A34

English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Normal Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

7,184,735 games: White 50.4% / Draw 5.6% / Black 44.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights Variation	3,995,6854M
	847,964848K
	747,917748K
	593,313593K
	526,401526K
	206,769207K
	129,083129K
	98,02498K

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 31, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.13 The position is about equal

Best play: 2... g6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg2 d6 6. O-O Nh6 7. h3

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

By rating

The stronger the players, the worse this line does for White: White scores 55% under 1400, 52% at 2200 and up and 53% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	1.3M
1400–1799	3.7M
1800–2199	4.3M
2200 and up	650K
Masters, over the board	6,277

Master games

Carlsen, M. – Giri, A. ½–½, 2021
Giri, A. – So, W. ½–½, 2017
Carlsen, M. – Xiong, J. 1–0, 2020
Aronian, L. – Nepomniachtchi, I. 0–1, 2020
Aronian, L. – Nepomniachtchi, I. 0–1, 2020

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, Normal Variation (ECO A34, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 (2 moves).

In 7,184,735 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 50.4%, Black 44.0% and 5.6% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 2…Nc6, in 56% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights Variation and English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Three Knights Variation. In all, 13 named lines continue from it.

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Description

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

2…g6 scores best for Black: 48.8%, with Black winning 45.9% and White 48.2% of 526K games. The most played, 2…Nc6, scores 46.8% in 4M games, and 2…d6 scores lowest: 45.0%. Stockfish's first choice is also 2…g6.

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, Normal Variation has stayed between 0.24% and 0.31% of Lichess games a year since 2016 (0.27% in 2025).

0.24%0.27%0.31%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.24%	87,482
2017	0.26%	141,758
2018	0.28%	218,486
2019	0.3%	376,416
2020	0.31%	895,286
2021	0.29%	1,125,256
2022	0.27%	1,020,636
2023	0.27%	1,019,083
2024	0.27%	952,455
2025	0.27%	935,232
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.27%	298,041

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 (2)

All 13 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Normal Variation (A34)”. Lichess data as of 31 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-symmetrical-variation-normal-variation