English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 (6. O-O Nge7)
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 e5 6. O-O Nge7
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 is a chess opening classified as ECO A37, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 e5 6. O-O Nge7. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 20 times by this move order. White won 55%, 5% were drawn and Black won 40%. The most popular continuation is 7. d3 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.24 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 7. a3 O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Rb1 a5)
- ECO
- A37
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pp1pnpbp/2n3p1/2p1p3/2P5/2N2NP1/PP1PPPBP/R1BQ1RK1 w kq - 2 7- PGN
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 e5 6. O-O Nge7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 13 | |
| All | 20 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. d3 Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 (6… Nge7 7. d3) | 9 (45%) | |
| 7. e3 | 4 (20%) | |
| 7. a3 Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 (6… Nge7 7. a3) | 3 (15%) | |
| 7. Ne1 | 2 (10%) | |
| 7. e4 | 1 (5%) | |
| 7. b3 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
41 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 22%, Black 41%). The strongest:
- GM Axel Bachmann (2531) – GM Julio E Granda Zuniga (2659) 0-1 · VIII American Continental 2013 · 2013-05-15
- GM Adrien Demuth (2485) – GM Etienne Bacrot (2648) 1/2-1/2 · 95th ch-FRA 2022 · 2022-08-13
- IM Luka Draskovic (2470) – GM Vitaliy Bernadskiy (2611) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-SRB Premier 2021 · 2021-09-15
- GM Deepan Chakkravarthy J. (2523) – WGM Mary Ann Gomes (2381) 1-0 · TATA 50th ch-IND National Premier · 2012-10-03
- IM Tomas Studnicka (2336) – GM Pouria Darini (2524) 0-1 · 5th Sardaran Open 2016 · 2016-07-23
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM Leviathan64 (2582) – mikhaylov_artem (2546) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- michalkrycki2010 (2520) – FM DiogenesSinopeus (2522) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- NM Oleksiy_Gross (2511) – FM DiogenesSinopeus (2476) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 (5. Nf3 e5) 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 e5
Continuations
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 (6… Nge7 7. a3) A37 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 e5 6. O-O Nge7 7. a3
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 (6… Nge7 7. d3) A37 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 e5 6. O-O Nge7 7. d3
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.