English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian is a chess opening classified as ECO A21, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3. It is a line of the English Opening. Black is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 70,327 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nf6 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.13 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 2… Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Bb4 5. Qc2)
- ECO
- A21
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/2P5/2N5/PP1PPPPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 1 2- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 21,354 | |
| 1500-1999 | 37,821 | |
| 2000+ | 11,152 | |
| All | 70,327 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… Nf6 King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation | 25,404 (36%) | |
| 2… Nc6 King's English Variation, Reversed Closed Sicilian (2. Nc3 Nc6) | 12,900 (18%) | |
| 2… Bc5 | 8,515 (12%) | |
| 2… d6 | 6,750 (10%) | |
| 2… Bb4 King's English Variation, Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack | 4,810 (7%) | |
| 2… f5 | 4,219 (6%) | |
| 2… c6 | 3,604 (5%) | |
| 2… c5 | 909 (1%) |
Master games
2,485 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 20%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) – Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-03-28
- Stockfish dev-20260318-d173a06 (3807) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-b5462f11 (3763) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Superfinal 2026 · 2026-03-28
- Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) – LCZero 0.33-dev-f6ec55c-BT4-6147500-it332 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-17
- LCZero 0.33-dev-f6ec55c-BT4-6147500-it332 (3749) – Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-14
- Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) – PlentyChess 7.0.55 (3693) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-06
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2914) – canc3111 (2761) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2920) – canc3111 (2754) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2907) – canc3111 (2768) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: King's English Variation (1. c4 e5) 1. c4 e5
Continuations
- English Opening: King's English Variation, Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack A21 · 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4
- English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Closed Sicilian (2. Nc3 Nc6) A25 · 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6
- English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation A22 · 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6
- English Opening: King's English Variation (2… d6 3. Nf3) A21 · 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3
- English Opening: King's English Variation, Keres Defense A21 · 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 c6
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.