bishops opening???
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And would you recommend an f4 push at some point?
Cali_boy613 wrote:
What are the general themes and ideas behind the bishops opening (1. E4 E5, 2. Bc4)?
Also, what's a good source of info on it ?
Also, what's a good source of info on it ?
Obviously, the bishop aims at the f7 square. 
Cali_boy613 wrote:
And would you recommend an f4 push at some point?
That would be Delayed King's Gambit.
Kind of a delayed King's Gambit. White is often playing for f2-f4, Nc3, Nf3, d3 etc. There are some situations where White will defer to other plans, most notably if Black can play an effective ...d7-d5 (e.g. 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6!).
Attacking With 1. e4 by John Emms has some good stuff.
There's a fun gambit in this line. Michael Goeller devoted a website to it years ago: https://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller/urusov/bishops/index.html
Thanks for the info guys.
Follow up questions: are there any videos that go into ideas/theory (preferably with the f4 push)?
Anyone know of any famous games with it?
Also, do you personally think it's an upgrade of the normal move order in the kings gambit declined or accepted?
How similar is it to to the Grand Prix?
I'll send some badges out to the most helpful responses, thanks for the feedback.
Follow up questions: are there any videos that go into ideas/theory (preferably with the f4 push)?
Anyone know of any famous games with it?
Also, do you personally think it's an upgrade of the normal move order in the kings gambit declined or accepted?
How similar is it to to the Grand Prix?
I'll send some badges out to the most helpful responses, thanks for the feedback.
Unfortunately, the most famous game I can remember is Carlsen trying (and failing) to use the Bishop's Opening against Caruana. It's the 3...c6 line where Black equalizes, so something you might want to look into.
It's probably a "safer" move order than simply playing the King's Gambit. There are some sidelines where you probably won't want to play f4 as much, but those are still decent for White.
The first recorded game is Scovara-Boi (1575):
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1336314
where it transposed to Giuoco Piano. More generally, it transposes also to Italian game, Two Knights defense, Fried Liver, Traxler counterattack as well as Delayed King's Gambit. The latter case was studied by Greco:
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/symmetrical-boi-lopez-delayed-king-s-gambit
Bishop's Opening links...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69en7ATGxnA&index=19&list=PLPaM3qJ0ieXt2Dmy9SjfQvCfhs-pbWhik
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller/urusov/bishops/index.html
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kibitz27.txt
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller/urusov/
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-openings/the-bishops-opening2
http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~goeller/urusov/bishops/links.htm
http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1150437600
The following link discusses White's f4 push...
https://www.chess.com/blog/paolodm/simple-dangerous-openings-the-bishops-opening
The following books feature extensive treatment of the Bishop's Opening...
"Attacking With 1 e4" by John Emms...
https://www.amazon.com/Attacking-e4-easy-learn-possible-ebook/dp/B00ZA2DM12/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493282746&sr=1-1&keywords=attacking+with+1+e4
"Beating 1 e4 e5" by John Emms...
https://www.amazon.com/Beating-1e4-e5-Repertoire-White/dp/1857446178/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1450981439&sr=1-1&keywords=beating+1+e4+e5
"The Bishops Opening Explained" by Gary Lane...
https://www.amazon.com/Bishops-Opening-Explained-Gary-Lane/dp/0713489170/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493282937&sr=1-1&keywords=bishops+opening+explained
I like the Urusov 1 e4 e5 2Bc4 Nf6 3 d4!? However, if black goes2 Nc6, you have to resign to play a quiet game with Nf3, Nc3 etc.
I think it also called the Giuoco Piano or the Italian game.....just goggle it and there are many YouTube videos on it.....
universityofpawns wrote:
I think it also called the Giuoco Piano or the Italian game.....just goggle it and there are many YouTube videos on it.....
More exactly, it naturally transposes into Italian game and Giuoco Piano. 
Yigor wrote:
universityofpawns wrote:
I think it also called the Giuoco Piano or the Italian game.....just goggle it and there are many YouTube videos on it.....
More exactly, it naturally transposes into Italian game and Giuoco Piano.
More accurately, the Bishops Opening is not so much an opening in the commonly understood sense of the term, as it is a double king pawn system of development, i.e., 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 ...
From here the game can transpose to many openings, primarily the Italian Game, Guioco Piano, Vienna Game, Two Knights Defense, and King's Gambit Declined, as well as several gambits - Scotch Gambit, Goring Gambit, and Urusov Gambit...
I first learned of the Bishop's Opening from Andrew Soltis' opening repertoire book, "Winning With 1e4", published in 1988 by (the now defunct) Chess Digest, which at the time was owned by the late, great character Ken Smith (a friend of Bobby Fischer's). I consider Soltis' book to be the inspiration for John Emm's "Attacking With 1e4". The Soltis book focuses on the King's Gambit Declined transposition from the Bishop's Opening, which is also covered in Emms' book. Both books also present the Closed Sicilian as a component of White's repertoire.
"Winning With 1.e4" by Andrew Soltis...
https://www.amazon.com/Winning-E4-Complete-Opening-System/dp/B000FJ0A7Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1493367727&sr=8-1&keywords=andrew+soltis+winning+with+1+e4
RussBell wrote:
... the Bishops Opening is not so much an opening in the commonly understood sense of the term, as it is a double king pawn system of development, i.e., 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 ...
From here the game can transpose to many openings, primarily the Italian Game, Guioco Piano, Vienna Game, Two Knights Defense, and King's Gambit Declined, as well as several gambits - Scotch Gambit, Goring Gambit, and Urusov Gambit... ...
What about 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 3 d3 c6 4 Nf3 d5, etc. ?
kindaspongey wrote:
RussBell wrote:
... the Bishops Opening is not so much an opening in the commonly understood sense of the term, as it is a double king pawn system of development, i.e., 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 ...
From here the game can transpose to many openings, primarily the Italian Game, Guioco Piano, Vienna Game, Two Knights Defense, and King's Gambit Declined, as well as several gambits - Scotch Gambit, Goring Gambit, and Urusov Gambit... ...
What about 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 3 d3 c6 4 Nf3 d5, etc. ?
That line is covered in Emms' "Attacking With 1e4", p.37-A1 (Emms recommends 5.Bb3, maintaining pressure on Black's center). There are many ways that the game can evolve after White's second move. I simply mentioned a few examples of the major transpositional possibilities out of Bishop's Opening...
But, is that considered to be a transposition out of the Bishop's Opening?
kindaspongey wrote:
But, is that considered to be a transposition out of the Bishop's Opening?
The point is that the Bishop's Opening is like a chameleon - after White's second move the so-called "opening" can morph into a variety of other openings. So the Bishop's Opening is not, strictly speaking, an "opening" in the generally understood sense of the term. The term simply denotes the initial sequence 1.e4 e5 2. Bc4 ... Any opening that arises after that sequence, I consider to be a "transposition". You can call it what you like...
RussBell wrote:
... the Bishop's Opening is not, strictly speaking, an "opening" in the generally understood sense of the term. The term simply denotes the initial sequence 1.e4 e5 2. Bc4 ... Any opening that arises after that sequence, I consider to be a "transposition". You can call it what you like...
What is 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 3 d3 c6 4 Nf3 d5 transposing to?
Also, what's a good source of info on it ?