English Orangutan (1… Nf6 2. b4)

1. c4 Nf6 2. b4

The English Orangutan is a chess opening classified as ECO A15, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. b4. Black is to move.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 103 times by this move order. White won 47%, 3% were drawn and Black won 50%. The most popular continuation is 2… g6 (26% of games).

Engine evaluation: −0.33 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 2… e5 3. a3 c5 4. b5 d5 5. cxd5)

ECO: A15
Moves: 3 plies
FEN: rnbqkb1r/pppppppp/5n2/8/1PP5/8/P2PPPPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2
PGN: 1. c4 Nf6 2. b4

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	36	42%53%
1500-1999	50	52%44%
2000+	17	41%59%
All	103	47%50%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
2… g6	27 (26%)	37%59%
2… e6	24 (23%)	54%38%
2… e5	21 (20%)	48%52%
2… d5	11 (11%)	55%45%
2… d6	6 (6%)	50%50%
2… b6	5 (5%)	20%20%60%
2… Nc6	4 (4%)	50%50%
2… c6	2 (2%)	50%50%

Master games

10 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 60%, draw 20%, Black 20%). The strongest:

GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2593) – Danila Poliannikov (2227) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 10th Nov · 2020-11-10
GM Azer Mirzoev (2432) – FM Michel Bifulco (2298) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 1st Feb B · 2022-02-02
GM Azer Mirzoev (2432) – WGM Evgeniya Doluhanova (2255) 1-0 · Titled Tuesday 25th Jan · 2022-01-25
IM Thomas Dionisi (2393) – Andrew Jing (2226) 1-0 · Titled Tue 7th Jan Late · 2025-01-07
Giuseppe Laco (2049) – GM Sinisa Drazic (2421) 0-1 · 19th HIT Open A 2014 · 2014-02-02

Search all games of the English Orangutan and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

FM Tich0ndrius (2469) – Ngazio2000 (2471) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
magnusispoorplayer1 (2302) – MimiTheBest (2437) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
zxzx612 (2386) – Attackontitan7 (2224) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 600 + 0s

Comes from

English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense (1. c4 Nf6) 1. c4 Nf6

More English Orangutan lines (all)

English Orangutan (2… g6 3. b4) A15

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.