Chess Opening Theory/1. e4/1...e5/2. Bc4/2...d6

Bishop's opening C23 Bishop's opening 2...d6 A modest move that over-defends the e-pawn at the expense of developing a piece and making it harder to develop the king's bishop. Black invites White to play 3. Nf3 and transpose into the Philidor defence. This is the most common move. In the Philidor, White typically looks for a pawn break with d4. 3. Nc3 may lead to a more original game. After 3...Nf6 this resembles a Vienna game where Black has played the passive move ...d6. White can play d3, having already developed their bishop outside of the pawn chain, and delaying the move Nf3 allows White to play for a pawn break with f4 instead. Theory table 0 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. f4 exf4 6. Bxf4 O-O 7. Nf3 c6 + 3. Nf3 Philidor defence(by transposition) References See also Bishop's Opening Lane, Gary (1993). Winning With the Bishop's Opening. 0-7134-7113-1.