English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line
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Statistics from Lichess
673,395 games: White 50.8% / Draw 7.0% / Black 42.2%
| Next move | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| 493,873494K | ||
| 77,12677K | ||
| 51,19351K | ||
| 23,71124K | ||
| 7,4537,453 | ||
| 6,8426,842 | ||
| 6,6166,616 | ||
| 2,7902,790 |
Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Nov 7, 2026
Engine evaluation
+0.41 White is slightly better
Best play: 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. O-O Qa5 9. e3 d6 10. Bd2 Qc5
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, 45% at 2200 and up and 41% in master games (wins plus half the draws).
| Players | Games | White / Draw / BlackW / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Under 1400 | 36K | |
| 1400–1799 | 212K | |
| 1800–2199 | 411K | |
| 2200 and up | 119K | |
| Masters, over the board | 2,193 |
Master games
- Aronian, L. – Anand, V.
- Kramnik, V. – Anand, V.
- Ivanchuk, V. – Grischuk, A.
- Adams, M. – Anand, V.
- Aronian, L. – Bacrot, E.
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, Full Symmetry Line (ECO A38, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Four Knights Variation, reached after 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 (5 moves).
In 673,395 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.8%, Black 42.2% and 7.0% were drawn. White's most played move here is 6. O-O, in 73% of those games.
It continues into one named variation, English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Mecking Variation.
Written from the Lichess opening list and explorer. Know this line well? Write about it.
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How to play against the English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line
6. d4 scores best for White: 58.4%, with White winning 54.5% and Black 37.8% of 77K games. The most played, 6. O-O, scores 54.4% in 494K games, and 6. d3 scores lowest: 51.4%. Stockfish's first choice is also 6. d4.
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: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line peaked in 2019 at 0.033% of Lichess games and has slipped since: 0.025% in 2025.
Numbers by year
| Year | Share of games | Games |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 0.024% | 8,468 |
| 2017 | 0.028% | 15,275 |
| 2018 | 0.031% | 24,388 |
| 2019 | 0.033% | 41,453 |
| 2020 | 0.032% | 94,283 |
| 2021 | 0.026% | 100,692 |
| 2022 | 0.023% | 88,183 |
| 2023 | 0.024% | 90,316 |
| 2024 | 0.024% | 84,426 |
| 2025 | 0.025% | 86,510 |
| 2026 (Jan–Apr) | 0.026% | 28,276 |
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 (1)
Transpositions
Cite this page
Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line (A38)”. Lichess data as of 7 Nov 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-symmetrical-variation-full-symmetry-line