The English Opening
1.c4 fights for the centre from the side. It is a Sicilian Defence with an extra move and the colours swapped - which means every plan you know as Black is available to you here as White, one tempo better.
Last updated
- First moves
- 1. c4
- ECO
- A10
- Best for
- White
- Style
- Positional
- Theory
- Moderate
- Level
- Intermediate
The English Opening is 1.c4, and it looks like it ignores the centre. It does the opposite: the pawn attacks d5 from the side while the pieces come out behind it, and White keeps d4 and e4 in reserve for the moment they are worth playing.
The other way to describe it is simpler: after 1.c4 e5 the position is a Sicilian Defence with the colours reversed and an extra move for White. Every plan you have ever played as Black in the Sicilian is available here - a tempo up.
The main line: the Reversed Sicilian
The Four Knights English, the main line of the reversed Sicilian. Step through all eleven moves and watch White fight for the centre without ever putting a pawn there.
Now play White's side of it.
You are White. Play the English: the wing pawn, both knights, the fianchetto, and then take on d5 when Black strikes.
The Symmetrical English
The most common reply at every level is simply to copy. It produces a slow, manoeuvring game where the first player to break the symmetry usually has to be right about it.
The Symmetrical English - Black mirrors, and both sides build the same house.
The Botvinnik System
The Botvinnik System - a fixed setup White can build against almost anything.
The trap: chasing the knight
The sharpest reply in the whole English is 3...e4, kicking the knight on move three. White's answer is Ng5, and now the natural move loses a pawn for nothing.
You are White. Retreat forward, and let Black chase.
Black has pushed 3...e4, attacking your knight. Move it to the square that attacks something back - and then punish the natural kick.
The plans, for both sides
White's plans. The English is a structure game, so the plans are named after structures rather than moves. Against ...e5, take d5 with the bishop and the knights and play for the d4-break or the b4 queenside expansion. Against the Symmetrical, prepare d4 with Rb1 and b4. Against an Indian setup, transpose into whatever version of the King's Indian or Queen's Gambit you like best. The one habit that pays: never rush d4 - it is a resource, and it is only strong once Black's pieces have committed.
Black's plans. Three honest choices, all of which appear above. Take the centre with ...e5 and treat it as a Sicilian with the colours swapped. Copy with ...c5 and play the manoeuvring game. Or play ...Nf6 and ...e6 and steer for an Indian structure where the c4-pawn is a target rather than an asset. What does not work is ignoring d5: if White gets a knight or a bishop permanently on that square, the game plays itself.
The tactics are the quiet kind. A knight arriving on d5 is nearly always a fork in waiting, the pin down the long diagonal after the fianchetto decides a surprising number of games, and castling early matters more than usual here because the centre can open at almost any moment.
If the fianchetto appeals but the pawn on c4 feels too committal, the Réti plays the same ideas with the knight first. If you would rather meet the reversed Sicilian from the other side, that is the Sicilian Defence itself.
Try it
Move one. Play the move that makes this the English Opening.
The English is the opening to learn when you have started thinking in structures rather than moves. It gives you the widest choice of middlegames of anything on this page, and almost nothing to memorise to reach them - and the lessons teach exactly that way of looking at the board.
Common questions
- What is the English Opening?
- 1.c4. White claims the d5-square with a wing pawn instead of occupying the centre with d4 or e4. It is a flank opening in name only: after g3, Bg2, Nc3 and Nf3, White controls the middle of the board with pieces and can still play d4 or e4 whenever the moment is right.
- Is the English Opening good for beginners?
- It is excellent for the second opening you learn and awkward as the first. There are almost no traps to fall into and nothing to memorise, but Black gets to choose the structure - reversed Sicilian, Symmetrical, or an Indian setup - so you have to understand pawn structures rather than recall lines. Learn the Queen's Gambit or the Italian first, then come here.
- Why is it called a Reversed Sicilian?
- Because after 1.c4 e5 the position is a Sicilian Defence (1.e4 c5) with the colours reversed and White a move ahead. Everything you know about the Sicilian applies with the sides swapped, and the extra tempo means some of Black's most dangerous Sicilian ideas simply do not work - which is the whole point of playing 1.c4.
- What is the Symmetrical English?
- 1.c4 c5, where Black copies. It leads to some of the quietest positions in modern chess and some of the sharpest, depending on who breaks the symmetry first and how. White's plans are d4 at the right moment, or a slow build-up with g3, Bg2 and Rb1 followed by b4.
- What is the Botvinnik System?
- Pawns on c4 and e4, knights on c3 and e2, and a bishop on g2: 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.Nge2. It is a setup rather than a variation, White plays it against almost anything, and the plan is always the same - take d5, castle, and push f4 at the right moment.
- Can the English transpose into other openings?
- Constantly, and that is a feature. 1.c4 can become a Queen's Gambit (after d4 and d5), a Catalan, a King's Indian, a Réti or a Nimzo-Indian depending on what both sides play. That flexibility is why so many world champions have used it: you get to decide which structure the game reaches after seeing what your opponent likes.
Ideas this opening runs on:
Out of book in your own game?
Next Chess Move →Sources
