English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Quiet Line (5. Qc2 Bxc3)
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 Bxc3
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Quiet Line is a chess opening classified as ECO A28, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 Bxc3. 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 32 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 6. Qxc3 (72% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.16 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 6. Qxc3 Qe7 7. a3 d5 8. d4 exd4)
- ECO
- A28
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pppp1ppp/2n2n2/4p3/2P5/2b1PN2/PPQP1PPP/R1B1KB1R w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2 Bxc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 8 | |
| 2000+ | 23 | |
| All | 32 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Qxc3 | 23 (72%) | |
| 6. bxc3 | 6 (19%) | |
| 6. dxc3 | 3 (9%) |
Master games
748 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 29%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2739) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2827) 1/2-1/2 · 43rd Olympiad 2018 · 2018-10-03
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2754) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 1/2-1/2 · Chessable Masters Losers · 2025-02-20
- GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2742) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2807) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Sep 2025 · 2025-09-30
- GM Levon Aronian (2802) – GM Maxim Matlakov (2728) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2017 · 2017-09-09
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2774) – GM Levon Aronian (2752) 0-1 · 7th Norway Chess 2019 · 2019-06-06
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Kovalev_Vitaly (2645) – GM grzechu96 (2628) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- markisa8381 (2423) – tommy313 (2488) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 900 + 10s
- ADDRESP (2416) – SolaceOfNight (2478) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Quiet Line (3… Nc6 4. e3) 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3
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.