English Opening: King's English Variation, Closed System
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Closed System is a chess opening classified as ECO A25, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3. 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 46 times by this move order. White won 57%, 10% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 5… d6 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 35; best line 5… d6 6. e3 a5 7. a3 Nf6 8. Nge2)
- ECO
- A25
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pppp1pbp/2n3p1/4p3/2P5/2NP2P1/PP2PPBP/R1BQK1NR b KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4 | |
| 1500-1999 | 15 | |
| 2000+ | 27 | |
| All | 46 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… d6 King's English Variation, Closed System, Full Symmetry | 23 (50%) | |
| 5… Nge7 | 11 (24%) | |
| 5… f5 | 6 (13%) | |
| 5… Nf6 | 5 (11%) | |
| 5… d5 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
122 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 26%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2755) – GM Alonso Zapata (2481) 1-0 · US Chess League 2014 · 2014-10-15
- IM Alexey Reshetnikov (2492) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2719) 1-0 · World Rapid 2018 · 2018-12-26
- GM Zviad Izoria (2599) – GM Ruifeng Li (2576) 1/2-1/2 · PRO League Group Stage · 2018-02-24
- GM Nils Grandelius (2644) – GM Hans Tikkanen (2522) 1/2-1/2 · CellaVision Cup 2017 · 2017-08-04
- GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2656) – IM Renato Terry (2508) 1-0 · Titled Tue 31st Mar 2026 · 2026-03-31
Highest-rated Lichess games
- sec_acc (2669) – BoneCrusher2020 (2731) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- 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
Comes from
English Opening: King's English Variation, Taimanov Variation 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7
Continuations
- English Opening: King's English Variation, Closed System, Full Symmetry A26 · 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6
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.