A25

English Opening: King's English Variation, Taimanov Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

214,856 games: White 47.0% / Draw 6.7% / Black 46.3%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	67,31767K
English Opening: King's English Variation, Closed System	47,81248K
	45,36645K
	41,72342K
English Opening: King's English Variation, Hungarian Attack	6,0396,039
	1,8351,835
	1,6091,609
	1,5751,575

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

Engine evaluation

+0.26 The position is about equal

Best play: 5. d3 d6 6. e4 a5 7. Nge2 Nd4 8. Nxd4 exd4 9. Ne2 Ne7

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

By rating

Rating changes little here: Black scores 46% under 1400, 48% at 2200 and up and 45% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	11K
1400–1799	35K
1800–2199	111K
2200 and up	83K
Masters, over the board	4,626

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 27, 2026

Overview

English Opening: King's English Variation, Taimanov Variation (ECO A25, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: King's English Variation, Reversed Closed Sicilian, reached after 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 (4 moves).

In 214,856 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 47.0%, Black 46.3% and 6.7% were drawn. White's most played move here is 5. e3, in 31% of those games.

It branches into 4 named variations; the most played are English Opening: King's English Variation, Closed System and English Opening: King's English Variation, Bremen-Hort Variation. In all, 6 named lines continue from it.

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Description

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

5. e4 scores best for White: 50.6%, with White winning 47.0% and Black 45.8% of 45K games. The most played, 5. e3, scores 50.5% in 67K games, and 5. Nf3 scores lowest: 49.8%. Stockfish's first choice is 5. d3.

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

Popularity by year

The English Opening: King's English Variation, Taimanov Variation peaked in 2020 at 0.011% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.0077% in 2025.

0.0071%0.0077%0.011%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.0071%	2,528
2017	0.0081%	4,474
2018	0.0096%	7,550
2019	0.0095%	11,866
2020	0.011%	31,536
2021	0.0084%	32,848
2022	0.0077%	29,093
2023	0.0075%	28,256
2024	0.0076%	27,364
2025	0.0077%	26,661
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.0085%	9,364

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 (4)

All 6 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: King's English Variation, Taimanov Variation (A25)”. Lichess data as of 1 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-kings-english-variation-taimanov-variation