English Opening: King's English Variation, Adhiban Gambit
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 e4 4. Ng5 c6
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Adhiban Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A22, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 e4 4. Ng5 c6. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 122 times by this move order. White won 43%, 5% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 5. Ngxe4 (85% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.37 (Stockfish, depth 53; best line 5. Qa4 Qe7 6. Qc2 b5 7. cxb5 d5)
- ECO
- A22
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp1p1ppp/2p2n2/6N1/2P1p3/2N5/PP1PPPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 e4 4. Ng5 c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 28 | |
| 2000+ | 90 | |
| All | 122 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Ngxe4 | 104 (85%) | |
| 5. Qa4 | 10 (8%) | |
| 5. d3 | 6 (5%) | |
| 5. Ncxe4 | 2 (2%) |
Master games
446 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 38%, draw 18%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2767) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2721) 1-0 · Saint Louis Blitz 2024 · 2024-08-15
- GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2740) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2727) 0-1 · 86th Tata Steel Masters · 2024-01-15
- GM Liren Ding (2806) – GM Aryan Tari (2654) 1/2-1/2 · Chessable Masters Prelim · 2022-05-20
- GM Levon Aronian (2775) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2661) 1/2-1/2 · FTX Crypto Cup 2022 · 2022-08-18
- GM Levon Aronian (2775) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2661) 0-1 · FTX Crypto Cup 2022 · 2022-08-18
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Fools_For_Luck (2657) – ZARIMA1 (2708) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- JeromePanoSoler (2686) – FM Superfm1 (2654) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- WFM haski_2014 (2579) – BishopAndSons (2679) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6
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.