English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights, Fianchetto Variation
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights, Fianchetto Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A36, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3. 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 5,046 times by this move order. White won 51%, 6% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 3… g6 (41% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.12 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. e3 e6 6. Nge2)
- ECO
- A36
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pp1ppppp/2n5/2p5/2P5/2N3P1/PP1PPP1P/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 805 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,937 | |
| 2000+ | 1,304 | |
| All | 5,046 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… g6 | 2,086 (41%) | |
| 3… Nf6 | 860 (17%) | |
| 3… e6 | 703 (14%) | |
| 3… d6 | 634 (13%) | |
| 3… e5 | 420 (8%) | |
| 3… b6 | 147 (3%) | |
| 3… a6 | 99 (2%) | |
| 3… h5 | 18 (0%) |
Master games
2,402 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 43%, draw 25%, Black 32%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2776) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2751) 1-0 · 10th Norway Armageddon · 2022-06-03
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2716) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-11
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) – GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2716) 1-0 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-11
- GM Levon Aronian (2772) – GM Quang Liem Le (2713) 1-0 · Superbet Blitz 2019 · 2019-11-10
- GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2740) – GM Gukesh D (2736) 1-0 · Global Chess League 2023 · 2023-06-24
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM gravereaper (2696) – Banan555 (2612) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- Fools_For_Luck (2627) – DikiyDjo (2675) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- schoolchess93 (2591) – RonaldoGoat_CR7 (2695) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights Variation 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6
Continuations
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Three Knights, Fianchetto Variation (4… Bg7 5. Nf3) A37 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with e3 A36 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. e3 e5
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.