Bishop’s Opening: all variations and ECO codes
41 named lines across 6 ECO codes (C23–C43). Source: the CC0-licensed lichess.org opening database.
The idea
White develops the bishop to its most active diagonal before committing the knight, keeping the option to transpose into an Italian Game, a Vienna Game, or even a King’s Gambit-style f4 push depending on how Black reacts. It’s less a fixed strategic battleground of its own than a flexible move-order tool for reaching one of several other well-known structures on White’s own terms.
The main line
How the main line scores at your rating
Real Lichess win rates for 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4, playing as white: the family’s other variations are not separately tracked for win rate yet, main line only.
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| Rating band | Games | White / draw / Black | Score for white | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1400-1600 | 5,247 | 50.4% / 4.1% / 45.5% | 52.5% | ||
| 1600-1800 | 4,308 | 49.1% / 4.6% / 46.3% | 51.4% | ||
| 1800-2000 | 2,206 | 49.9% / 4.1% / 46.0% | 52.0% | ||
| 2000+ | 749 | Not enough games at this band yet. | |||
All 41 named variations
Every named line in the Bishop’s Opening family, from the CC0-licensed ECO classification: not separately tracked for win rate, but every ECO code and move sequence is real, sourced data.
- C23Bishop’s Opening (main line)1.e4 e5 2.Bc4
- C23Anderssen Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 b5 3.Bxb5 c6
- C23Boi Variation1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5
- C23Calabrese Countergambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 f5
- C23Jaenisch Variation1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 f5 3.d3
- C23Four Pawns Gambit1.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
- C23Khan Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 d5
- C23Lewis Countergambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.c3 d5C23Lewis Countergambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.c3 d5 4.Bxd5 Nf6
- C23Walker Variation1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.c3 d5 4.Bxd5 Nf6 5.d4
- C23Lewis Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.d4
- C23Lisitsyn Variation1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 c6 3.d4 d5 4.exd5 cxd5 5.Bb5+ Bd7 6.Bxd7+ Nxd7 7.dxe5 Nxe5 8.Ne2
- C23Lopez Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qe2 Nc6 4.c3 Nf6 5.f4
- C23Lopez Variation1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qe2
- C23Lopez Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.Qe2 Nf6 4.f4
- C23McDonnell Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.b4
- C23La Bourdonnais-Denker Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.b4 Bxb4 4.c3
- C23McDonnell Double Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.b4 Bxb4 4.f4
- C23Philidor Counterattack1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 c6
- C23Philidor Variation1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.c3
- C23Pratt Variation1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 d5 6.exf6 dxc4 7.Qh5 O-O
- C23Stein Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.f4
- C23Thorold Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 b5 3.Bxb5 f5
- C23del Rio Variation1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Bc5 3.c3 Qg5
- C24Berlin Defense1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6
- C24Greco Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.f4
- C24Kitchener Folly1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Be7 4.Nf3 O-O
- C24Krejcik Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.f3 Bc5 4.Ne2 Nc6 5.b4
- C24Pachman Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Ne2 Nxe4 4.Nec3
- C24Paulsen Defense1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6
- C24Ponziani Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4
- C43Urusov Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3
- C24Panov Variation1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 d5 5.exd5 Bb4+ 6.c3 Qe7+
- C43Keidansky Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qxd4
- C24Vienna Hybrid1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nc3
- C26Spielmann Attack1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3
- C28Hromádka Variation1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bb4 5.Ne2
- C24Warsaw Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.c3
- C26Horwitz Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.Nc3 b5
- C27Boden-Kieseritzky Gambit1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3
- C27Lichtenhein Defense1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3 d5
Browse more
ECO Volume C: Open Games and the French Defense → · All ECO families → · Search and play every line in the interactive explorer →
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