English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System
1. c4 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System is a chess opening classified as ECO A36, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2. 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 5… Nf6 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 5… a6 6. a4 e5 7. d3 Nge7 8. Nge2)
- ECO
- A36
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pp1pppbp/2n3p1/2p5/2P1P3/2N3P1/PP1P1PBP/R1BQK1NR b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. c4 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nf6 | 3 (100%) |
Master games
6 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 67%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- IM Novak Pezelj (2426) – IM Milos Stankovic (2420) 1/2-1/2 · Hotel Sajam 14 GM 2016 · 2016-02-17
- FM Peter Sadilek (2345) – FM Orkun Efe Alumert (2301) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Arena Apr 3rd 2021 · 2021-04-03
- FM George-Daniel Scripcaru (2170) – Daniel Vojak (2232) 1/2-1/2 · KCF University Cup 2021 · 2021-02-07
- Samson Chiu Chin III Lim (2108) – Oscar Joseph Cantela (2047) 1-0 · NCFP Selection Men 2026 · 2026-01-28
- Tobias Goettel (1976) – Oliver Schumann (1875) 1/2-1/2 · ch-GER Youth U25 2017 · 2017-06-04
Highest-rated Lichess games
- firuzh (1875) – ajpineda (1892) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 0s
- Sebastugal_X (1757) – SpInNe11 (1783) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- Chti29 (1554) – riki-tiki-tik (1614) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 300 + 3s
Comes from
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.