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  1. Home
  2. /Openings
  3. /English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense (A17)
A17

English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense

Key moves: 1.c4

The English Opening is a flexible first move that can transpose into many different opening systems. It controls the d5 square and often leads to positions where White fianchettoes on the kingside. It can lead to both positional manoeuvring and sharp tactical play.

History & Notable Players

Named after Howard Staunton who played it in the 1843 match against Saint-Amant. It became a major weapon in the 1970s through the games of Mikhail Botvinnik and has been used by virtually every World Champion since.

Top Players in this Opening

Polugaevsky, Lev36 gamesKarpov, Anatoly30 gamesTimman, Jan H28 gamesPortisch, Lajos27 gamesKramnik, Vladimir25 gamesAdams,Mi17 gamesLarsen, Bent17 gamesKeymer,Vincent17 gamesKramnik,V14 gamesTal, Mihail13 games

Related Openings

A10 - English Opening523A11 - English Opening: Caro-Kann Defensive System469A12 - Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation163A13 - English Opening: Agincourt Defense1271A14 - Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation703A15 - English Orangutan1441A16 - English Opening: Anglo-Grünfeld Defense478A18 - English Opening: Mikenas-Carls Variation223A19 - English Opening: Mikenas-Carls, Sicilian64

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