A38

English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation

Play any move on the board to explore from there, or step through the line with ‹ › and the arrow keys.

Statistics from Lichess

320,918 games: White 48.3% / Draw 7.0% / Black 44.7%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	143,856144K
	61,61362K
	44,18544K
	25,04825K
	17,25017K
	10,14410K
	9,6129,612
	3,0303,030

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 27, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.09 The position is about equal

Best play: 7... d6 8. Rb1 Rb8 9. a3 a6 10. b4 cxb4 11. axb4 b5 12. cxb5

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 53% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 50% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	12K
1400–1799	85K
1800–2199	196K
2200 and up	65K
Masters, over the board	536

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: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation (ECO A38, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense, King's Indian Formation, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O c5 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. d3 (7 moves).

In 320,918 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 48.3%, Black 44.7% and 7.0% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 7…d6, in 45% of those games.

Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.

Write a description or report a mistake

What would you like to send? A description of this line A mistake on this page (moves, name, statistics…)

Markdown supported (headings ###, bold, lists, links). Submissions are reviewed before publishing.

Your name (optional) Your email (optional, not published)

Description

How to play against the English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation

7…b6 scores best for Black: 50.9%, with Black winning 47.3% and White 45.4% of 17K games. The most played answer, 7…d6, scores lowest: 46.8% in 144K games. Stockfish's first choice is 7…d6.

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: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation peaked in 2020 at 0.017% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.012% in 2025.

0.012%0.012%0.017%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.012%	4,259
2017	0.014%	7,440
2018	0.015%	12,028
2019	0.016%	20,485
2020	0.017%	48,603
2021	0.012%	48,216
2022	0.011%	41,349
2023	0.011%	40,967
2024	0.011%	39,120
2025	0.012%	40,267
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.012%	12,936

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

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation (A38)”. Lichess data as of 27 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-symmetrical-variation-duchamp-variation