English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System, Prickly Pawn Pass System
1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Nge2 e5 7. O-O c6 8. d3 a6
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System, Prickly Pawn Pass System is a chess opening classified as ECO A10, reached after 1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Nge2 e5 7. O-O c6 8. d3 a6. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move.
This exact move order didn't appear in our sample of 12.6 million Lichess games: it's a rare line.
Engine evaluation: +0.31 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 9. f4 b5 10. h3 exf4 11. Bxf4 Be6)
- ECO
- A10
- Moves
- 16 plies
- FEN
rnbq1rk1/1p3pbp/p1pp1np1/4p3/2P1P3/2NP2P1/PP2NPBP/R1BQ1RK1 w - - 0 9- PGN
1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Nge2 e5 7. O-O c6 8. d3 a6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Master games
2 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 0%, draw 50%, Black 50%). The strongest:
- CM Andrii Diachek (2226) – IM Alexander Velikanov (2372) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 3rd Jun Early · 2025-06-03
- WGM Ana Benderac (2219) – WIM Teodora Injac (2302) 0-1 · ch-SRB SF Women 2018 · 2018-02-17
Comes from
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.