Openings · C23–C24

Bishop's Opening

The bishop goes to c4 before the knight goes anywhere: an Italian without committing the knight, and a way to sidestep the Petrov.

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4played as White

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

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Your move 1 of 20/2
  1. 1.e4e5
  2. 2.Bc4

Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.

The idea

2.Bc4 puts the bishop on its best diagonal at once and keeps the f-pawn free. Against 2…Nf6 White can play 3.d3 and build slowly, or 3.d4 and gambit — options the Italian move order gives away by putting the knight on f3 first.

Its other job is avoidance: no Petrov, no Two Knights unless you allow it, and against club opposition a lot of positions your opponent has never studied. The cost is that it does nothing about e5, so Black is comfortable if White plays without a plan.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Taking on f7 for its own sake

After 3…Kxf7
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
The mistake
Trading the good bishop for a pawn to make the black king move.
Why it costs
It is a piece for a pawn. The king on f7 is awkward for a few moves and perfectly safe after them, and White has nothing left to attack with — one piece is not an attack. Black plays …d5, walks the king to g8 and is a piece up.
Instead
3.d3 or 3.Nf3, keeping the bishop pointed at f7 for the moment when a second piece can join it.

Recapturing on d4 with the queen

After 4…Nc6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
The mistake
Playing the 3.d4 gambit and then taking the pawn back immediately.
Why it costs
4…Nc6 develops with tempo and the queen has to move again. Two of White's first four moves were queen moves, and Black has caught up in development while winning them.
Instead
4.Nf3, the Urusov Gambit, where the pawn is genuinely worth a lead in development — 4…Nxe4 5.Qxd4 gives White an initiative that has been analysed for a century and a half.

The four-move mate, tried anyway

After 4…Nf6
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
The mistake
3.Qh5, hoping for 3…Nf6 and mate on f7.
Why it costs
3…Qe7 defends f7 and e5 at once, and then …Nf6 comes with an attack on the queen. White spends the next three moves retreating and Black develops for free, which is how every early queen sortie ends against somebody who has seen one before.
Instead
3.Nf3 or 3.d3. The bishop on c4 is a long-term threat to f7; announcing it on move three throws that away.

Essential for beginners

  • 1 in 12games end with White giving checkmate by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 33.Quick wins
  • 1 in 33games end with White getting checkmated by move 15. In all openings: 1 in 54.Trap danger

From 21,766 Lichess games in this opening between players rated under 1200, blitz and slower, September 2026. How we counted.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning.

  1. Nf6-0.1
  2. Bc5+0.2
  3. Nc6+0.2
  4. c6+0.3
  5. d6+0.4
  6. a6+0.5

The engine's main line from Nf6: Nf6 Nc3 Nc6 d3 Na5 Bb3 Nxb3 axb3.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Analyse a game you played in itAll openings