8a7b6c5d4e3f2g1h

1. c4

Shown from White's side. ECO A10.

Opening guide · an opening for White

English Opening

The English Opening starts 1. c4. White controls the d5 square from the side instead of occupying the centre with a pawn, and keeps the choice of setup open. It often transposes to queen's pawn openings, and after 1...e5 it becomes a Sicilian Defense with colours reversed and an extra move for White.

Games in our sample
90,173
White wins
50.6%
Draws
4.8%
Black wins
44.6%
Open this position on the analysis boardResults by rating

How the English Opening scores at each rating

Each row is one rating band. The share is how much of all the games in that band started with this opening.

RatingGamesShareWhite winsDrawsBlack wins
under 10003,0971.4%47.4%4.3%48.3%
1000 to 11995,1571.6%51.5%4.0%44.5%
1200 to 13999,3742.0%50.7%3.4%45.9%
1400 to 159914,5152.4%52.0%3.6%44.4%
1600 to 179919,4863.0%51.0%4.4%44.6%
1800 to 199919,4463.8%50.3%5.2%44.6%
2000 to 219912,3554.7%50.4%6.0%43.6%
2200 and over6,7436.0%48.4%8.6%42.9%
All ratings90,1732.9%50.6%4.8%44.6%

Counted from 3,156,949 rated blitz, rapid and classical games played on Lichess from 2026-10-01 to 2026-10-02 (the first 5,000,000 games of the month's public file; bullet and unrated games left out). The rating is the average of the two players' Lichess ratings. Source: the Lichess open database (public domain).

Main lines

The named lines of the English Opening that were played most in our sample, each with the position it reaches.

  • 8a7b6c5d4e3f2g1h

    King's English Variation

    1. c4 e5

    9,954 games · White 51.2% · draws 4.3% · Black 44.5%

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  • 8a7b6c5d4e3f2g1h

    Agincourt Defense

    1. c4 e6

    7,425 games · White 49.9% · draws 4.9% · Black 45.2%

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  • 8a7b6c5d4e3f2g1h

    King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian

    1. c4 e5 2. Nc3

    6,177 games · White 52.0% · draws 4.2% · Black 43.8%

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  • 8a7b6c5d4e3f2g1h

    Anglo-Scandinavian Defense

    1. c4 d5

    5,284 games · White 52.4% · draws 4.5% · Black 43.1%

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  • 8a7b6c5d4e3f2g1h

    Symmetrical Variation

    1. c4 c5

    4,676 games · White 50.4% · draws 4.9% · Black 44.7%

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  • 8a7b6c5d4e3f2g1h

    Great Snake Variation

    1. c4 g6

    3,782 games · White 50.3% · draws 4.2% · Black 45.5%

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Ideas for White

  • Nc3 and a king's fianchetto with g3 and Bg2 add control of d5.

Ideas for Black

  • 1...e5 takes space in the centre, 1...c5 keeps the symmetry, and 1...Nf6 with ...e6 heads for queen's pawn positions.

Questions

What are the moves of the English Opening?
1. c4. In the ECO classification it is filed under A10.
How does the English Opening score?
In 90,173 games with it in our sample, White won 50.6%, 4.8% were drawn and Black won 44.6%.
At which ratings is the English Opening played most?
Among players rated 2200 and over it is 6.0% of all games in our sample, its highest share. Its lowest share, 1.4%, is among players rated under 1000.
Which line of the English Opening is played most?
English Opening: King's English Variation (1. c4 e5), with 9,954 games in our sample.

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