English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (1… c5 2. Nf3)

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3

English Opening: Symmetrical Variation after 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 87654321abcdefgh

The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A30, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3. It is a line of the English Opening. Black is to move. 6 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 3,663 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nc6 (48% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.26 (Stockfish, depth 54; best line 2… Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2)

ECO
A30
Moves
3 plies
FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1ppppp/8/2p5/2P5/5N2/PP1PPPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 1 2
PGN
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average ratingGamesWhite / draw / Black
0-149952551%44%
1500-19991,62553%42%
2000+1,51349%44%
All3,66351%43%

Most played moves

MoveGamesWhite / draw / Black
2… Nc61,763 (48%)50%44%
2… Nf6653 (18%)50%44%
2… e6341 (9%)52%44%
2… d6322 (9%)52%42%
2… g6296 (8%)50%43%
2… b6159 (4%)48%47%
2… d537 (1%)62%35%
2… a622 (1%)50%45%

Master games

8,227 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 29%, Black 25%). The strongest:

Search all games of the English Opening: Symmetrical Variation and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

Comes from

English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (1. c4 c5) 1. c4 c5

Continuations

More English Opening lines (all)

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.