English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (1. c4 c5)
1. c4 c5
The English Opening: Symmetrical Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A30, reached after 1. c4 c5. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move. 5 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 39,178 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 2. Nc3 (57% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.19 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5)
- ECO
- A30
- Moves
- 2 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1ppppp/8/2p5/2P5/8/PP1PPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. c4 c5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 8,341 | |
| 1500-1999 | 21,811 | |
| 2000+ | 9,026 | |
| All | 39,178 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2. Nc3 Symmetrical Variation, Normal Variation | 22,437 (57%) | |
| 2. g3 | 6,282 (16%) | |
| 2. Nf3 Symmetrical Variation (1… c5 2. Nf3) | 3,663 (9%) | |
| 2. e3 | 2,867 (7%) | |
| 2. e4 | 988 (3%) | |
| 2. d3 | 923 (2%) | |
| 2. d4 | 805 (2%) | |
| 2. b3 | 543 (1%) |
Master games
5,304 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 22%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) – Seer 20241122 (3542) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-03
- Seer 20241122 (3542) – LCZero 0.31-dag-4167c1e-BT4-6147500-it332 (3648) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 27 Premier 2024 · 2024-12-01
- Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) – Stockfish dev-20230308-39da50e (3607) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-23
- Stockfish dev-20230308-39da50e (3607) – Stoofvlees II b4 (3499) 1-0 · TCEC 24 Premier 2023 · 2023-03-21
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2754) 1-0 · Global Chess League 2023 · 2023-06-23
Search all games of the English Opening: Symmetrical Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- barteljaap-jan (2908) – Superstitions_Guy (2732) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM Guary1 (2801) – evg85 (2793) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- GM sillyMASTER (2845) – Superstitions_Guy (2740) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening 1. c4
Continuations
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (1… c5 2. Nf3) A30 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Normal Variation A34 · 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3
- English Opening: Wing Gambit A30 · 1. c4 c5 2. b4
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Ultra-Symmetrical Variation A36 · 1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System A36 · 1. c4 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2
More English Opening lines (all)
- 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
- English Opening: Great Snake Variation 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.