Bishop's Opening

After 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 White develops the bishop to its most active diagonal before committing the knights, and 2...Nf6, the Berlin Defence, attacks e4 at once. The quiet 3.d3 defends the pawn and keeps the game closed for now. White's plan is slow development with Nf3, c3, castling and often Bb3, so that the bishop is safe from ...d5 and ...Na5 ideas. Because the king's knight is not yet on f3, White can also choose Nc3 and an f4 break, a set-up close to the Vienna and the King's Gambit.

Two branches are covered. The main line, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3, includes Black's natural developing replies such as ...Nc6 and ...Bc5 or ...Be7. Those moves often transpose into slow Italian structures with pawns on d3 and e5, where both sides manoeuvre: White with Nbd2, Re1 and a later d4, Black with ...d6, ...a6 and ...Ba7. The second branch, 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6, prepares ...d5. If White exchanges on d5, Black recaptures with the c-pawn and gets a central pair of pawns on d5 and e5. White then aims to show that these pawns are targets, with c3, Bb3 and pressure from the queen and rooks. If White lets Black play ...d5 without exchanging, the bishop retreats to b3, and Black has to watch the e5 pawn and the diagonal towards f7.

Start with “Bishop's Opening: Berlin Defence”, which shows the plans after 3.d3 before the more specific ...c6 line.