English Opening: Agincourt Defense (2. Nf3 d5)
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5
The English Opening: Agincourt Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A13, reached after 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,491 times by this move order. White won 50%, 6% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 3. g3 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.25 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5)
- ECO
- A13
- Moves
- 4 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/4p3/3p4/2P5/5N2/PP1PPPPP/RNBQKB1R w KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 77 | |
| 1500-1999 | 410 | |
| 2000+ | 1,004 | |
| All | 1,491 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3. g3 | 474 (32%) | |
| 3. e3 | 376 (25%) | |
| 3. cxd5 | 238 (16%) | |
| 3. d4 | 218 (15%) | |
| 3. b3 | 144 (10%) | |
| 3. Nc3 | 25 (2%) | |
| 3. Qc2 | 5 (0%) | |
| 3. d3 | 4 (0%) |
Master games
5,680 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 28%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2837) – GM Alexander Morozevich (2770) 0-1 · World Blitz Final · 2012-07-10
- GM So, W. (2799) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2800) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2018 · 2018-03-15
- GM Veselin Topalov (2761) – GM Vladimir Kramnik (2812) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz YourNextMove · 2016-06-19
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2792) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2778) 1-0 · GCT Rapid Croatia 2021 · 2021-07-08
- GM Veselin Topalov (2761) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2804) 0-1 · GCT Blitz Paris 2016 · 2016-06-12
Search all games of the English Opening: Agincourt Defense and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- gelyaromanova (2754) – ScaryIndianJunior (2834) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- GM Thanozz (2750) – ScaryIndianJunior (2798) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- gelyaromanova (2725) – Mysterious_Spy (2785) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Agincourt Defense (1… e6 2. Nf3) 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3
Continuations
- English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Catalan Defense (3. g3 c5) A13 · 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 c5
- English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Kurajica Defense A13 · 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 c6
- English Opening: Neo-Catalan A13 · 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6
- English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Catalan Defense (4… Bb7 5. O-O) A13 · 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O
- English Opening: Agincourt Defense (5. e3 O-O) A13 · 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Nf6 4. Bb2 Be7 5. e3 O-O
More English Opening lines (all)
- English Opening A10
- English Opening: Achilles-Omega Gambit A10
- English Opening: Adorjan Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense, Hickmann Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Chabanon Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Ferenc Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Lithuanian Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Löhn Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Malvinas Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Schulz Gambit A10
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.