Caissa Codex
A29

English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Fianchetto Line, with .. d6 6…O-O 7. O-O

Chess diagram: English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Fianchetto Line, with .. d6 after 7. O-O

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Statistics from Lichess

101,526 games: White 50.1% / Draw 5.8% / Black 44.1%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
25,38425K
25,18625K
15,10415K
11,63612K
4,3374,337
4,3284,328
3,8703,870
3,8073,807

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

Engine evaluation

+0.20 The position is about equal

Best play: 7... Nd4 8. Na4 Nxf3+ 9. Bxf3 Bd4 10. e3 Bb6 11. Bd2 c6 12. Nxb6

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, Four Knights Variation, Fianchetto Line, with .. d6 (ECO A29, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Fianchetto Line, with .. d6, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bc5 5. d3 d6 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O (7 moves).

In 101,526 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.1%, Black 44.1% and 5.8% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…h6, in 25% of those games.

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How to answer 7. O-O

The most played answer, 7…h6, also scores best for Black: 49.9%, with Black winning 46.8% and White 47.0% of 25K games. Of the main answers, 7…Be6 scores lowest: 43.7%. Stockfish's first choice is 7…Nd4.

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

Other lines from the same position

Instead of 6…O-O 7. O-O, the position after English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Fianchetto Line, with .. d6 also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Fianchetto Line, with .. d6 (A29)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-four-knights-variation-fianchetto-line-with-d6-2

https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-four-knights-variation-fianchetto-line-with-d6-2