Chess Codex
Tree path 5 levels English Opening › King's English Variation › Reversed Sicilian › English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation › English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation
  1. Chess Codex
  2. English Opening A10
  3. King's English Variation A20
  4. Reversed Sicilian A21
  5. English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation A22
  6. English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation A28 you are here
A28

English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation

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Overview

English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation is a variation within the Flank Openings family, indexed as ECO A28.

The Flank Openings group covers flank openings — systems that delay the central pawn break and instead develop pieces and pawns on the wings.

Play reaches this position via 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6, after 6 plies of opening development.

It is a variation of English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation, which itself descends from the root opening English Opening.

It is the root of 7 named variations, with English Opening: Four Knights System, Nimzowitsch Variation, English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Bradley Beach Variation, and others among the most studied.

In total, the branch covers 15 sub-variations across all depths.

Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.

ECO code
A28
Group
Flank Openings (A)
Plies
6
Parent
English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation
Direct variations
7
Total in subtree
15

This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Statistics from Lichess

1,840,475 games · White 52.0% / Draw 5.8% / Black 42.2%

MovesGamesW / D / B
g3637,794
e3438,328
d4257,877
e4209,370
d3202,674
a373,980
Qc26,786
b35,386

Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 00:46:34

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Variations (7)

Related variations at the same level

Sister lines that share the same parent English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation:

Show all 15 sub-variations (full subtree)

https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-four-knights-variation