English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Rubinstein Variation (5. Bg2 Nc7)
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc7
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Rubinstein Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A34, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. 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 47 times by this move order. White won 47%, 8% were drawn and Black won 45%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nf3 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.13 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6. b3 e5 7. Bb2 Be7 8. Rc1 f6)
- ECO
- A34
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppn1pppp/8/2p5/8/2N3P1/PP1PPPBP/R1BQK1NR w KQkq - 2 6- PGN
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 11 | |
| 2000+ | 35 | |
| All | 47 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nf3 | 21 (45%) | |
| 6. e3 | 7 (15%) | |
| 6. d3 | 6 (13%) | |
| 6. Qb3 | 4 (9%) | |
| 6. Qa4+ | 3 (6%) | |
| 6. f4 | 2 (4%) | |
| 6. e4 | 2 (4%) | |
| 6. b3 | 2 (4%) |
Master games
300 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 18%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Praggnanandhaa R (2758) – GM Hans Moke Niemann (2725) 1-0 · Tata Steel India Blitz · 2026-01-11
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2787) – GM Praggnanandhaa R (2690) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE World Cup 2023 · 2023-08-09
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2743) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2717) 1-0 · FIDE World Blitz 2013 · 2013-06-10
- GM Richard Rapport (2752) – GM Andrei Volokitin (2664) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 · 2023-10-27
- GM Gukesh D (2746) – GM Andrei Volokitin (2660) 1-0 · 13th London Classic 2023 · 2023-12-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- El_Precisione (2588) – chess646464 (2580) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- classicoloco404 (2454) – swynwr (2448) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- howmuchisthefish2025 (2431) – AaronGT24 (2418) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Fianchetto Variation 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 c5 3. g3
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.