English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Three Knights, Fianchetto Variation (4… Bg7 5. Nf3)
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Three Knights, Fianchetto Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A37, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3. It is a line of the English Opening. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 646 times by this move order. White won 50%, 7% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nf6 (51% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.06 (Stockfish, depth 49; best line 5… Rb8 6. O-O d6 7. e3 Nf6 8. d4)
- ECO
- A37
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
r1bqk1nr/pp1pppbp/2n3p1/2p5/2P5/2N2NP1/PP1PPPBP/R1BQK2R b KQkq - 3 5- PGN
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 83 | |
| 1500-1999 | 391 | |
| 2000+ | 172 | |
| All | 646 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nf6 | 332 (51%) | |
| 5… e6 | 122 (19%) | |
| 5… d6 | 113 (17%) | |
| 5… e5 Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 (5. Nf3 e5) | 43 (7%) | |
| 5… Bxc3 | 9 (1%) | |
| 5… a6 | 5 (1%) | |
| 5… Nh6 | 5 (1%) | |
| 5… b6 | 5 (1%) |
Master games
744 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 36%, draw 31%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- GM Alexander Grischuk (2766) – GM So, W. (2778) 1/2-1/2 · GCT Blitz Paris 2018 · 2018-06-24
- GM Yangyi Yu (2703) – GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (2748) 1/2-1/2 · 45th Olympiad 2024 · 2024-09-22
- GM Pavel Eljanov (2727) – GM Ildar Khairullin (2629) 1/2-1/2 · 16th ch-EUR Indiv 2015 · 2015-03-03
- GM Maxime Lagarde (2657) – GM Nijat Abasov (2632) 1-0 · Chess24 Banter Blitz Cup · 2020-01-06
- GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2641) – GM Aleksandr Lenderman (2611) 1/2-1/2 · PRO League Group Stage · 2018-01-18
Highest-rated Lichess games
- The_Void_Which_Binds (2585) – GM CXCX83 (2647) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- The_Void_Which_Binds (2580) – khvichachess (2635) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- IM Leviathan64 (2582) – mikhaylov_artem (2546) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights, Fianchetto Variation 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3
Continuations
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with Nf3 (5. Nf3 e5) A37 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 e5
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Double Fianchetto A38 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. b3
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.