Introduction to the English Opening

It occurred to me while talking to a friend of mine at chess club, that it might be useful to have an introduction to the English, so that beginners or those new to the opening can get a taste of the basic ideas, themes, and common responses the opening presents. As a disclaimer, I am not a very good chess player. That being said, I hope this is helpful. I will, at the end, attack links to resources that will go in further depth than I do here.

The Basics

 This diagram shows the first move, 1. c4. Congratulations, you have just played the English Opening!

 The English Opening is white's fourth most popular move. It is a hypermodern opening, which means that white will attempt to control or influence the center with distant pieces, rather than occupation with pawns.

Common Themes

Why play 1. c4 rather than 1. e4, or 1. d4? After all, either of those moves does more to develop white's pieces quickly, and both occupy the center. Looking at the above diagram, we can see that white has done two things by playing 1. c4. First, he has staked his claim to the d5 square, an important central square. Secondly, he has staked a claim on space on the queenside.

Perhaps more importantly is what white has not done. By this I mean white has not committed either of his central pawns. This gives the English Opening a great deal of flexibility, as white can play either central pawn to the third or fourth rank, at his leisure, as the situation dictates.

The above diagram shows the development of two of white's pieces. In the vast majority of English games, the moves Nc3, g3, and Bg2 will be played within the first few moves. The reason why is obvious. White is increasing his pressure on the d5 square with both the knight and the bishop, and applying pressure to black's queenside. It should become obvious at this point that white will often be playing on the queenside in the English, often employing moves such as a2, b4, and R1a2 to gain space on this side of the board.

In the center, while many things are possible, two structures frequently occur.

In this setup, white will develop the kingside knight to f3. This protects the C-pawn, but also blocks the fianchettoed g2 bishop from raiding the long diagonal.

In this setup, white may develop the king's knight either to e2, or f3. This move helps protect against threats on the vulnerable f-pawn, and avoids blocking the g2 bishop, but does not support the c-pawn, and of course, takes one move longer before white may castle short.

Transpositional Potential

Depending on what black does, the English opening can transpose into many other openings. For instance, if things should progress 1. c4 e6 2. d4, white finds himself in a Queen's Gambit. White can choose to transfer into a Polish with 2. b4. If an early d4 is played by white, one can reach most of the 1. d4 openings.

This transpisitional possibility makes move order somewhat important in the English, to stay on familiar turf. As one grows, one can also add other things to the repertoire easily, transposing into them from the English.

Black's Common Responses

Let's take a quick look at some of black's more common responses to 1. c4

1. c4 e5

This is the most common response. You will note that this is a Sicilian Defense with the colors reversed. Beware though, that the extra tempo white possesses creates subtle differences to a standard Sicilian.

1.c4 c5

This is the Symmetrical Variation. The symmetry often goes on for a number of moves, with both players attempting to play on the Queenside.

1. c4 f5

This is the Anglo-Dutch variation. Black is going to attempt to attack on the kingside, often with a fianchetto on b7.

1. c4 Nf6

Here, black is attempting to play an Indian Defense.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the English Opening is a flexible, dynamic, and sound opening system. You will never have to abandon it because it has been refuted. Furthermore, you will never get bored, as you can change it in many different ways to reach different positions.

Links

http://www.exeterchessclub.org.uk/Openings/engidea1.html

http://shop.chesscafe.com/images/products/books/gmrep3.pdf

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1003616

http://www.chesskids.com/grownups/english06.pdf

This is great! Nice work. :)

Lifts the veil and tempts farther exploration (youtube ?). 

Thank you, I needed this..

I wouldn't call the english opening a ''hypermodern opening''.

A flank opening.C4 controls the center.

Ok i guess your right.But the english wouldn't be called a hypermodern opening when compared to the KID.

An Additional link for an overview of the English Opening

http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/ideas-behind-english-opening

Thanks for writing this up, Flamma! Your writing style was quite engaging.

Am I the only one here who uses this:

GM Dzindzi on the English Opening (video):

https://www.chess.com/videos/library?library_search%5Bkeyword%5D=Learn+to+Play+the+English&library_search%5Bcategory%5D=&library_search%5Bplayers%5D=&library_search%5Bopening%5D=&library_search%5BskillLevel%5D=&library_search%5Bauthor%5D=&library_search%5Bsearch%5D=&library_search%5B_token%5D=0EF4UI6spuxetrm0AloyBJHcPSGEd2JqfOUxAktP8rU

varelse1 Tez to gram !

English opening is so underrated