Chess Openings

English Opening

ECO A10 · English Opening · positional · intermediate

The English Opening (A10) is a positional chess opening in the English Opening family, played by White. It arises after the moves 1. c4. Flexible opening. Can transpose to many structures. Recommended for intermediate players.

Moves: 1. c4

About this opening

With 1.c4, the English Opening is a flank opening that fights for the d5 square and often adopts a Sicilian structure with colors reversed. Extremely flexible, it can transpose into many closed systems. The Symmetrical Variation (1...c5) and the Botvinnik system are mainstays. Mikhail Botvinnik, Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen have all used it at the highest level.

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