English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A35, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 106 times by this move order. White won 53%, 4% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4. d4 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.22 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4. g3 d5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 dxc4)
- ECO
- A35
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/pp1ppppp/2n2n2/2p5/2P5/2N2N2/PP1PPPPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 4 4- PGN
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 15 | |
| 1500-1999 | 38 | |
| 2000+ | 53 | |
| All | 106 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. d4 | 34 (32%) | |
| 4. e3 | 30 (28%) | |
| 4. g3 | 26 (25%) | |
| 4. e4 | 7 (7%) | |
| 4. d3 | 6 (6%) | |
| 4. h3 | 2 (2%) | |
| 4. Qc2 | 1 (1%) |
Master games
842 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 37%, Black 19%). The strongest:
- GM Levon Aronian (2812) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2773) 1-0 · Zurich CC Blitz 2014 · 2014-01-29
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2831) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2751) 1-0 · TechM GCL 2024 · 2024-10-10
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) – GM So, W. (2760) 0-1 · Superbet Blitz 2019 · 2019-11-09
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2750) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 5m+2spm 2017 · 2017-11-21
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2806) – GM So, W. (2772) 1/2-1/2 · 8th Sinquefield Cup 2021 · 2021-08-20
Highest-rated Lichess games
- slouuurps (2717) – kletochkaa_2007 (2719) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- JeromePanoSoler (2691) – Johnizard (2727) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- slouuuurps (2687) – FM sparking-genio (2589) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (1… c5 2. Nf3) 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3
Continuations
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation, Keres-Parma System A35 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 e6
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (5. d4 cxd4) A34 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. d4 cxd4
- Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch Defense (5. d4 e6) D41 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. d4 e6
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.