English Opening: Great Snake Variation
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
5,953,998 games: White 49.7% / Draw 5.3% / Black 44.9%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 3,332,2113.3M | ||
| 904,906905K | ||
| 811,834812K | ||
| 297,024297K | ||
| 255,007255K | ||
| 111,335111K | ||
| 90,92491K | ||
| 63,81464K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.29 The position is about equal
Best play: 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: Black scores 50% under 1400, 48% at 2200 and up and 48% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 994K | |
| 1400–1799 | 3.2M | |
| 1800–2199 | 3.3M | |
| 2200 and up | 669K | |
| Masters, over the board | 15K |
Master games
- Ding Liren – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Gelfand, B.
- Aronian, L. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Caruana, F.
- Svidler, P. – Carlsen, M.
Rated blitz, rapid and classical Lichess games by rating band, and over-the-board games of players rated 2200+ from the Lichess masters database, updated Sep 26, 2026
Overview
English Opening: Great Snake Variation (ECO A10, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening, reached after 1. c4 g6 (1 move).
In 5,953,998 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 49.7%, Black 44.9% and 5.3% were drawn. White's most played move here is 2. Nc3, in 56% of those games.
It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are English Opening: Adorjan Defense and English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System, Prickly Pawn Pass System.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to play against the English Opening: Great Snake Variation
2. g3 scores best for White: 53.7%, with White winning 50.8% and Black 43.4% of 905K games. The most played, 2. Nc3, scores 52.6% in 3.3M games, and 2. d4 scores lowest: 51.7%. Stockfish's first choice is 2. d4.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: White's wins plus half the draws, in rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500. How to play against other popular openings
Popularity by year
The English Opening: Great Snake Variation peaked in 2019 at 0.26% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.23% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.2% | 72,175 |
| 2017 | 0.22% | 123,168 |
| 2018 | 0.24% | 190,973 |
| 2019 | 0.26% | 325,705 |
| 2020 | 0.25% | 731,501 |
| 2021 | 0.23% | 903,645 |
| 2022 | 0.22% | 842,287 |
| 2023 | 0.22% | 833,027 |
| 2024 | 0.22% | 803,829 |
| 2025 | 0.23% | 782,054 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.23% | 248,553 |
Share of rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500 (blitz, rapid and classical) that reach this position, by year; 2026: January to April. Which openings are rising and falling
Variations (2)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Great Snake Variation (A10)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-great-snake-variation