English Opening: King's English Variation, Closed System, Full Symmetry
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Closed System, Full Symmetry is a chess opening classified as ECO A26, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 23 times by this move order. White won 61%, 17% were drawn and Black won 22%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nf3 (39% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 6. e3 Be6 7. Rb1 a5 8. Nge2 h5)
- ECO
- A26
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/ppp2pbp/2np2p1/4p3/2P5/2NP2P1/PP2PPBP/R1BQK1NR w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8 | |
| 2000+ | 13 | |
| All | 23 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nf3 | 9 (39%) | |
| 6. Rb1 | 4 (17%) | |
| 6. e3 | 4 (17%) | |
| 6. h4 | 2 (9%) | |
| 6. e4 King's English Variation, Botvinnik System | 2 (9%) | |
| 6. Qb3 | 1 (4%) | |
| 6. Bd2 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
196 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 23%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- GM Gata Kamsky (2683) – GM Alexei Shirov (2691) 1-0 · TCh-RUS Men 2015 · 2015-05-07
- GM Sandro Mareco (2634) – GM David Anton Guijarro (2674) 0-1 · FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss · 2019-10-13
- GM Rauf Mamedov (2657) – GM Vladimir Akopian (2648) 0-1 · World Rapid 2015 · 2015-10-12
- GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2694) – GM Robert Fontaine (2550) 1/2-1/2 · European Online CC GpB · 2021-03-27
- GM Axel Bachmann (2533) – GM Alexei Shirov (2706) 0-1 · 40th Olympiad Open · 2012-09-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Magek (2599) – IM shuriks91 (2761) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- BishopAndSons (2672) – Commonitorium (2624) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- ftower (2497) – alizem2013 (2537) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: King's English Variation, Closed System 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3
Continuations
- English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System A26 · 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. e4
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.