Openings Flank openings

English Opening: Main Setups, Plans and Stats by Rating

1.c4 controls d5 from the side, like a Sicilian with an extra tempo. White usually plays g3, Bg2 and Nc3 and fights for the light squares. It is flexible and can transpose into many 1.d4 openings.

For White1.c4Seen in 2.9% of rated games

Lichess rating

A10English Opening

Games from this position (1600–1999): 223k

Played	Games	White · Draw · Black
30%	67k	51%44%
18%	39k	49%45%
11%	25k	50%45%
11%	24k	49%46%
8%	18k	53%43%
7%	15k	48%47%
6%	13k	50%45%
3%	7,507	50%46%
2%	4,858	49%47%
2%	4,836	50%45%
1%	2,417	51%45%

Practice as White Practice as Black

Plans for both sides

White

The Botvinnik/closed setup: g3, Bg2, Nc3, e4 or e3, Nge2.
Against 1...e5 (Reversed Sicilian) your bishop on g2 pressures d5 and b7.
Queenside expansion with Rb1, b4–b5 is a typical plan.

Black

1...e5 takes the center; 1...c5 copies; 1...Nf6 keeps options open.
Against White’s g3 setups, a solid ...d5 or ...e5 center works well.
Do not let White’s g2 bishop and Nc3 dominate d5.

English Opening at each rating

How often the position after 1.c4 comes up in rated Lichess games, how it scores and what players answer next.

Rating	Games (Share of games)	White · Draw · Black	Top next move
<1200	44k1.5%	50%46%	1...e547%
1200–1599	134k2.3%	51%45%	1...e540%
1600–1999	223k3.5%	50%45%	1...e530%
2000+	103k5.1%	49%44%	1...Nf625%
All	504k2.9%	50%45%	1...e533%

What usually comes next

The most played moves from here, all ratings together. Thicker line = played more often.

Main variations

A Dragon with colors reversed and an extra tempo for White.
3,154 games from this position (all ratings, any move order). White won 51%, 6% were drawn, Black won 43%.
Show on the board: 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2
Both sides fianchetto. Slow, positional maneuvering.
4,025 games from this position (all ratings, any move order). White won 50%, 6% were drawn, Black won 44%.
Show on the board: 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7
White plays g3 or e3; Black answers ...Bb4 or ...d5.
7,639 games from this position (all ratings, any move order). White won 51%, 6% were drawn, Black won 43%.
Show on the board: 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6
A Catalan setup without d4: White keeps the d-pawn back and can choose d4 or b3 later. About seven in ten of these games are played at 2000+.
4,000 games from this position (all ratings, any move order). White won 50%, 8% were drawn, Black won 42%.
Show on the board: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2
A common way the English turns into a Queen’s Gambit Declined.
136k games from this position (all ratings, any move order). White won 51%, 5% were drawn, Black won 44%.
Show on the board: 1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4

At club level

Below 2000 the English is far less common than 1.e4 or 1.d4, so many Black players are not prepared. Learning one setup (g3, Bg2, Nc3) is enough to start.

Practice it

The trainer answers with the replies people at your rating choose, in the same proportions, and brings back your mistakes on a schedule.

Practice as White Practice as Black

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