English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Three Knights, Fianchetto Variation (5… d6 6. Nc3)
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O d6 6. Nc3
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Three Knights, Fianchetto Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A37, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O d6 6. Nc3. 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 14 times by this move order. White won 50%, 0% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 6… e5 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.06 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 6… Rb8 7. Rb1 Nf6 8. b3 O-O 9. Bb2)
- ECO
- A37
- Moves
- 11 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pp2ppbp/2np2p1/2p5/2P5/2N2NP1/PP1PPPBP/R1BQ1RK1 b kq - 1 6- PGN
1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O d6 6. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 1 | |
| 1500-1999 | 3 | |
| 2000+ | 10 | |
| All | 14 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6… e5 | 6 (43%) | |
| 6… Nf6 | 3 (21%) | |
| 6… Bf5 | 2 (14%) | |
| 6… Nh6 | 1 (7%) | |
| 6… Bd7 | 1 (7%) | |
| 6… e6 | 1 (7%) |
Master games
78 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 21%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Bartosz Socko (2629) – GM Igor Khenkin (2669) 1/2-1/2 · 6th LCT GpA 2012 · 2012-07-15
- GM Chithambaram VR. Aravindh (2703) – GM Simen Agdestein (2564) 1-0 · Titled Tue 16th Jul Early · 2024-07-16
- GM Vladimir Belous (2525) – GM Jose Eduardo Martinez Alcantara (2591) 0-1 · Titled Tue 6th Sep Early · 2022-09-06
- GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2627) – IM Vasiliy Korchmar (2451) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 15th Dec · 2020-12-15
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2796) – FM Vladyslav Sydoryka (2278) 1-0 · Titled Tue 9th Jul Late · 2024-07-09
Highest-rated Lichess games
- BilBog123 (2666) – FM Podrebo (2606) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Viti86 (2578) – puretraining (2608) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- CeMeH_6aKuH (2495) – lidenbrook (2362) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 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.