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Bishop's Opening: Berlin Defence

McShane–Kramnik, London Chess Classic 2009 · Praggnanandhaa–Keymer, Grand Chess Tour Finals 2026 · 7:28 · ECO C24

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In this video

Game 1: Luke McShane (2615) vs Vladimir Kramnik (2772)

London Chess Classic 2009, 10 December 2009 · Black won (0-1) · 36 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 3...Bc5The first move after the opening line0:22
  2. 21.h4Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here1:34
  3. 28.Kh2The evaluation moves from −4.61 to −6.142:09
  4. 31.d5The evaluation moves from −4.45 to −6.452:24
  5. 33.Bd2The evaluation moves from −6.18 to −7.522:34
  6. 36...N6g4+Black wins after 36 moves2:52

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

Game 2: Praggnanandhaa R (2750) vs Vincent Keymer (2767)

Grand Chess Tour Finals 2026, 23 August 2026 · White won (1-0) · 55 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 3...Nc6The first move after the opening line3:12
  2. 34.Nxh5The evaluation moves from −0.30 to −3.455:30
  3. 35...Nd2+The evaluation moves from −3.23 to +1.265:38
  4. 45...Nd7White stays more than two pawns ahead from here6:28
  5. 54...Ka8The evaluation moves from +7.61 to mate in 7 for White7:12
  6. 55.Qd8+White wins after 55 moves7:15

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

About these games

After 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3, White declines to gambit the e-pawn and simply defends it, keeping the bishop on the a2–g8 diagonal and the option of a quiet Italian-style set-up with Nf3, c3 or Nc3. Black chooses between active piece play with ...Bc5 and a slower ...Nc6, ...d6 structure, and the central pawns usually stay on e4, e5, d3 and d6 until one side prepares a break.

McShane–Kramnik: against 3...Bc5, White chased the bishop with 6.Na4 and 7.c3, but Kramnik answered 10.b4 with 10...Bxf2+ 11.Kxf2 b5, winning the knight back after 12...bxa4 and opening lines with ...c5 and ...d5. The game stayed level at +0.01 after 13.Qxa4, then White's exposed king told: −1.44 after 18.d4, and from 21.h4 Black stayed more than two pawns ahead. The score grew from −2.48 to −3.67 at 25.Ra4 and from −6.18 to −7.52 at 33.Bd2. The black knights closed in with 35...Nf2+ and 36...N6g4+, and Black won.

Praggnanandhaa–Keymer: 3...Nc6 4.a3 led to slow manoeuvring with 6.Bg5, 9.f3 and 15.O-O-O, then 12.d4 and a later f4–f5 push, an opposite-side castling fight rather than Game 1's early sacrifice. At 34.Nxh5 the evaluation swung from −0.30 to −3.45, but 35...Nd2+ handed back the advantage, moving it from −3.23 to +1.26. From 45...Nd7 White stayed more than two pawns ahead, the queen and knight hunted the black king, 54...Ka8 allowed mate in 7, and White won.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: McShane vs Kramnik, London Chess Classic 2009
  3. 3:00Game 2: Praggnanandhaa vs Keymer, Grand Chess Tour Finals 2026

The opening line

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3

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