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Bishop's Opening (C23)
1 e4 e5 2 Bc4

Number of games in database: 887
Years covered: 1620 to 2025
Overall record:
   White wins 41.8%
   Black wins 37.0%
   Draws 21.2%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening  |  Search for sacrifices in this opening.
PRACTITIONERS
With the White Pieces With the Black Pieces
Wilhelm Steinitz  17 games
Gioachino Greco  10 games
Jacques Mieses  10 games
NN  15 games
Adolf Anderssen  8 games
Tassilo von der Lasa  6 games
NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]
White Wins Black Wins
I A Horowitz vs NN, 1940
Denker vs A R Shayne, 1945
Philidor vs NN, 1749
J Schulten vs Horwitz, 1846
M Hewitt vs Steinitz, 1866
Cochrane vs Staunton, 1842
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 page 1 of 36; games 1-25 of 887  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. Greco vs NN 1-0221620Miscellaneous gameC23 Bishop's Opening
2. Greco vs NN 1-0191620Miscellaneous gameC23 Bishop's Opening
3. Greco vs NN 1-0151620Miscellaneous gameC23 Bishop's Opening
4. Greco vs NN 1-0241620Miscellaneous gameC23 Bishop's Opening
5. Greco vs NN 1-0231620Miscellaneous gameC23 Bishop's Opening
6. Greco vs NN 1-0151620Miscellaneous gameC23 Bishop's Opening
7. NN vs Greco 0-1151620Miscellaneous gameC23 Bishop's Opening
8. Greco vs NN 1-0211620?C23 Bishop's Opening
9. Greco vs NN 1-0171620?C23 Bishop's Opening
10. Greco vs NN 1-0261620?C23 Bishop's Opening
11. Greco vs NN 1-0191620?C23 Bishop's Opening
12. Philidor vs NN 1-0401749Analyse du jeu des ÉchecsC23 Bishop's Opening
13. J Bruehl vs Philidor 0-1471783Philidor Blindfold Simul 3b, LondonC23 Bishop's Opening
14. J Bruehl vs Philidor ½-½441787Philidor Blindfold simul, 2b LondonC23 Bishop's Opening
15. J Bruehl vs H Conway 1-0391788CasualC23 Bishop's Opening
16. J Bruehl vs Cotter 1-0331788CasualC23 Bishop's Opening
17. H Conway vs J Bruehl 1-0411788CasualC23 Bishop's Opening
18. J Bruehl vs Harrowby 1-0261788Casual gameC23 Bishop's Opening
19. H Conway vs Philidor 0-1461790Philidor Mixed simul, 3b LondonC23 Bishop's Opening
20. Sheldon vs Philidor 0-1311790Philidor Mixed simul, 3b LondonC23 Bishop's Opening
21. G Atwood vs Cotter 0-1321795Casual gameC23 Bishop's Opening
22. Cotter vs G Atwood 0-1281795CasualC23 Bishop's Opening
23. NN vs Allgaier 0-1181809UnknownC23 Bishop's Opening
24. J Cazenove vs T Hull 1-0231818CasualC23 Bishop's Opening
25. Madras Chess Club vs Hyderabad 1-0511828City MatchC23 Bishop's Opening
 page 1 of 36; games 1-25 of 887  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 10 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Nov-06-04  TheGreatNN: As I did in NN vs Greco, 1620.
Nov-06-04  WMD: 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qg4?! Qf6 4.Nc3!? is a nice line to punt in blitz games. Wait as your opponent decides whether or not to snatch the pawn on f2. Is it taboo?
Nov-06-04  Swindler: Can't you just play 4. ...Qxf2 5.Kd1 Qf6 and be a pawn to the good? Sure White got development but I see no refutation.
Nov-06-04  azaris: 5...♕f6?? 6. ♘d5!. Instead Black must play 5...♗f8 and then waste time retreating the queen while the White pieces harass her. Devious plan!
Nov-06-04  WMD: It seems 5...Ne7 is best for Black in this line. It covers the Bc8, preparing ...d5, not fearing Qxg7 because of ...Rg8.

4...Bxf2+ is even better for Black.

Nov-06-04  WMD: Another little trap Black can fall into is 3...g6 4.Nf3 d5? 5.Qg3 and White can win a pawn.
Nov-06-04  Swindler: <azaris> Good point, but then 4. ...Bf2+ seems better. Sure it's a possibility of a pin but there is no imidiate danger.
Nov-06-04  RisingChamp: Well <Bill Robertie>seems to think that everything except his favourite mainlines are bad.However 2 Bc4 is certainly not a bad move and white is at this stage at least marginally better.And it is very similar to the Vienna which is my main response to e5 until I learn the Kings Gambit properly.
Nov-07-04  BiLL RobeRTiE: I think you're just jealous because you don't know the refutation to the Smith-Morra gambit. =]
Nov-07-04  Minor Piece Activity: Lol, shhhh, don't let him in on it. ;)
Nov-07-04  RisingChamp: Lol.I am glad u admmited on other pages that u find it difficult to face the Morra despite your "refutation".At least let Kasparov know the refutation so he doenst have to scrape a draw from a lost position on move 17 like in K Landa vs Kasparov, 1988
Feb-07-05  Discoalex: Was just watching the music video for "One night in Bangkok"... he plays 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 d6 3 Qf3. I would've expected better
Mar-15-05  refutor: is 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 a decent way to backdoor into a bishop's gambit without allowing the falkbeer?
Mar-15-05  Backward Development: <@refutor>

After the usual 2...Nf6 3.f4? is bad because of 3...Nxe4 4.d3 Nd6! 5.Bb3 Nc6 </+ -Fine>etc.

After 2...Nf6 better is 3.d3 c6<3...Nc6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.f4 d6 6.Nf3 is a direct transposition to the KGD <+// -Fine>> 4.f4 exf4 5.Bxf4 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 <I think it's ~ <//+ -Fine>>

It seems like White can't really get a King's Gambit out of 2.Bc4, unless black is willing.

Aug-08-05  Makofan: Why not 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 planning 4. Nf3 and 5. O-O
Aug-08-05  OneBadDog: < Makofan: Why not 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 planning 4. Nf3 and 5. O-O > That line is referred to as the Urusov Gambit.
Aug-08-05  percyblakeney: ...and there's a very good site on it here: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller...
Aug-08-05  Makofan: Thank you percyblakeney - that is a great site! I didn't know it had a name, but I sometimes play it in blitz when I'm not mentally prepared to play the King's Gambit
Apr-13-06  jackpawn: Thanks for the site, percy. I'm just amazed how much is out on the web.
Apr-20-06  Kwesi: Here's a Bishop's opening game I played on Yahoo! on Apr-19-06, which I didn't think to save but I'm glad I could still remember it move for move the day after :)

White: Kwesi Menyah
Black: some chessplayer on Yahoo!

1. e4 e5
2. Bc4 Bc5
3. Nf3 d6
4. d4 exd4
5. O-O Nc6
6. Ng5 Ne5
7. Bb3 Nf6
8. f4 d3+
9. Kh1 Bg4
10. Qe1 dxc2
11. fxe5 cxb1=Q
12. Bxf7+ Kf8
13. Rxb1 dxe5
14. Be6 Qd3
15. Bd2 Be2
16. Rf5 Bd4
17. Rc1 c5
18. Bc4 Qxc4
19. Rxc4 Bxc4
20. b3 Bf7
21. Nxf7 Kxf7
22. Bc3 g6
23. Rf1 Kg7
24. Qh4 Raf8
25. Bd2 h6
26. Qe1 Nh7
27. Rxf8 Rxf8
28. g4 Ng5
29. Bxg5 hxg5
30. Qa5 a6
31. Qc7+ Rf7
32. Qd8 b5
33. Qxg5 Rf1+
34. Kg2 Rf2+
35. Kg3 Rxa2
36. Qe7+ Kh8
37. Qf6+ Kh7
38. g5 Rf2
39. Qxa6 Rf4
40. Qxb5 Bf2+
41. Kg2 Bd4
42. Qd7+ Kg8
43. Qc6 Kg7
44. h3 Rf2+
45. Kg3 Rf8
46. Qd7+ Rf7
47. Qg4 Rf4
48. Qd7+ Rf7
49. Qc6 Rf8
50. h4 Bf2+
51. Kh3 Bd4
52. h5 gxh5
53. Qh6+ Kg8
54. Qg6+ Kh8
55. Qxh5+ Kg7
56. Qh6+ Kg8
57. g6 Rf3+
58. Kg4 Rf7
59. gxf7+ Kxf7
60. Kf5 Ke8
61. Qg7 1-0

Aug-22-06  Minty: The Urusov gambit is my main weapon against 1... e5 at the moment. It's a cheap trick, really, but it does well because most people aren't prepared for it, and it's very easy for black to go wrong while playing seemingly sensible moves.

One line that keeps giving me quick wins is 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. dxe5. So many people, even quite strong players, react passively with 4...Be7??, which loses immediately to 5. Qd5, winning a piece.

Sep-03-06  NateDawg: In my opinion, the only reason to play the Bishop's opening (as opposed to the Italian Game) is to give White more versatility and keep open the option of playing f4, a sort of King's Gambit, except not a gambit. For example, 1. e4 e5 2. ♗c4 ♘f6 3. d3 ♘c6 4. f4. It seems good to me, but it is rarely played (only nine times in this database). More common is 4. ♘f3 ♗c5, leading to a symmetrical position.
Sep-03-06  who: You also avoid the Petroff.
Oct-08-06  MUG: After 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 is there anything wrong with 3.Qg4...? I can find nothing about it in the cg database, but apparently it was quite fashionable at one time (according to R Coles in his book Battles Royal of the Chessboard, published 1948).
Nov-08-06  Minty: <MUG: After 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 is there anything wrong with 3.Qg4...? >

Gary Lane reccomends 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Qg4, in 'The Bishop's Opening Explained', which seems to be quite effective. I don't know about 3. Qg4; it seems a little premature for my liking.

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