English Opening: King's English Variation (2… d6 3. Nf3)
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3
The English Opening: King's English Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A21, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3. It is a line of the English Opening. Black is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 1,327 times by this move order. White won 53%, 5% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 3… Nf6 (21% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… f5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. b4)
- ECO
- A21
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppp2ppp/3p4/4p3/2P5/2N2N2/PP1PPPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 3- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 265 | |
| 1500-1999 | 778 | |
| 2000+ | 284 | |
| All | 1,327 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Nf6 | 277 (21%) | |
| 3… f5 | 225 (17%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 179 (13%) | |
| 3… Be7 | 126 (9%) | |
| 3… Be6 | 123 (9%) | |
| 3… c6 | 116 (9%) | |
| 3… h6 | 56 (4%) | |
| 3… g6 | 50 (4%) |
Master games
533 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 18%, Black 38%). The strongest:
- Obsidiandev-16.14 (3645) – Ethereal14.40 (3618) 1-0 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
- Ethereal14.40 (3618) – Obsidiandev-16.14 (3645) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2781) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2742) 0-1 · Titled Tue 26th Apr Late · 2022-04-26
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2733) – GM Erigaisi Arjun (2778) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2024 · 2024-07-25
- GM Levon Aronian (2797) – GM Nigel D Short (2681) 1-0 · Gibraltar Masters 2018 · 2018-01-29
Search all games of the English Opening: King's English Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM Ivan124 (2711) – GM ikica77 (2659) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM Roberz12 (2564) – GM ikica77 (2679) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- CM holtchess (2555) – otb04 (2576) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3
Continuations
- English Opening: King's English Variation, Smyslov Defense A21 · 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 Bg4
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.