Caissa Codex
C23

Bishop's Opening: Four Pawns Gambit

Chess diagram: Bishop's Opening: Four Pawns Gambit after 9. Kh1

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Statistics from Lichess

19 games: White 42.1% / Draw 5.3% / Black 52.6%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
1515
22
11
11

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 10, 2026

Engine evaluation

+1.51 White is clearly better

Best play: 9... d5 10. exd5 Be7 11. Qe2 Bg4 12. Qg2 Nf6 13. Ne5 h5 14. d6

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

Overview

Bishop's Opening: Four Pawns Gambit (ECO C23, Open Games) is a gambit in the Bishop's Opening: McDonnell Gambit, McDonnell Double Gambit, reached after 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 (9 moves).

In 19 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 42.1%, Black 52.6% and 5.3% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 9…d5, in 79% of those games. That is too few games for the percentages to mean much.

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Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “Bishop's Opening: Four Pawns Gambit (C23)”. Lichess data as of 10 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/bishops-opening-four-pawns-gambit

https://chesscodex.org/openings/bishops-opening-four-pawns-gambit