English Opening
1. c4
The English Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO A10, reached after 1. c4. Black is to move. 11 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 366,272 times by this move order. White won 51%, 5% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 1… e5 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.11 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 1… e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Bc5 4. d3)
- ECO
- A10
- Moves
- 1 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/2P5/8/PP1PPPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 1- PGN
1. c4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 93,997 | |
| 1500-1999 | 195,777 | |
| 2000+ | 76,498 | |
| All | 366,272 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1… e5 King's English Variation (1. c4 e5) | 118,181 (32%) | |
| 1… Nf6 Anglo-Indian Defense (1. c4 Nf6) | 60,946 (17%) | |
| 1… c5 Symmetrical Variation (1. c4 c5) | 39,178 (11%) | |
| 1… e6 Agincourt Defense (1. c4 e6) | 38,614 (11%) | |
| 1… d5 Anglo-Scandinavian Defense | 29,920 (8%) | |
| 1… c6 Caro-Kann Defensive System | 23,793 (6%) | |
| 1… g6 Great Snake Variation | 19,212 (5%) | |
| 1… d6 | 12,252 (3%) |
Master games
7,643 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 18%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) – Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-05
- Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) – Stockfish dev-20260228-702d4b8c (3796) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-02
- LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) – Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-31
- Stockfish dev-20241208-cf10644 (3683) – LCZero 0.31-dag-f7fb268-BT4-61 (3652) 1-0 · TCEC 27 Superfinal 2024 · 2024-12-31
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5107404-T2-5230000 (3633) – Stockfish dev-20230903-b25d68f6 (3666) 1-0 · TCEC 25 Premier 2023 · 2023-09-06
Search all games of the English Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2857) – GM gmbrewchess (2983) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GM cutemouse83 (2963) – GM sillyMASTER (2830) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM Guary1 (2887) – IM shuriks91 (2846) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Continuations
- English Opening: Agincourt Defense (1. c4 e6) A13 · 1. c4 e6
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense A10 · 1. c4 f5
- English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense (1. c4 Nf6) A15 · 1. c4 Nf6
- English Opening: Anglo-Lithuanian Variation A10 · 1. c4 Nc6
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense A10 · 1. c4 d5
- English Opening: Caro-Kann Defensive System A11 · 1. c4 c6
- English Opening: Great Snake Variation A10 · 1. c4 g6
- English Opening: Jaenisch Gambit A10 · 1. c4 b5
- English Opening: King's English Variation (1. c4 e5) A20 · 1. c4 e5
- English Opening: Myers Defense A10 · 1. c4 g5
- English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (1. c4 c5) A30 · 1. c4 c5
More English Opening lines (all)
- English Opening: Achilles-Omega Gambit A10
- English Opening: Adorjan 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-Scandinavian Defense, Löhn Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Malvinas Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Schulz Gambit A10
- English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System, Prickly Pawn Pass System A10
- English Opening: Myers Gambit A10
- English Opening: Porcupine Variation A10
- English Opening: Wade 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.