English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Rubinstein Variation (6. Bg2 Nc7)
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nc7
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Rubinstein Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A34, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nc7. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4 times by this move order. White won 25%, 25% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 7. O-O (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7. a3 e5 8. b4 f6 9. b5 Nd4)
- ECO
- A34
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
r1bqkb1r/ppn1pppp/2n5/2p5/8/2N2NP1/PP1PPPBP/R1BQK2R w KQkq - 3 7- PGN
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Nc7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 4 | |
| All | 4 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. O-O | 2 (50%) | |
| 7. a3 | 2 (50%) |
Master games
59 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 39%, draw 32%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Vladimir Malakhov (2707) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) 0-1 · FIDE World Cup 2013 · 2013-08-19
- GM Sergei Movsesian (2700) – GM Andrei Volokitin (2682) 0-1 · 19th European Teams · 2013-11-11
- GM Maxim Matlakov (2674) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2693) 1/2-1/2 · AI Cup Div 3 W · 2023-09-25
- GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen (2618) – GM Jeffery Xiong (2693) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 · 2023-10-26
- GM Mads Andersen (2605) – GM Daniil Dubov (2701) 1/2-1/2 · 19th ch-EUR Indiv 2018 · 2018-03-20
Highest-rated Lichess games
- alexlele2008 (2632) – GM novik70 (2560) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- beasitmay (2414) – KUDEEZY (2387) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
- Tutor64 (2299) – vectorial (2254) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (1… c5 2. Nf3) 1. c4 c5 2. 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.