Bird Invitation

The Bird Invitation is White's 2. Bb5 against the French Defense, classified under ECO C00. The bishop occupies the b5-e8 diagonal, so the d7-pawn is pinned to the black king and the thematic ...d5 cannot be played at once. The drawback is that the bishop stands on an exposed square, where Black's natural moves can attack it, and White has not occupied the center with d4. Opening literature treats the move as dubious, and it is rarely seen in serious play.

The most common reply by a wide margin is 2...c6, which blocks the diagonal and attacks the bishop. It forces a decision about the piece and frees the d-pawn to advance. Next in popularity is 2...a6, which also attacks the bishop. The engine additionally considers 2...Qg5, a move that hits both g2 and the bishop along the fifth rank. 2...Nf6 is a less frequent alternative that develops a piece and attacks e4. The engine rates the position as roughly balanced. On Lichess, Black scores clearly better than White.