English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Double Fianchetto
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. b3
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Double Fianchetto is a chess opening classified as ECO A38, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. b3. 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 11 times by this move order. White won 55%, 0% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 7… b6 (36% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.17 (Stockfish, depth 34; best line 7… d5 8. Ba3 Qa5 9. cxd5 Nxd5 10. Bb2)
- ECO
- A38
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp1pppbp/2n2np1/2p5/2P5/1PN2NP1/P2PPPBP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 0 7- PGN
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. b3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 7 | |
| 2000+ | 2 | |
| All | 11 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… b6 | 4 (36%) | |
| 7… Ne4 | 2 (18%) | |
| 7… e6 | 2 (18%) | |
| 7… d5 | 1 (9%) | |
| 7… e5 | 1 (9%) | |
| 7… d6 | 1 (9%) |
Master games
3 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 100%, draw 0%, Black 0%). The strongest:
- IM Milton Pantzar (2421) – FM Kadir Erden (2271) 1-0 · Titled Arena May 8th 2021 · 2021-05-08
- FM Sandi Stojanovski (2232) – FM Ariel Tokman (2316) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 8th June · 2021-06-08
- FM Jakub Seemann (2363) – FM Sergey Shtyka (2154) 1-0 · Titled Tue 5th Apr Early · 2022-04-05
Highest-rated Lichess games
- calz100 (2225) – Implacable2025 (2264) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Nekosno (2019) – EvaJenny (2167) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 600 + 5s
- Combapatino (1869) – Sitraka89 (1838) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Three Knights, Fianchetto Variation (4… Bg7 5. Nf3) 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3
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.