English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Mecking Variation
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. d4
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Mecking Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A39, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. d4. 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 33%, 0% were drawn and Black won 67%. The most popular continuation is 7… cxd4 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.21 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 7… d6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 e6 10. Rb1)
- ECO
- A39
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
r1bq1rk1/pp1pppbp/2n2np1/2p5/2PP4/2N2NP1/PP2PPBP/R1BQ1RK1 b - - 0 7- PGN
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. d4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 3 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… cxd4 | 3 (100%) |
Master games
8 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 50%, draw 25%, Black 25%). The strongest:
- GM B. Adhiban (2587) – IM Rohith Krishna S (2423) 1/2-1/2 · 29th Abu Dhabi Masters · 2023-08-19
- IM Ulf Von Herman (2340) – GM Tomi Nyback (2572) 1/2-1/2 · Bundesliga 2016-17 · 2017-05-01
- IM Renzo Mantovani (2293) – GM Hristos Banikas (2606) 0-1 · 52nd Italian Teams GpA · 2021-09-23
- IM Paulo Dias (2330) – Joao Dinis de Sousa (2249) 1-0 · ch-POR 2023 · 2023-09-09
- Theodoros Varvadoukas (2109) – IM Simone De Filomeno (2450) 1-0 · European Rapid 2022 · 2022-12-17
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
- poker1982 (2232) – Utkarsh2909 (2194) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7
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.