English Defense (2. c4 b6)
1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6
The English Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5,567 times by this move order. White won 50%, 4% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 3. Nc3 (60% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.43 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3. e4 Bb4+ 4. Nc3 Bb7 5. f3 Bxc3+)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/p1pp1ppp/1p2p3/8/2PP4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 972 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3,486 | |
| 2000+ | 1,109 | |
| All | 5,567 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. Nc3 | 3,356 (60%) | |
| 3. Nf3 | 950 (17%) | |
| 3. e4 | 588 (11%) | |
| 3. e3 | 259 (5%) | |
| 3. a3 | 192 (3%) | |
| 3. Bf4 | 69 (1%) | |
| 3. g3 | 62 (1%) | |
| 3. d5 | 29 (1%) |
Master games
4,535 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 34%, draw 23%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- Integral 7.0.0-dev-453c1dc4 (3735) – Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-21
- Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) – Integral 7.0.0-dev-453c1dc4 (3735) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-18
- Stockfishdev-20250802-a37b38bd (3731) – LCZero0.31-dag-4d98c58-BT5-3700000 (3692) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-23
- LCZero0.31-dag-4d98c58-BT5-3700000 (3692) – Stockfishdev-20250802-a37b38bd (3731) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-23
- Berserk 20250622 (3667) – Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-17
Search all games of the English Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- LuckyStar2011 (2831) – Sunrise34 (2900) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- TryhardTrainingTiger (2861) – Sunrise34 (2869) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- GM cutemouse83 (2968) – IM clinclincaja (2731) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Horwitz Defense 1. d4 e6
Continuations
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Alapin Variation D31 · 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 d5
- English Defense: Perrin Variation A40 · 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nc6
- English Defense: Poli Gambit A40 · 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. f3 f5 5. exf5 Nh6
More English Defense lines (all)
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.