English Orangutan (2… g6 3. b4)
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. b4
The English Orangutan is a chess opening classified as ECO A15, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. b4. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 23 times by this move order. White won 39%, 9% were drawn and Black won 52%. The most popular continuation is 3… Bg7 (91% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.03 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 3… Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Bb2 a5 6. b5)
- ECO
- A15
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppppp1p/5np1/8/1PP5/5N2/P2PPPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. b4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 20 | |
| All | 23 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Bg7 | 21 (91%) | |
| 3… d5 | 1 (4%) | |
| 3… d6 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
131 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 47%, draw 19%, Black 34%). The strongest:
- GM Vladislav Artemiev (2688) – GM Ivan Zemlyanskii (2550) 1/2-1/2 · Aeroflot Open A 2025 · 2025-03-06
- GM Haowen Xue (2553) – GM Anton Demchenko (2611) 1-0 · Titled Tue 12th May 2026 · 2026-05-12
- GM Tomasz Markowski (2576) – GM Pawel Czarnota (2526) 1/2-1/2 · TCh-POL Ekstraligi 2014 · 2014-05-16
- GM Nils Grandelius (2660) – FM Vsevolod Ovchinnikov (2426) 1-0 · Titled Tue 6th Dec Early · 2022-12-06
- GM Diego Flores (2634) – IM Horacio Saldano Dayer (2424) 1-0 · XXV ProAm Copa Clarin Op · 2018-11-09
Search all games of the English Orangutan and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- classicoloco404 (2430) – NM TioCridineno (2492) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- classicoloco404 (2447) – howmuchisthefish2025 (2441) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- classicoloco404 (2436) – Noob_Killer_64 (2451) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Indian Formation 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6
More English Orangutan lines (all)
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.