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Simple Dangerous Openings: The Bishop's Opening

 The Bishop's Opening
Intended for Ratings 1600-2200 
Style Scale: Very Aggressive
Synopsis: The Bishop's Opening is like the King's Gambit without all
the complications. Supplementary games here.

Back in the romantic days of chess, The King's Gambit was all  the rage. Its open nature produced only but the sharpest and  most tactical games, with many sacrifices thrown in for good  measure. Playing f4 immediately challenges black for the center and gives white the opportunity to open up the f-file, a plan that may may end up giving him a way to attack Black's king- this is the basic premise of the King's Gambit.

But playing f4 immediately has some definite downsides, namely:

  • Black can choose to accept the sacrifice and hold onto it for a LONG time 
  • Seriously though, you're exposing your king on move 2!
 

Now the Bishop's Opening's main theme is basically the same as the King's Gambit: play f4 and attack on the kingside! However, the difference is white will only push the f4 pawn when it is convenient for him. He will develop his pieces first and only then will he consider moving the f-pawn.

This is an important improvement because it solves two of white's problems with the King's Gambit:

  • If he is able to play d3, he will be able to immediately capture the pawn in case Black decides to take his f4 pawn
  • White's King is much safer than the King's Gambit due to his developed pieces
  

Middlegame Plans

If white is able to go into the middlegame with the position he has above, there are two possibile plans he can go with:

  • If Black castles kingside, white has the option of closing the game with f5 and pawn storming black's poor castled king:
  • 2. He always has the option of opening up the game and the f-file with fxe5. Then he can double his rooks on the f-file and either
    consider sacrificing a piece on f6 or driving away black's knight via g4-g5. Remember that bishop on c4? Now the two rooks and the bishop are just barrelling down f7! 


I've collected some Bishop's Opening games (with analysis) here. This should give you an idea of how powerful the Bishop's Opening can be if played right.

Paolo del Mundo
FIDE Master (USCF 2403)


Comments

  • 2 years ago

    Fiveofswords

    Evilthunder, GM's DO play this opening. And probably they will play it more as the petroff becomes more powerful. I remember that was the reasoning Leko had when he played it against kramnik a couple years ago.

    People just get used to the repitoire they know, and dont want to learn something new. It takes a LOT of work to pick up a new opening at high level. The common openings are common because, in fact, they are common. Its not like the bishops opening positions are obviously better than ruy positions, so if you know the ruy, might as well play that.

    I have a lot of free time so ive learned various openings. The bishop's opening has been great for me, personally, results are drastically better than when I played the scotch and the ruy (although it probably helps me to remember theory from those and apply them to the bishop's opening.

    The lines that the blogger has posted are important, but they are not necessary, they may or may not occur. These particular lines are very hard...for both players. The attack really cuts both ways...mostly its white attacking, but there are some deceptive counterpunches lurking in there. I have mixed feelings when i get positions like this as white. Im happy because i know that I probably can win, but annoyed that i have to calculate VERY accurately for a long time. If im playing a weaker opponent, i dont want to work that hard. If i'm playing a stronger opponent, its a little scarey.

  • 3 years ago

    Ripper89

    I played the king's gambit a few times,sometimes I won easily and sometimes I lost badly,now I will try to push the f4 pawn a bit later to see what happens...

  • 4 years ago

    cblitz

    Evilthunder

     i read in some books, opening like Giuoco Piano and Four Knights Game became out of fashion because in some several modern opening the pieces are place behind the pawns so as not to obstruct their advance. 


  • 4 years ago

    Ron-Suarez

    I actually play this Bishop's Opening myself, now for over 15 years.

     I do quite well with it.

     The real challenge is when Black play ...,c6 early, like in the 3rd move or so.  The author is correct though that White does have quite a number of options to follow depending on what Black plays.

     By the way, a really fun gambit in this is: 1. e4, e5 2. Bc4, Nf6 3. d4.


  • 4 years ago

    Chezzila

    Very cool. Thx.
  • 4 years ago

    scandinaviandefense

    Thank you!
  • 4 years ago

    PawnFork

    This will be a fun series. 

    Thanks!


  • 4 years ago

    rgp89

    Interesting.
  • 4 years ago

    aymona

    this is niceCool
  • 4 years ago

    farbror

    Very interesting!
  • 4 years ago

    oginschile

    I've played a good amount of bishops opening games, think I'll try a few more.
  • 4 years ago

    Corky

    That's great...
  • 4 years ago

    KNIGHTSTORM

    Very interesting!
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