Bishops Opening
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The bishop's opening is perfectly fine, but does not give White much try for an advantage in its independent lines. It also is a little bit commiting, so I am not inclined to think it is any special. But if you want to play it, go for it.
People play the Bishop's Opening because they cannot stand to play against the Petroff. The Petroff is supposedly a good anti-e4 line. I used to play it, and it can be fun, but you have to have a "taste" for it. After e4 e5 Bc4 Nf6, White can play d3 and is fine, or can also play Nc3 and transpose into the Vienna Game, another underrated system.
BirdBrain wrote: People play the Bishop's Opening because they cannot stand to play against the Petroff. The Petroff is supposedly a good anti-e4 line. I used to play it, and it can be fun, but you have to have a "taste" for it. After e4 e5 Bc4 Nf6, White can play d3 and is fine, or can also play Nc3 and transpose into the Vienna Game, another underrated system.
Yeah, Emms pointed out in his book that the Bishops opening avoids the Petroff. Definatley something worth thinking about. As you can see, there is little response to this thread so my guess is it could be a little surprise to some unsuspecting 1...e5 players!
There seems to be ground for transpositions so it could be a challanging opening to 1...e5 players. Im sure as White using 2.Bc4 you could bring some opponents into lines they are unfamiliar with if they dont think carefully about their opening moves.
My thoughts are that this opening could prove to be dangerous and an interesting choice if you are a 'tricky transposer'. If Black is prepared, it does seem to lead to positions where White has not that much of an advantage from the opening but if your playing someone rated alot higher than you and they have only prepared a drawish response (because they may expect only more experienced players to play it as a once off surpirse) then you could be in for a nice and easy half point.
Jul 10, 2008
0
#5
Graw81 wrote: BirdBrain wrote: People play the Bishop's Opening because they cannot stand to play against the Petroff. The Petroff is supposedly a good anti-e4 line. I used to play it, and it can be fun, but you have to have a "taste" for it. After e4 e5 Bc4 Nf6, White can play d3 and is fine, or can also play Nc3 and transpose into the Vienna Game, another underrated system.
Yeah, Emms pointed out in his book that the Bishops opening avoids the Petroff. Definatley something worth thinking about. As you can see, there is little response to this thread so my guess is it could be a little surprise to some unsuspecting 1...e5 players!
There seems to be ground for transpositions so it could be a challanging opening to 1...e5 players. Im sure as White using 2.Bc4 you could bring some opponents into lines they are unfamiliar with if they dont think carefully about their opening moves.
My thoughts are that this opening could prove to be dangerous and an interesting choice if you are a 'tricky transposer'. If Black is prepared, it does seem to lead to positions where White has not that much of an advantage from the opening but if your playing someone rated alot higher than you and they have only prepared a drawish response (because they may expect only more experienced players to play it as a once off surpirse) then you could be in for a nice and easy half point.
What is wrong with having a slight advantage. If you are playing a strong player do you really expect to get a winning position out of the opening? Shouldn't your opening reportoire really be more as a result of style as well? If you hate/don't play closed positions well then why play a closed sicilian? If you hate tactical games then why play a yugoslav or dragon etc?
i do both
To erikido23; Im pretty confident about my opening repitoire and dont mind playing open or closed positions. The thread is not about my opening repitoire really but more the opening itself.
I dont think that a winning position will result from any opening either. I do think that seeking an advantage in the opening is important for white but playing OTB you cant always stick to the same old lines given that your opponents will be searching your games. It would be nice to play the bishops opening as a surprise against someone who lets say you played the Ruy lopez with in previous games.
The point about the half point against a higher rated player is only a really really small point. I mean, im not saying that you can rely on getting a draw from playing any opening but you can certainly bring the game down the path which could lead to a draw.
Anyway, this is all besides the point erikido23. What im really asking to discuss in this thread is the opening itself. Not the opening and my repitoire nor seeking easy draws etc. Please understand that all that other stuff is topic for other threads.
kamapuaa wrote: the Bishops Opening, is my bread and butter. just look at all my e4 e5 online games. in fact the bishop goes to the same square in all my e4 c5 games too :)
What moves do people tend to play against you when you play 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4. ? Do they play 'book' moves or just improvise? My guess it that alot do the latter.
Jul 10, 2008
0
#9
The e4 - e5 - Bc4 line is very old but lost its appeal when the Ruy Lopez took over around the late 1890's. It is certinaly worth learning the systems that can arrise from it but most are very old. A sharp sytem not that disimilar to the Scotch.
Jul 11, 2008
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#10
I think the most common response has got to be Nf6. My friend used to play this all the time against me (when I used to play e5 instead of the sicilian), but after Nf6 he'd stubbornly go for Nf3, actually transposing into the Petroff. He was all about going for the Ng5 lines of the two knights' defnese. After 3. d3 play seems pretty normal to me and can go a lot of different directions. It's usually not dissimilar to the quieter lines of the Giuoco Piano
umm... 13th??!!
;)
I studied this opening as a child and played it often in tournaments. ts very old, and as such has alot of theory and a tremendous range of transpositions into the two knights etc.
I think its a good opening although it doesn't provide white with the more advantageous positions he may see with some other more forcing lines.
It depens on you . if you are willing to give up the chance to maximize your advantage in favor of avoiding openings like the petroff which will try to keep you from doing so anyway then yes this is for you
NICE!
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this is how I usually responsed to the bishops opening
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 d5
but an interest transposition is
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 f5
which is a line of the latvian gambit thats gets kind of crazy
Jul 12, 2008
0
#16
Graw81 wrote:
To erikido23; Im pretty confident about my opening repitoire and dont mind playing open or closed positions. The thread is not about my opening repitoire really but more the opening itself.
I dont think that a winning position will result from any opening either. I do think that seeking an advantage in the opening is important for white but playing OTB you cant always stick to the same old lines given that your opponents will be searching your games. It would be nice to play the bishops opening as a surprise against someone who lets say you played the Ruy lopez with in previous games.
The point about the half point against a higher rated player is only a really really small point. I mean, im not saying that you can rely on getting a draw from playing any opening but you can certainly bring the game down the path which could lead to a draw.
Anyway, this is all besides the point erikido23. What im really asking to discuss in this thread is the opening itself. Not the opening and my repitoire nor seeking easy draws etc. Please understand that all that other stuff is topic for other threads.
Any opening you play your opponent can look up the lines you play. Why is playing the bishops opening any different than say the ruy?
You seem to be saying that the opening doesn't offer winning chances. You can turn it into a vienna if you like and go into a wild frankenstein possibility or end up moving to kings gambit type of positions which do seem to favor white and sometimes sacrifice a rook(or 2) for a huge kingside attack(many a players have fallen for this one with a rather swift death in my personal experience). Sometimes in my games it has even transposed to a ruy type position(I believe they call it the arch angel variation)
PS.I answer in a thread however I please. And you were the one that brought up "easy draws". So please understand that if I feel I want to talk about something that is rather relevant then I will do so :D
i study the bishops opening and usually when i play it they play NF6.
Jul 12, 2008
0
#18
rich wrote: My opponent's noramlly play Bishop c5, the same as white's move Bishop to c4.
On move 2 I don't think this is quite correct for black. White can follow up with q-g4 black HAS to play q-f6 and q-g3 and white has an edge.
The strange thing is the line I have the biggest trouble with is after nf6 3. d3, N-c6. I am not sure how to go about it from there. I will eventually actually study that line lol
bc5 is an important variation to know how to play against. Nf3 and Nc6 usually follow or Nc6 and NF3 come before it. Its called the closed guioco piano.
I was looking through the book ''Attacking with 1.e4'' by Emms and noticed that he recommended the Bishops Opening against 1...e5.
Kasparov and Adams have both played this opening with good results. Adams has a win against Svidler and draws against Anand, Kramnik, Shirov and Deep Junior. Kasparov has defeated Bareev using it.
The opening can transpose into lines in the Two Knights, Vienna and Kings Gambit.
Before having a look at the Emms book i never really considered the Bishops Opening. Does anyone here play this opening? What are the pros and cons in your experience? Please give some thoughts on this one either from White or Blacks point of view.
Here is a sample game for anyone who hasnt seen the Bishops opening before.