A21

English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian

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Statistics from Lichess

18,498,372 games: White 51.7% / Draw 4.9% / Black 43.4%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation	7,310,4657.3M
English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Closed Sicilian	3,231,4103.2M
	1,920,7701.9M
	1,707,8531.7M
	1,400,2211.4M
English Opening: King's English Variation, Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack	1,119,0551.1M
	849,008849K
	265,709266K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 9, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.01 The position is about equal

Best play: 2... Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 7. O-O

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 54% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 52% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	6.5M
1400–1799	13.2M
1800–2199	9.9M
2200 and up	1.5M
Masters, over the board	31K

Master games

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 26, 2026

Overview

English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian (ECO A21, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: King's English Variation, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 (2 moves).

In 18,498,372 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.7%, Black 43.4% and 4.9% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…Nf6, in 40% of those games.

It branches into 5 named variations; the most played are English Opening: King's English Variation, Two Knights Variation and English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Closed Sicilian. In all, 44 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian

2…Bb4 (English Opening: King's English Variation, Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack) scores best for Black: 47.5%, with Black winning 45.0% and White 49.9% of 1.1M games. The most played, 2…Nf6, scores 46.2% in 7.3M games, and 2…Bc5 scores lowest: 44.1%. Stockfish's first choice is 2…Nf6.

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

The English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian holds steady at about 0.7% of Lichess games a year since 2016.

0.7%0.7%0.76%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.7%	248,810
2017	0.7%	384,462
2018	0.7%	552,764
2019	0.75%	932,069
2020	0.76%	2,214,027
2021	0.74%	2,883,041
2022	0.71%	2,657,599
2023	0.71%	2,659,869
2024	0.69%	2,490,508
2025	0.7%	2,414,085
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.7%	762,700

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 (5)

All 44 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Sicilian (A21)”. Lichess data as of 9 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-reversed-sicilian