White attacks Black's f7-square and prevents Black from advancing the d-pawn to d5. Black's most common reply is 2...Nf6, followed by 2...Nc6 and 2...Bc5. By ignoring the beginner's maxim "develop knights before bishops", White leaves the f-pawn unblocked, preserving the possibility of an f2–f4 push . This gives the Bishop's Opening an affinity with the King's Gambit and the Vienna Game, two openings that share this characteristic. The Bishop's Opening can transpose into either of these openings. Transpositions into the Giuoco Piano and the Two Knights Defense and other openings are also possible.
The Bishop's Opening is one of the oldest openings to be analyzed; it was studied by Lucena and Ruy Lopez. Later it was played by Philidor, whose influence gave the opening long-lasting popularity.[1][a] The opening fell out of favor after improvements for Black were introduced in the mid-19th century.[1][b]
Weaver Adams in his classic work White to Play and Win claimed that the Bishop's Opening was a win for White by force from the second move.[4] He was unable to prove this by defeating players stronger than himself, however, and later abandoned the Bishop's Opening for the Vienna Game, making the same claim.[5] Grandmaster Nick de Firmian, in the 14th edition of Modern Chess Openings, concludes that the Bishop's Opening leads to equality with best play by both sides,[6] and notes that, "Among modern players only Bent Larsen has played it much, but even Kasparov gave it a whirl (winning against Bareev)."[7]
Berlin Defense: 2...Nf6
Black's most active second move is 2...Nf6, forcing White to decide how to defend the e-pawn.
After 3.d3 Black must be careful not to drift into an inferior variation of the King's Gambit Declined. One continuation that avoids this pitfall is 3...c6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb3 Bd6.
White sometimes chooses the Bishop's Opening move order to transpose into the Giuoco Piano while preventing Black from playing Petrov's Defense. For example, 2...Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bc5 reaches the quiet Giuoco Pianissimo.
The Urusov Gambit is named after Russian Prince Sergey Semyonovich Urusov (1827–1897). After 2...Nf6 3.d4 exd4 (3...Nxe4 4.dxe5 gives White some advantage) 4.Nf3, Black can transpose to the Two Knights Defense with 4...Nc6, or can decline the gambit with 4...d5 5.exd5 Bb4+ 6.c3 (6.Kf1 is recommended by Michael Goeller, winning a pawn at the expense of castling rights) 6...Qe7+ 7.Be2 dxc3, when 8.bxc3 and 8.Nxc3 both offer approximately equal chances. Instead, Black can accept the gambit with 4...Nxe4 5.Qxd4 Nf6 (5...Nd6? 6.0-0 gives White an overwhelming attack), and White will continue with Nc3, Bg5, Qh4, 0-0-0, and usually intends to meet ...0-0 and ...h6 with the piece sacrifice Bxh6, exposing the black king. Black has a solid position with no clear weaknesses, but White has attacking chances and piece activity as compensation for the pawn. The Urusov Gambit is also occasionally reached via Petrov's Defense after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4.
The Boden–Kieseritzky Gambit is named after English players and chess writers Samuel Boden and Lionel Kieseritzky. Boden published the first analysis of it in 1851. Opening theoreticians consider that after 2...Nf6 3.Nf3 Nxe4 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 f6, White's attack is not quite worth a pawn. The game may continue 6.0-0 Nc6 (not 6...Be7? 7.Nxe5! with a tremendous attack, but 6...d6 is also playable ) 7.Nh4 g6 8.f4 f5 9.Nf3 (9.Nxf5? d5!) e4 10.Ng5 (10.Ne5 Qe7! threatening Qc5+ is strong) Bc5+. In practice, Black's lack of development and inability to castlekingside can prove very problematic.
Safer for Black are Paul Morphy's solid 5...c6 6.Nxe5 d5, returning the pawn with equality, and 4...Nc6!? (instead of 4...Nxc3) 5.0-0 (5.Nxe4 d5) Nxc3 6.dxc3 Qe7! when, according to Bobby Fischer in My 60 Memorable Games, "White has no compensation for the pawn."[8]
Black can also decline the pawn with 3...Nc6, transposing into the Two Knights Defense. He must, however, be willing to offer a gambit himself after 4.Ng5. White may invite an offshoot of the Boden–Kieseritzky Gambit with 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Nc3.
Irregular move orders are 2.Nc3 (Vienna) Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nf3 and 2.Nf3 Nf6 (Russian or Petrov's Defense) 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Nc3.
Summary after 2...Nf6
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Greco Gambit: 3.f4
3.Nc3 (Vienna Game, by transposition)
3.d3
3.d4 (Ponziani's Gambit)
3...exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 (Center Game, by transposition)
The Classical Defense (also known as the Boi Variation[10]) is Black's symmetrical response, 2...Bc5. White can then transpose into the Vienna Game (3.Nc3) or the Giuoco Piano (3.Nf3 Nc6), or remain in the Bishop's Opening with the Wing Gambit (3.b4) or the Philidor Variation (3.c3). The main line of the Philidor Variation runs: 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 d5! 6.exf6 dxc4 7.Qh5 0-0 8.Qxc5 Re8+ 9.Ne2 d3 10.Be3. Transpositions into the King's Gambit Declined and the Giuoco Piano are also possible after 3.d3.
The Wing Gambit results in positions similar to those in the Evans Gambit. It can transpose into the Evans Gambit, for instance by 3.b4 Bxb4 4.c3 Ba5 5.Nf3 Nc6. It can also lead to the Four Pawns Gambit after 3...Bxb4 4.f4 exf4 5.Nf3 Be7 6.d4 Bh4+ 7.g3 fxg3 8.0-0 gxh2+ 9.Kh1.
Black's most energetic response to the Philidor Variation is the Lewis Countergambit, 3.c3 d5, named for the English player and author William Lewis (1787–1870) who published analysis of the line in 1834.
Among amateurs, 3.Qf3 and 3.Qh5 are also popular, threatening an immediate Scholar's mate. But the threat is easily met (e.g. 3.Qh5 Qe7) and the moves are considered inferior since they hamper White's development or leave the queen exposed, leading to loss of tempo.
2...Nc6 is also common and most often transposes to the Italian Game after 3.Nf3 or the Vienna Game after 3.Nc3 (or these may occur on the fourth move after 3.d3). Other alternative moves for Black are rarely played. If Black tries to transpose into the Hungarian Defense with 2...Be7?, then 3.Qh5 wins a pawn. The Calabrese Countergambit (2...f5?!) is named after Greco's homeland, Calabria. It is considered dubious, as the line recommended by Carl Jaenisch, 3.d3 Nf6 4.f4 d6 5.Nf3, gives White the advantage. Other analyses, however, have found that the sharp 3.f4! or safe 3.Nc3 are better for White than 3.d3.
↑ "As a matter of fact, the proper name for the Bishop's Opening would be Philidor's Opening; for although it was examined in the Göttingen manuscript, as well as by Lucena and Lopez, it was Philidor who built the theoretical foundation of the Bishop's Opening."[2]
↑ "Bledow and the Berlin Pleiades of masters worked out the so-called 'Berlin Defense': 2...Nf6, which neutralized f2–f4 in view of the counterstroke ...d7–d5."[2]
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