English Opening: Porcupine Variation
1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 fxe4 4. g4
The English Opening: Porcupine Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A10, reached after 1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 fxe4 4. g4. 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 4 times by this move order. White won 0%, 0% were drawn and Black won 100%. The most popular continuation is 4… h6 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.47 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 4… g6 5. g5 Nh5 6. Nxe4 Bg7 7. Ne2)
- ECO
- A10
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppppp1pp/5n2/8/2P1p1P1/2N5/PP1P1P1P/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 fxe4 4. g4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… h6 | 2 (50%) | |
| 4… g6 | 1 (25%) | |
| 4… d5 | 1 (25%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 0%, Black 67%). The strongest:
- FM Tautvydas Vedrickas (2354) – GM Valery Kazakouski (2524) 0-1 · ch-LTU 2023 · 2023-06-08
- FM Javier Buenafe Moya (2161) – FM Jens Hirneise (2300) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Jul Late · 2024-07-30
- FM Javier Buenafe Moya (2199) – CM Marc Llari (2226) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Jun Early · 2024-06-18
Search all games of the English Opening: Porcupine Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Norbert_de_Niro (2234) – Sohel_nur (2126) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 600 + 0s
- Flyingben (2204) – parvadomus (2120) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- chesswitti (2071) – Kermit-der-Frosch (2054) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Ferenc Gambit 1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4
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-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
- English Opening: Great Snake Variation 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.