English Opening
The English Opening, 1.c4, controls the centre from the flank. It can lead to reversed Sicilian structures or transpose into queen's pawn openings, and is full of move-order subtleties.
1427master games
2620avg. Elo
20variations
White wins %28 · draw %56 · Black wins %16
Played by: Abdusattorov, Caruana, Praggnanandhaa, Giri, Ding Liren, Keymer, Erigaisi, Aronian
Main line
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.Nge2 Re8 10.O-O a5 11.Rc1 Nbd7 12.Bg3 Nf8 13.h3 Ne6 14.Be5 Nd7 15.Bh2 b6
Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.
Try 7 days free →Variations played by masters (20)
Agincourt Defense · ECO A13 · for White
1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 O-O 9.Nge2 Re8 10.O-O a5 …
480 games · avg. Elo 2618 · W/D/L 143/264/73 · Model game: Yuffa – Madaminov, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
King's English Variation · ECO A20 · for White
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.d4 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 d6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.e3 Be6 9.Rd1 Na6 10.b3 exd4 …
173 games · avg. Elo 2620 · W/D/L 53/79/41 · Model game: Abdusattorov – Deac, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
Anglo-Indian Defense, Queen's Knight Variation · ECO A16 · for White
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.O-O O-O 8.d3 h6 9.Nxd5 Qxd5 10.Bd2 Qe6 …
166 games · avg. Elo 2634 · W/D/L 48/93/25 · Model game: Praggnanandhaa – Caruana, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation · ECO A15 · for White
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.b3 c5 7.Bb2 Nc6 8.e3 d4 9.exd4 cxd4 10.Re1 Re8 …
86 games · avg. Elo 2628 · W/D/L 16/61/9 · Model game: So – Giri, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Symmetrical Variation · ECO A30 · for White
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 h5 8.h3 O-O 9.Be3 d6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 …
81 games · avg. Elo 2612 · W/D/L 28/42/11 · Model game: Keymer – Rozen, 2025 (1-0)
Caro-Kann Defensive System · ECO A11 · for White
1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qb3 Rb8 10.cxd5 cxd5 …
71 games · avg. Elo 2610 · W/D/L 17/43/11 · Model game: Maghsoodloo – Artemiev, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
King's English Variation, Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack · ECO A21 · for White
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Be7 4.Nf3 d6 5.g3 Nf6 6.Nc3 c5 7.Bg2 Nc6 8.d3 h6 9.O-O Be6 10.e4 Qd7 …
55 games · avg. Elo 2628 · W/D/L 14/29/12 · Model game: Jones – Hovhannisyan, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Great Snake Variation · ECO A10 · for White
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 Nf6 4.e4 d6 5.h3 e5 6.d5 a5 7.Be3 Na6 8.Nf3 Nc5 9.Nd2 b6 10.Be2 h5 …
51 games · avg. Elo 2622 · W/D/L 11/29/11 · Model game: Andreikin – Saric, 2025 (1-0)
Anglo-Indian Defense · ECO A15 · for White
1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.b3 b6 7.Bb2 Bb7 8.e3 Nbd7 9.Nc3 c5 10.d3 Qc7 …
46 games · avg. Elo 2614 · W/D/L 6/35/5 · Model game: Kuybokarov – Liang, 2024 (0-1)
Anglo-Indian Defense, Hedgehog System · ECO A17 · for White
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.d4 b6 8.h4 Bb7 9.Bg5 Qf5 10.Bd3 Qa5 …
40 games · avg. Elo 2616 · W/D/L 10/26/4 · Model game: Aditya – Kollars, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Fianchetto Line · ECO A29 · for White
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Nb6 7.b3 Be6 8.Bb2 f6 9.Nc3 Qd7 10.Qc1 O-O-O …
38 games · avg. Elo 2614 · W/D/L 9/20/9 · Model game: Kokarev – Najer, 2026 (1/2-1/2)
King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Quiet Line · ECO A28 · for White
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Qe7 7.a3 d5 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 c5 …
23 games · avg. Elo 2615 · W/D/L 5/14/4 · Model game: Bok – Vazquez, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation · ECO A35 · for White
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Nb3 Ne5 8.e4 Bb4 9.Qe2 d6 10.Bd2 a5 …
21 games · avg. Elo 2640 · W/D/L 10/10/1
Main line · ECO A10 · for White
1.c4 b6 2.Nc3 Bb7 3.e4 e6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Nge2 f5 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.d3 O-O 8.O-O fxe4 9.Bg5 Nc6 10.Nxe4 Be7 …
21 games · avg. Elo 2560 · W/D/L 6/8/7 · Model game: Supi – Kozak, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Symmetrical Variation, Ultra-Symmetrical Variation · ECO A36 · for White
1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Bf4 d6 7.Qc1 Be6 8.Nf3 O-O 9.Bh6 a6 10.h4 Bg4 …
19 games · avg. Elo 2656 · W/D/L 5/12/2 · Model game: Ding Liren – Wei Yi, 2024 (0-1)
Agincourt Defense, Neo-Catalan Declined · ECO A14 · for White
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.c4 O-O 6.b3 c5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bb2 Nc6 9.Nc3 Bf6 10.Qc2 Ndb4 …
14 games · avg. Elo 2608 · W/D/L 3/11/0 · Model game: Saric – Kryvoruchko, 2024 (1/2-1/2)
Four Knights System, Nimzowitsch Variation · ECO A28 · for White
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Bb4 5.d3 d6 6.a3 Bc5 7.b4 Bb6 8.Be3 Bg4 9.Be2 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Nd4 …
12 games · avg. Elo 2620 · W/D/L 2/8/2 · Model game: Deac – Kuzubov, 2026 (1/2-1/2)
King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Flexible Line · ECO A28 · for White
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.d3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nf6 7.Be2 Bg4 8.Be3 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.Rc1 a6 …
10 games · avg. Elo 2639 · W/D/L 4/6/0 · Model game: Ding Liren – Xu, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation · ECO A22 · for White
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.e3 Nc6 4.Qb3 Bc5 5.g3 d6 6.a3 O-O 7.Bg2 Bf5 8.Qxb7 Nd4 9.exd4 exd4 10.Qf3 Bg4 …
10 games · avg. Elo 2619 · W/D/L 4/5/1 · Model game: Caruana – Woodward, 2025 (1/2-1/2)
King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Fianchetto Line, with Nb6 · ECO A29 · for White
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.b3 O-O 9.Bb2 Bf5 10.a4 e4 …
10 games · avg. Elo 2633 · W/D/L 2/6/2 · Model game: Vachier Lagrave – Sevian, 2026 (1-0)
Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.
Try 7 days free →Other openings
Sicilian DefenseQueen's Gambit DeclinedRuy LopezItalian GameIndian DefensePetrov's DefenseNimzo-Indian DefenseFrench DefenseZukertort OpeningCaro-Kann DefenseQueen's Pawn GameKing's Indian AttackFour Knights GameQueen's Gambit AcceptedCatalan OpeningScotch Game
Statistics from classical games of 2500+ rated players. Notation: K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight.