Caissa Codex
A10

English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System, Prickly Pawn Pass System

Chess diagram: English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System, Prickly Pawn Pass System after 8…a6

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.

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

5,998 games: White 50.5% / Draw 5.7% / Black 43.8%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
3,2773,277
1,0391,039
773773
217217
209209
170170
115115
9393

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 25, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.28 The position is about equal

Best play: 9. h3 b5 10. a3 Re8 11. b3 Nbd7 12. Be3 Rb8 13. Rb1 Bb7

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

Overview

English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System, Prickly Pawn Pass System (ECO A10, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Great Snake Variation, reached after 1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Nge2 e5 7. O-O c6 8. d3 a6 (8 moves).

In 5,998 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.5%, Black 43.8% and 5.7% were drawn. White's most played move here is 9. h3, in 55% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake
What would you like to send?

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

How to play against the English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System, Prickly Pawn Pass System

The most played answer, 9. h3, also scores best for White: 55.5%, with White winning 52.8% and Black 41.9% of 3,277 games. Of the main answers, 9. f4 scores lowest: 49.7%. Stockfish's first choice is also 9. h3.

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

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Nge2 e5 7. O-O c6 8. d3 a6, the position after English Opening: Great Snake Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: King's English Variation, Botvinnik System, Prickly Pawn Pass System (A10)”. Lichess data as of 25 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-botvinnik-system-prickly-pawn-pass-system

https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-botvinnik-system-prickly-pawn-pass-system