Question about the English Opening

Hi there,

Just wanted to know, are there any Sicilian sharp lines in the English. The opening often turns into a reversed Sicilian and yet it seems to me (admittedly as a novice who rarely plays the English) to be pretty standard in its plans and position. Is it simply the extra tempo that is so important? There is no Yugoslav attack to the standard g3 Bg2 moves, at least so far as I know of. Is this all a tempo thing?

I propose the Saragossa Zwischenzug to get the Reversed Sicilian 1-to-1 :

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lol, thanks man.

Got any other top tips?

I’ve recently switched to c4 a couple months ago and what I like about the English opening is that you steer the game into English, Sicilian territory or transpose it to D4 lines like the Catalan or QG avoiding the Nimzo. You make the choice to close the game up via the Botvinnik system or Cochrane /Miroczy bind and furthermore choose the pawn breaks on your accord. You choose to it open by transposing into the Catalan. You can even b3 and double fianchetto against Caro-Kan players for sharp/orthodox play.

It’s a very flexible and rich game that favours whites winning chances. End games tend to favor white as well.

There are plenty of master games for reference.

Big downside is that you have to be well adapt and understand your opponents intentions in lines of d4, Caro-Kan, French/Agincourt, and most annoying; symmetrical lines.

I personally prefer the Reversed Dragon and Botvinnik system. Doesn’t get any sharper than the RD. BS is great in frustrating stronger players because black doesn’t get it his way.

Tthr English is generally quiet. If white wants it to be. He can always spice things up with a well timed d4, though. 

The tempo up does change the situation in quite many (reversed) Sicilian lines, and for instance the Dragon is much easier to play as the reversed version. The Yugoslav attack is rarely tried as a reversed version, White can more or less stop it before it starts.

If you are thinking of sharper lines as Black, there are a few of them. The first one is the reversed Rossolimo (known as Kramnik-Shirov counterattack) 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Bb4, which some English players don't like at all. It's not that dangerous, but the positions are different from mainline English games. (Some play 2. g3 to avoid this line.) The second one is the reversed Alapin, known as the Keres variation 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 c6, where White needs to be active or Black gets a very strong center. The third one is the reverse version of the Maroczy bind, but the only way to achieve it is to go via the symmetrical English: 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc7 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. 0-0 e5. This is known as the Rubinstein variation and it is one of the more theoretical lines in the English. White can avoid this line by playing Nf3 and d4 before Black gets d5 in.

Of course some other setups can lead to sharp play, for instance some Dutch-like lines (i.e. 1. c4 f5 or 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 f5) are sharper than the average English lines, but White is fine if he knows what to do. White has also some sharp lines if Black plays passively, Flohr-Mikenas attack (1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 with the idea of playing e5) being one example.