A14

English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Neo-Catalan Declined, Early b3

Chess diagram: English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Neo-Catalan Declined, Early b3 after 5. b3

Type a move and press Enter: e4, Nf3, O-O, or from and to squares like g1f3 (e7e8q to promote). The board is also played with the mouse.

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Statistics from Lichess

50,519 games: White 49.3% / Draw 8.1% / Black 42.5%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
42,32942K
2,2192,219
1,5871,587
1,2641,264
1,0031,003
811811
569569
196196

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 1, 2026

Engine evaluation

−0.02 The position is about equal

Best play: 5... d4 6. e3 c5 7. exd4 cxd4 8. O-O Nc6 9. d3 O-O 10. Re1

Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.

Overview

English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Neo-Catalan Declined, Early b3 (ECO A14, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Neo-Catalan Declined, reached after 1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. b3 (5 moves).

In 50,519 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.3%, Black 42.5% and 8.1% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 5…O-O, in 84% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations.

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Variations (2)

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Agincourt Defense, Neo-Catalan Declined, Early b3 (A14)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-agincourt-defense-neo-catalan-declined-early-b3