% of Lichess games in 2025, down from 0.3%.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.3% | 108,324 |
| 2017 | 0.27% | 148,644 |
| 2018 | 0.22% | 175,364 |
| 2019 | 0.23% | 284,919 |
| 2020 | 0.26% | 763,131 |
| 2021 | 0.29% | 1,138,011 |
| 2022 | 0.27% | 1,031,425 |
| 2023 | 0.26% | 964,654 |
| 2024 | 0.24% | 869,178 |
| 2025 | 0.23% | 795,520 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.21% | 230,281 |
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 (5)
All 15 named lines that continue from here
- C23 Bishop's Opening: Lewis Gambit 3 moves
- C23 Bishop's Opening: Lopez Variation 3 moves
- C23 Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit 3 moves
- C23 Bishop's Opening: Philidor Variation 3 moves
- C23 Bishop's Opening: Stein Gambit 3 moves
- C23 Bishop's Opening: del Rio Variation 3 moves
- C23 Bishop's Opening: Lewis Countergambit 3 moves
- C23 Bishop's Opening: Lopez Gambit 5 moves
- C23 Lopez Gambit 4 moves
- C23 La Bourdonnais-Denker Gambit 4 moves
- C23 McDonnell Double Gambit 4 moves
- C23 Bishop's Opening: Pratt Variation 7 moves
- C23 Bishop's Opening: Four Pawns Gambit 9 moves
- C23 Lewis Countergambit 4 moves
- C23 Walker Variation 5 moves
Sources
- History and theory: adapted from the Wikipedia article Bishop's Opening, version of 14 October 2026, under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Results: Lichess opening explorer, figures collected from September to November 2026.
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “Bishop's Opening: Boi Variation (C23)”. Lichess data as of 7 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/bishops-opening-boi-variation