English Opening: King's English Variation 2…d6 3. Nf3
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
588,592 games: White 53.6% / Draw 5.2% / Black 41.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 137,661138K | ||
| 129,367129K | ||
| 68,29068K | ||
| 50,65951K | ||
| 46,45046K | ||
| 41,45741K | ||
| Smyslov Defense | 23,96524K | |
| 22,78023K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.28 The position is about equal
Best play: 3... f5 4. d4 e4 5. Ng1 Nf6 6. Bf4 Be7 7. h4 h6 8. e3
Stockfish 19, depth 30, after the line's last move. Scores are in pawns, from White's side.
By rating
Rating changes little here: White scores 55% under 1400, 56% at 2200 and up and 52% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 130K | |
| 1400–1799 | 311K | |
| 1800–2199 | 340K | |
| 2200 and up | 68K | |
| Masters, over the board | 898 |
Master games
- Nakamura, H. – Svidler, P.
- Aronian, L. – Short, N.
- Aronian, L. – Short, N.
- Sevian, S. – Grischuk, A.
- Aronian, L. – Bartel, 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 27, 2026
Overview
English Opening: King's English Variation (ECO A21, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 (3 moves).
In 588,592 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 53.6%, Black 41.2% and 5.2% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…Nf6, in 23% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, English Opening: King's English Variation, Smyslov Defense.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to answer 3. Nf3
3…f5 scores best for Black: 46.4%, with Black winning 43.7% and White 50.9% of 129K games. The most played, 3…Nf6, scores 43.2% in 138K games, and 3…Be6 scores lowest: 42.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3…f5.
Main answers: those played in at least 5% of these games. Score: Black'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
This line has stayed between 0.021% and 0.026% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.023% in 2025).
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.024% | 8,484 |
| 2017 | 0.025% | 13,592 |
| 2018 | 0.025% | 19,989 |
| 2019 | 0.026% | 32,715 |
| 2020 | 0.024% | 69,192 |
| 2021 | 0.022% | 85,296 |
| 2022 | 0.021% | 80,716 |
| 2023 | 0.022% | 82,270 |
| 2024 | 0.022% | 78,544 |
| 2025 | 0.023% | 80,248 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.024% | 26,572 |
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 (1)
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “English Opening: King's English Variation (A21)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-2