English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line is a chess opening classified as ECO A38, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 9 times by this move order. White won 33%, 0% were drawn and Black won 67%. The most popular continuation is 6. O-O (67% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.29 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 h5 8. h3 Nxd4)
- ECO
- A38
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pp1pppbp/2n2np1/2p5/2P5/2N2NP1/PP1PPPBP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 2 6- PGN
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 2 | |
| 2000+ | 7 | |
| All | 9 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. O-O | 6 (67%) | |
| 6. d4 | 3 (33%) |
Master games
10 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 20%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Jon Ludvig Hammer (2682) – GM Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant (2353) 0-1 · London Classic Superrapid · 2015-12-12
- GM Arseniy Nesterov (2568) – IM Quentin Loiseau (2449) 1-0 · 23rd ch-EUR Indiv 2023 · 2023-03-13
- GM Guha Mitrabha (2545) – GM Kirill Stupak (2411) 1/2-1/2 · DINI International 2024 · 2024-07-31
- GM Vladimir Belous (2524) – CM Kim Nygren (2232) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 14th July · 2020-07-14
- Philipp Wendl (2201) – Siegfried Zoernpfenning (2117) 1/2-1/2 · Graz Open A 2022 · 2022-09-06
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM FedirBohatyrchuk1892 (2504) – CM camilomunoz0107 (2394) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Schwachschacher (2485) – HarryPotter_el_mejor (2400) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- beasitmay (2432) – Simonsah2004 (2408) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Knight Variation 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3
Continuations
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Mecking Variation A39 · 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. d4
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.