English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Flexible Line
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Flexible Line is a chess opening classified as ECO A28, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3. It is a line of the English Opening. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 277 times by this move order. White won 51%, 7% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 4… d5 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 54; best line 4… d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. g3 Be7 7. Nxd5)
- ECO
- A28
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/4p3/2P5/2NP1N2/PP2PPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 47 | |
| 1500-1999 | 133 | |
| 2000+ | 97 | |
| All | 277 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… d5 | 89 (32%) | |
| 4… Bb4 | 81 (29%) | |
| 4… Bc5 | 66 (24%) | |
| 4… d6 | 13 (5%) | |
| 4… Be7 | 12 (4%) | |
| 4… h6 | 6 (2%) | |
| 4… g6 | 3 (1%) | |
| 4… a6 | 3 (1%) |
Master games
464 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 27%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2847) – GM So, W. (2770) 1-0 · Goldmoney Asian Rapid KO · 2021-06-29
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2870) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2741) 1-0 · Tata Steel India Rapid · 2019-11-23
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2792) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2789) 1-0 · GCT Blitz Paris 2018 · 2018-06-24
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2777) – GM Anish Giri (2783) 0-1 · 81st Tata Steel GpA · 2019-01-13
- GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) – GM So, W. (2770) 1/2-1/2 · Clutch Chess Showdown Int · 2020-06-06
Highest-rated Lichess games
- slouuurps (2747) – IM ARM__55555 (2869) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- slouuurps (2669) – alexlele2008 (2671) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- GM Ivan124 (2684) – Empire_State_of-Mind (2637) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation (3. Nf3 Nc6) 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6
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.