Chess Opening Theory/1. c4

English Opening
a b c d e f g h
8a8 black rookb8 black knightc8 black bishopd8 black queene8 black kingf8 black bishopg8 black knighth8 black rook8
7a7 black pawnb7 black pawnc7 black pawnd7 black pawne7 black pawnf7 black pawng7 black pawnh7 black pawn7
6a6 black kingb6 black kingc6 black kingd6 black kinge6 black kingf6 black kingg6 black kingh6 black king6
5a5 black kingb5 black kingc5 black kingd5 black kinge5 black kingf5 black kingg5 black kingh5 black king5
4a4 black kingb4 black kingc4 white pawnd4 black kinge4 black kingf4 black kingg4 black kingh4 black king4
3a3 black kingb3 black kingc3 black kingd3 black kinge3 black kingf3 black kingg3 black kingh3 black king3
2a2 white pawnb2 white pawnc2 black kingd2 white pawne2 white pawnf2 white pawng2 white pawnh2 white pawn2
1a1 white rookb1 white knightc1 white bishopd1 white queene1 white kingf1 white bishopg1 white knighth1 white rook1
a b c d e f g h
Position in Forsyth-Edwards Notation (FEN)
Moves: 1. c4
ECO code: A10-A39
Parent: Starting position

1. c4 · English Opening

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The English Opening, which starts with 1.c4, is the fourth most commonly played opening move in chess. By playing this move, White allows the queen to move freely and also discourages Black from responding with 1...d5. Additionally, White ensures that the c-pawn will not be blocked behind a knight on c3. The resulting positions often resemble those that arise from 1.d4 openings rather than 1.e4 openings, and the move d4 is frequently played later on.

While this opening is not as sharp as 1.e4 or 1.d4, it is still effective in controlling the d5 square and is highly flexible, allowing for easy transpositions into other openings.

Black's responses

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  • 1...Nf6 or 1...g6 are likely to transpose into an Indian Defence.
  • 1...e5 is a "reversed" Sicilian Defence.
  • 1...e6 will probably end up in a Queen's Gambit Declined. This is known as the Agincourt Defense. However, if White plays 2.d4 then Black plays 2...Nf6, it is a typical Indian game (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 is the normal order.)
  • 1...c5 – most pure English lines come from the Symmetrical Variation and are quite hard to play and to understand.
  • 1...c6 will usually either transpose into the Caro-Kann Defence or the Slav Defence.
  • 1...f5, the Anglo-Dutch Defence, leads to sharp tactical lines for Black, but can open a powerful kingside attack. This is likely to transpose into the regular Dutch Defense after 2.d4.
  • 1...b6 will in all likelihood transpose into the English Defence.
  • 1...d5 is seldom played but may transpose into the Queen's Gambit or the Réti Opening.
  • 1...b5 normally gives good chances for Black, even though the Halibut Gambit is considered unsound at the professional level.
  • 1...g5, the Myers Defence, gives White a small advantage.

Statistics

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Approximately chances
White win 37%, Draw 34%, Black win 29%.
Estimated next move popularity
Nf6 28%, e5 23%, e6 13%, c5 12%, g6 8%, c6 7%, f5 3%. Other moves less than 2%.
move average 365Chess.com (big) Chess Tempo (all) chessgames.com Lichess (masters) Lichess (database)
...Nf6 28.2% 30.9 30.3 31.4 28.4 20.0
...e5 23.2 22.6 23.0 22.0 24.0 24.6
...e6 13.4 13.2 13.4 14.4 14.4 11.7
...c5 11.7 11.8 11.9 11.4 11.5 12.0
...g6 7.7 8.0 7.6 8.4 8.2 6.6
...c6 7.4 6.9 7.4 7.1 8.3 7.0
...f5 2.8 3.5 3.1 2.9 2.5 2.0
...b6 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.6 2.3
...d5 1.6 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.0 7.7
...d6 1.4 1.0 0.9 0.6 0.7 3.8
...Nc6 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 1.1
...b5 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.5
...a6 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2
...g5 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1
everything else 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5

Theory table

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1.c4
1 2 3 4 5 6
Symmetrical Variation c4
c5
Nf3
Nf6
g3
b6
Bg2
Bb7
O-O
g6
=
Reversed Sicilian Defence ...
e5
Nc3
Nc6
Nf3
Nf6
g3
d5
cxd5
Nxd5
Agincourt Defence ...
e6
Nc3
Bb4
Qb3
Nc6
Nf3
Nf6
a3
Bxc3
Anglo-Slav Variation ...
c6
Nf3
d5
g3
Nf6
Bg2
dxc4
O-O
Nbd7
Anglo-Indian Defence ...
Nf6
Nc3
e6
e4
c5
e5
Ng8
Nf3
Nc6
Great Snake Variation ...
g6
e4
e5
d4
Nf6
dxe5
Nxe4
Bd3
Nc5
English Defence ...
b6
d4
e6
e4
Bb7
Anglo-Dutch Defence ...
f5
Nf3
Nf6
g3
g6
Bg2
Bg7
O-O
O-O
Anglo-Scandinavian Defence ...
d5
cxd5
Qxd5
Nc3
Qa5
+=
Myers Defence ...
g5
d4
Bg7?!
Bxg5!
c5
Nf3
cxd4
Nxd4
Qb6
Nb5
Bxb2?!
+-
Halibut Gambit ...
b5
cxb5
a6
e4!
Bb7
Nc3
Nf6
e5
Nd5
Nf3
e6
+=

All possible Black's moves

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Quick
Navigation
Na6
a6
a5

b6
b5
Nc6
c6
c5

d6
d5

e6
e5
Nf6
f6
f5

g6
g5
Nh6
h6
h5

References

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For explanation of theory tables, see theory table and for notation, see algebraic notation.

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