English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation, Keres Variation (3. g3 c6)
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 c6
The English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation, Keres Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A23, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 c6. 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 1,314 times by this move order. White won 47%, 6% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4. Bg2 (80% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.24 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 Qb6 6. Nb3 a5)
- ECO
- A23
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp1p1ppp/2p2n2/4p3/2P5/2N3P1/PP1PPP1P/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 176 | |
| 1500-1999 | 792 | |
| 2000+ | 346 | |
| All | 1,314 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Bg2 | 1,050 (80%) | |
| 4. d4 | 94 (7%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 70 (5%) | |
| 4. e4 | 69 (5%) | |
| 4. e3 | 14 (1%) | |
| 4. d3 | 13 (1%) | |
| 4. h4 | 1 (0%) | |
| 4. Qa4 | 1 (0%) |
Master games
914 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 19%, Black 42%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2778) – GM Hao Wang (2739) 0-1 · 45th Biel GM · 2012-07-31
- GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2703) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2802) 1-0 · Titled Tue 16th Jul Early · 2024-07-16
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2778) – GM Etienne Bacrot (2713) 1-0 · Biel Exhibition Blitz · 2012-07-22
- GM Ray Robson (2659) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2792) 1/2-1/2 · Naroditsky Mem Blitz 2026 · 2026-07-04
- GM Sergei Movsesian (2673) – GM David Navara (2725) 1-0 · Navara vs Movsesian Simul · 2016-12-04
Highest-rated Lichess games
- hierasousse (2615) – GM jncool68 (2711) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- schoolchess93 (2600) – BishopAndSons (2684) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- ivan_2008 (2578) – RoryMcCann (2686) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Carls-Bremen System 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3
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.