Caissa Codex
A28

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

Chess diagram: English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Korchnoi Line after 4. a3

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Statistics from Lichess

80,632 games: White 52.2% / Draw 5.9% / Black 41.9%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next moveGamesWhite / Draw / BlackW / D / B
27,42127K
13,94914K
10,36710K
6,7226,722
6,3196,319
4,7354,735
4,2564,256
4,1554,155

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.02 The position is about equal

Best play: 4... d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nf4 7. d4 exd4 8. Nxd4 Nxg2+ 9. Bxg2

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, Korchnoi Line (ECO A28, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. a3 (4 moves).

In 80,632 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 52.2%, Black 41.9% and 5.9% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 4…d5, in 34% of those games.

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How to play against the English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Korchnoi Line

4…g6 scores best for Black: 49.4%, with Black winning 45.2% and White 46.4% of 4,155 games. The most played, 4…d5, scores 46.9% in 27K games, and 4…Bc5 scores lowest: 41.1%. Stockfish's first choice is 4…d5.

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 4. a3, the position after English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation also goes on to:

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: King's English Variation, Four Knights Variation, Korchnoi Line (A28)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-four-knights-variation-korchnoi-line

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