I personally use the English as my only opening for white and I find it to create a fun and interesting game.
There is a lot of advice out there for inexperienced players to avoid playing the English but I disagree. Anyone who says there is more theory to learn when playing the English is severely underestimating how many types of openings you could have to play against when opening d4 or e4.
The basic premise of the English is to control the center white square without using center pawns. This is accomplished through the opening move c4, having the bishop on g2 and the knight on c3. White will then either focus on opening the queen side with a b pawn advance or focus on the d4 square.
One great aspect of the English is that the majority of replies from black can simply be responded to with the same 3 opening moves: c4, g3, Bg2. Not much to remember there.
On top of that there are typical patterns you see in most English games. The knight coming out to f3 after Bg2 (also means you are ready to castle nice and early) or the knight going to e2 after e3/e4 is played. Nc3 will also typically happen quickly and from there you see a few typical attacking patterns. Focus on the d4 square, focus on pushing the b pawn to open the queen side of black (will often see Rb1) and you will see b3 Bb2 very often.
It can sound like a lot to take in, but when you start playing English games you see these few familiar patterns happening again and again and it allows you to learn and improve quickly.
So in honor of the olympics let's look at some lines.
First, the old main English opening for white and the reason it has gone out of fashion.
I personally use the English as my only opening for white and I find it to create a fun and interesting game.
There is a lot of advice out there for inexperienced players to avoid playing the English but I disagree. Anyone who says there is more theory to learn when playing the English is severely underestimating how many types of openings you could have to play against when opening d4 or e4.
The basic premise of the English is to control the center white square without using center pawns. This is accomplished through the opening move c4, having the bishop on g2 and the knight on c3. White will then either focus on opening the queen side with a b pawn advance or focus on the d4 square.
One great aspect of the English is that the majority of replies from black can simply be responded to with the same 3 opening moves: c4, g3, Bg2. Not much to remember there.
On top of that there are typical patterns you see in most English games. The knight coming out to f3 after Bg2 (also means you are ready to castle nice and early) or the knight going to e2 after e3/e4 is played. Nc3 will also typically happen quickly and from there you see a few typical attacking patterns. Focus on the d4 square, focus on pushing the b pawn to open the queen side of black (will often see Rb1) and you will see b3 Bb2 very often.
It can sound like a lot to take in, but when you start playing English games you see these few familiar patterns happening again and again and it allows you to learn and improve quickly.
So in honor of the olympics let's look at some lines.
First, the old main English opening for white and the reason it has gone out of fashion.
Now an actual line: Reversed Dragon
Symetrical:
English Botvinnik:
Bc5:
c6: