English Opening: King's English Variation, Smyslov Defense
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 Bg4
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Smyslov Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A21, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 Bg4. 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 39 times by this move order. White won 59%, 3% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 4. e3 (31% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.84 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 4. d4 Nd7 5. g3 c6 6. Bg2 h6)
- ECO
- A21
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rn1qkbnr/ppp2ppp/3p4/4p3/2P3b1/2N2N2/PP1PPPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 Bg4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 19 | |
| 1500-1999 | 19 | |
| 2000+ | 1 | |
| All | 39 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e3 | 12 (31%) | |
| 4. g3 | 8 (21%) | |
| 4. e4 | 6 (15%) | |
| 4. d4 | 4 (10%) | |
| 4. d3 | 3 (8%) | |
| 4. h3 | 3 (8%) | |
| 4. Qa4+ | 1 (3%) | |
| 4. Qb3 | 1 (3%) |
Master games
7 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 29%, draw 42%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- Ethereal 14.40 (3545) – Berserk 20241119 (3589) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-03
- Berserk 20241119 (3589) – Ethereal 14.40 (3545) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-01
- SlowChess Blitz 2.9 avx2 (3455) – Ethereal 14.06 (3532) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-23
- Ethereal 14.06 (3532) – SlowChess Blitz 2.9 avx2 (3455) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-21
- Piotr Goluch (2204) – GM Pavel Blatny (2414) 0-1 · TCh-CZE 1 Liga Vychod · 2015-01-18
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Gruntfuttock (2132) – Psicologa (2003) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
- SimioniSV (1886) – DangerousDavey (1944) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 5s
- Cheops60 (1911) – Bunny48 (1912) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: King's English Variation (2… d6 3. Nf3) 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3
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.