As White
English Opening
The English Opening is a chess opening for White that starts with 1.c4.
1.c4 controls d5 from the flank. Flexible play: the king's bishop often goes to g2 to rule the long diagonal.
Reviewed on November 6, 2026 · Prepared by Josep Serrano Ballestero
10 lines
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 d6
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 d6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.e3 c6 6.Nge2 Be6 7.b3 Ne7 8.d4 O-O 9.O-O d5 10.dxe5
1.c4 Nf6 2.g3
1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Nf3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.O-O Be7 8.d4 O-O 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5
1.c4 c5 2.Nc3
1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.e3 e6 6.Nge2 Nge7 7.O-O d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.Nf3 e5 8.Bd3 Bd6 9.O-O O-O 10.Re1
1...e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 c6 4.d4 exd4 5.Qxd4 d5 6.Bg2 Be6 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.Qa4 Be7 10.O-O
1...e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O e4 7.Ng5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Re8 9.f3 exf3 10.Nxf3 d5 11.d4
1...e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nb6 7.O-O Be7 8.d3 O-O 9.a3 Re8 10.b4
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 Bb4 4.Bg2 O-O 5.e4 Bxc3 6.bxc3 d6 7.Ne2 c6 8.O-O Re8 9.d3 a6 10.a4
1.c4 c6 2.Nf3
1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.b3 Nf6 4.Bb2 Bf5 5.g3 e6 6.Bg2 h6 7.O-O Be7 8.d3 O-O 9.Nbd2 a5 10.a3
1...e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.e4 f5 7.Nge2 Nf6 8.O-O O-O 9.Nd5 Ne7 10.Bg5
Frequently asked questions
Is the English Opening good for beginners?
It is better suited to experienced players. On OpeningCraft it is aimed at players with Elo 1600 – 1800. It suits players who prefer long-term plans and pawn structure.
How many lines of the English Opening do you need to learn?
OpeningCraft teaches 10, in blocks of 5. They come from real Lichess games at each rating band, and the traps and opponent mistakes most common at your level come first.