A36

English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights, Fianchetto Variation

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Statistics from Lichess

1,794,248 games: White 51.0% / Draw 5.9% / Black 43.0%

The moves played next. Pick one to see it on the board.
Next move	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
	772,785773K
	292,872293K
	241,604242K
	233,204233K
	139,294139K
	53,77454K
	34,60835K
	5,8075,807

Rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, from the Lichess opening explorer, updated Oct 29, 2026

Engine evaluation

+0.16 The position is about equal

Best play: 3... g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O Nh6 7. d4 cxd4 8. Bxh6

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 55% under 1400, 53% at 2200 and up and 54% in master games (wins plus half the draws).

Players	Games	White / Draw / BlackW / D / B
Under 1400	206K
1400–1799	812K
1800–2199	1.1M
2200 and up	193K
Masters, over the board	2,169

Master games

Grischuk, A. – So, W. ½–½, 2018
Aronian, L. – Le Quang Liem 1–0, 2019
Mamedyarov, S. – Gukesh, D. 1–0, 2023
Eljanov, P. – Dominguez Perez, L. ½–½, 2015
Yu Yangyi – Dominguez Perez, L. ½–½, 2024

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, Two Knights, Fianchetto Variation (ECO A36, Flank Openings) is a variation of the English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights Variation, reached after 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 (3 moves).

In 1,794,248 rated Lichess games between players rated 1600 to 2500, White won 51.0%, Black 43.0% and 5.9% were drawn. Black's most played move here is 3…g6, in 43% of those games.

It branches into 2 named variations; the most played are English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Three Knights, Fianchetto Variation and English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Botvinnik System Reversed, with e3. In all, 9 named lines continue from it.

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Description

How to play against the English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights, Fianchetto Variation

The most played answer, 3…g6, also scores best for Black: 47.3%, with Black winning 44.0% and White 49.5% of 773K games. Of the main answers, 3…e5 scores lowest: 44.6%. Stockfish's first choice is also 3…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, Two Knights, Fianchetto Variation has gained ground since 2016: 0.069% of Lichess games in 2025, up from 0.055% (its peak: 0.078% in 2020).

0.055%0.069%0.078%

Numbers by year

Year	Share of games	Games
2016	0.055%	19,472
2017	0.061%	33,663
2018	0.068%	53,441
2019	0.076%	94,367
2020	0.078%	228,183
2021	0.071%	276,530
2022	0.066%	249,022
2023	0.068%	254,633
2024	0.067%	239,800
2025	0.069%	240,851
2026 (Jan–Apr)	0.07%	76,787

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 9 named lines that continue from here

Cite this page

Caissa Codex. “English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights, Fianchetto Variation (A36)”. Lichess data as of 29 Oct 2026. https://chesscodex.org/openings/english-opening-symmetrical-variation-two-knights-fianchetto-variation