English Opening: Symmetrical Variation 1…c5 2. Nf3
Also known as Symmetrical English
Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.
Statistics from Lichess
3,666,124 games: White 51.1% / Draw 6.3% / Black 42.6%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 1,868,0421.9M | ||
| 486,958487K | ||
| 399,805400K | ||
| 369,337369K | ||
| 329,466329K | ||
| 112,811113K | ||
| 49,37049K | ||
| 21,33321K |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 30, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.22 The position is about equal
Best play: 2... Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 dxc4 7. Nxc6
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 52% under 1400, 54% at 2200 and up and 56% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 367K | |
| 1400–1799 | 1.2M | |
| 1800–2199 | 2.1M | |
| 2200 and up | 789K | |
| Masters, over the board | 31K |
Master games
- Carlsen, M. – Kramnik, V.
- Carlsen, M. – Topalov, V.
- Kramnik, V. – Carlsen, M.
- Vachier Lagrave, M. – Carlsen, M.
- Carlsen, M. – Giri, A.
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: Symmetrical Variation (ECO A30, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 (2 moves).
In 3,666,124 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.1%, Black 42.6% and 6.3% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…Nc6, in 51% of those games.
It branches into 3 named variations; the most played are English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Rubinstein Variation and English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Napolitano Gambit.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
Write a description or report a mistake
How to answer 2. Nf3
2…g6 scores best for Black: 47.8%, with Black winning 44.2% and White 48.6% of 369K games. The most played, 2…Nc6, scores 45.7% in 1.9M games, and 2…d6 scores lowest: 43.9%. 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
This line peaked in 2018 at 0.18% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.14% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.14% | 51,304 |
| 2017 | 0.15% | 84,906 |
| 2018 | 0.18% | 140,048 |
| 2019 | 0.17% | 216,082 |
| 2020 | 0.16% | 472,472 |
| 2021 | 0.14% | 533,150 |
| 2022 | 0.13% | 491,258 |
| 2023 | 0.13% | 491,568 |
| 2024 | 0.13% | 478,533 |
| 2025 | 0.14% | 483,209 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.14% | 158,800 |
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 (3)
Transpositions
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Symmetrical Variation (A30)”. Lichess data as of 30 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-symmetrical-variation-2