English Defense: Perrin Variation
1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nc6
The English Defense: Perrin Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nc6. It is a line of the English Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 6 times by this move order. White won 100%, 0% were drawn and Black won 0%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nf3 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.62 (Stockfish, depth 51; best line 5. Ne2 Nb4 6. O-O Nxd3 7. Qxd3 d5)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
r2qkbnr/pbpp1ppp/1pn1p3/8/2PPP3/3B4/PP3PPP/RNBQK1NR w KQkq - 3 5- PGN
1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 6 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nf3 | 3 (50%) | |
| 5. Ne2 | 2 (33%) | |
| 5. Be3 | 1 (17%) |
Master games
204 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 25%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2745) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2766) 1/2-1/2 · SuperUnited CRO Blitz 2025 · 2025-07-06
- GM Evgeniy Najer (2658) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2816) 1/2-1/2 · 31st ECC Open 2015 · 2015-10-23
- GM Maxim Matlakov (2728) – GM Dmitry Andreikin (2708) 0-1 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-08
- GM Alexey Sarana (2685) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2736) 0-1 · Chess.com Rapid Wk3 Swiss · 2022-02-27
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2726) – GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2676) 1-0 · European Online CC Final · 2021-03-31
Search all games of the English Defense: Perrin Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Pro29rus (2203) – pirgos (2339) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- Benj12 (2048) – your_next_victim (2120) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- danielalcantar (2066) – jpessoa7 (2073) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
English Defense (2. c4 b6) 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6
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.