English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 (6… Nge7 7. a3)
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 e5 6. O-O Nge7 7. a3
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 7. a3. 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 3 times by this move order. White won 67%, 0% were drawn and Black won 33%. The most popular continuation is 7… O-O (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 35; best line 7… O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Rb1 a5 10. Ne1)
- ECO
- A37
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pp1pnpbp/2n3p1/2p1p3/2P5/P1N2NP1/1P1PPPBP/R1BQ1RK1 b kq - 0 7- PGN
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 e5 6. O-O Nge7 7. a3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… O-O | 2 (67%) | |
| 7… d6 | 1 (33%) |
Master games
19 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 36%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Babujian (2451) – GM Hovik Hayrapetyan (2517) 1/2-1/2 · 12th Poti Open 2017 · 2017-07-21
- GM Tiger Hillarp Persson (2533) – GM Thomas Ernst (2370) 1-0 · Paskturneringen Open 2016 · 2016-03-27
- IM Rauan Sagit (2430) – FM Anders Livner (2350) 0-1 · 47th Rilton Cup 2017-18 · 2018-01-01
- GM James Tarjan (2518) – Fernando Semprun Martinez (2253) 1-0 · Gibraltar Masters 2015 · 2015-02-03
- Azamat Utegaliyev (2522) – Assad Mamyrbay (2246) 1-0 · Almaty Open 2016 · 2016-10-10
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Schuppiluliuma (2295) – mared2 (2304) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Schuppiluliuma (2258) – metro13790 (2304) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- YuriyKondr (2008) – itupac (1964) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
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
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.