5 Reasons YOU Should Play 1. c4! (The English Opening)

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Avatar of ChessIsFun314159

I'm no professional, but if you are around my level (1200-1300 rapid) consider listening to why I love the English opening, or 1. c4.

#1: It is uncommon.
Chess.com's database lists 1.c4 as happening in around 7% of games. That means that if you know how to play the English, you can gain an advantage on your opponents right out of the first move, because they likely spend their time learning openings against 1.e4 and 1.d4.

#2: It is a solid opening.
Engines like Stockfish say that 1.c4 is just as advantageous as something like 1.e4 and 1.d4. Even Caruana and Hikaru used this move in the Candidates. The fact that you don't have to sacrifice any sort of evaluation to make opponents more unfamiliar is worth it in my eyes.

#3: It avoids common opening traps.
Most people at my level can successfully deal with early queen attacks, but the same can't be said about other traps. Black has a bag full of tricks like the Stafford Gambit or the Englund Gambit, all of which require precise refutations to keep an advantage after accepting. Most of these, however, rely on white playing 1.d4 or 1.e4, which is why the English avoids these traps more often.

#4: It is easy to get a good position out of the English.
The ideal position when playing the English is like this: you fianchetto your bishop on g2, have a knight on c3, have another knight either on e2 or f3, castle, and prepare to push your e and d pawns to break open the center. I personally learned a lot on how to play the English from Chessbrah's English opening speedrun on YouTube.

#5: It can lead to a lot of pressure.
The c-pawn push indirectly attacks the center, making black have to worry about the eventual e and d pawn pushes for the whole opening, made worse by the fact that white is a tempo ahead. Also, after you castle kingside, a common strategy is to attack and inflitrate on the queenside. Since your c-pawn is already there, you only have to push your a and b pawns to attack the queenside, saving time.

Bonus: It is a very flexible opening.
1.c4 can also be used to transpose into other openings, while avoiding certain problematic lines. This is most commonly done by playing d4 at some point.

Avatar of Ze_Shoopuf

I like it for the flexibility, especially as an add-on to my d4 repertoire to avoid certain lines via move orders and even vs 1...e5 you have a wide choice of options... usually I play g3 setups but I have recently begun appreciating the e3 lines. Just the other day, I had this nice win in the English in a Daily Game:

The opponent had a hard time to untangle their position and their dark-squared bishop was a liability for pretty much the whole game... so yeah, I will (with slight adjustments) return to this line for sure

Avatar of badger_song

Although all the reasons listed for selecting the English are valid, I would not pick an opening for those reasons, but I very well might choose one based on their opposites. I don't want to avoid the common, in fact I prefer facing an opening that is very common, with many varied traps and difficult lines I am sure to face.

Avatar of ThrillerFan

#1 is wrong.

Any decent chess player will have something prepared for 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4, and 1.Nf3 when they are Black. Masters and above will also have full preparation for 1.b3, 1.b4, 1.Nc3, 1.f4, and 1.g3 as well. Some may even have preparation for a few of the other 10 legal moves.

Another downside with the English is you cannot force it, and must also know either the Reti or Queen's Gambit.

A few openings, like the Benko Gambit or QGA have no counterpart to the English. Kings Indiam players will likely play a KID setup. A Nimzo player will play 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 and be prepared for lines like the Mikenas-Flohr (3.e4) and anti-Nimzo (3.Nf3) or after 1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2, here is where, for instance, Black can directly take White out of the English with 3...d5. Now White's choices are a Reti (4.Nf3 or 4.b3 with an Eventual Nf3 and no d4) or a Catalan (4.d4, 4.Nf3 Be7 5.d4, or 4.Nf3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.d4). QGD players will play 1...e6 and 2...d5 while Slav players will play 1...c6 and 2...d5, again avoiding the English and forcing either a Reti or a QP opening (QGD or Slav, respectively. Dutch players will likely have 1...f5 prepped against 1.c4, and the Modern is best played against 1.c4 over any other first move as White's first move immediately weakens the long diagonal as he can no longer plat c3. Not saying the Modern is the best response, just saying out of all the moves Black can play 1...g6, the best time to do it is when White plays 1.c4.

All told, any decent player will know what to do against the English. Not saying the English is bad. Just saying your reasoning of claiming it is unusual and that Black will be unfamiliar is a complete farce!

Avatar of ChessIsFun314159
ThrillerFan wrote:

#1 is wrong.

Any decent chess player will have something prepared for 1.e4, 1.d4, 1.c4, and 1.Nf3 when they are Black. Masters and above will also have full preparation for 1.b3, 1.b4, 1.Nc3, 1.f4, and 1.g3 as well. Some may even have preparation for a few of the other 10 legal moves.

Another downside with the English is you cannot force it, and must also know either the Reti or Queen's Gambit.

A few openings, like the Benko Gambit or QGA have no counterpart to the English. Kings Indiam players will likely play a KID setup. A Nimzo player will play 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 and be prepared for lines like the Mikenas-Flohr (3.e4) and anti-Nimzo (3.Nf3) or after 1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2, here is where, for instance, Black can directly take White out of the English with 3...d5. Now White's choices are a Reti (4.Nf3 or 4.b3 with an Eventual Nf3 and no d4) or a Catalan (4.d4, 4.Nf3 Be7 5.d4, or 4.Nf3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.d4). QGD players will play 1...e6 and 2...d5 while Slav players will play 1...c6 and 2...d5, again avoiding the English and forcing either a Reti or a QP opening (QGD or Slav, respectively. Dutch players will likely have 1...f5 prepped against 1.c4, and the Modern is best played against 1.c4 over any other first move as White's first move immediately weakens the long diagonal as he can no longer plat c3. Not saying the Modern is the best response, just saying out of all the moves Black can play 1...g6, the best time to do it is when White plays 1.c4.

All told, any decent player will know what to do against the English. Not saying the English is bad. Just saying your reasoning of claiming it is unusual and that Black will be unfamiliar is a complete farce!

You're right that decent chess players will have a good response to the English, but I would consider myself an intermediate level player, so that logic applies more to games that I play at my level rather than games between strong/master players.

When I made this post I just wanted to share why I liked the opening as a 1200-1300 rated player, or why similarly rated players should try the opening, but everyone replying to me are much stronger players then me, so my logic for how uncommon it is wouldn't apply there. 😅