English Opening: King's English Variation, Bellon Gambit
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 e4 4. Ng5 b5
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Bellon Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO A22, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 e4 4. Ng5 b5. 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 22 times by this move order. White won 59%, 5% were drawn and Black won 36%. The most popular continuation is 5. Ngxe4 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.53 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 5. d3 exd3 6. cxb5 h6 7. Nf3 dxe2)
- ECO
- A22
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/p1pp1ppp/5n2/1p4N1/2P1p3/2N5/PP1PPPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 e4 4. Ng5 b5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 19 | |
| All | 22 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Ngxe4 | 8 (36%) | |
| 5. d3 | 5 (23%) | |
| 5. cxb5 | 4 (18%) | |
| 5. Nxb5 | 3 (14%) | |
| 5. e3 | 2 (9%) |
Master games
91 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 65%, draw 12%, Black 23%). The strongest:
- GM Evgeny Shtembuliak (2620) – GM John M Burke (2538) 1-0 · US Collegiate Blitz 2020 · 2020-09-27
- GM Alexandr Fier (2589) – IM Mykola Bortnyk (2461) 1-0 · Titled Tue 8th Nov Late · 2022-11-08
- IM Luis Javier Bernal Moro (2432) – IM Manuel Pena Gomez (2456) 1-0 · TCh-POR Div 1 2014 · 2014-08-21
- IM Jung Min Seo (2466) – FM Marek Karas (2308) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 18th Jan · 2022-01-18
- GM Zoltan Ribli (2475) – GM Juan Manuel Bellon Lopez (2281) 1/2-1/2 · Vaganian Cup Blitz 2024 · 2024-11-09
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ADDRESP (2459) – Unkind_Mikk (2372) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Rusticous (2422) – Unkind_Mikk (2316) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- kvat61 (2391) – Unkind_Mikk (2328) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 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.