About this opening
English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation is an opening in the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings,
classified under code A38. ECO group A (A00–A99)
covers flank and irregular openings, including the English, Bird, Réti and Dutch defences. This particular variation is reached
after 13 half-moves from the
starting position, with the move sequence 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O c5 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. d3.
It belongs to the English Opening family.
Within that family this is a level-2 branch (the Symmetrical Variation → Duchamp Variation line). The immediate parent line is English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, transitioned via 7.d3.
The opening sequence in prose form: 1.c4 Nf6, 2.Nf3 g6, 3.g3 Bg7, 4.Bg2 O-O, 5.O-O c5, 6.Nc3 Nc6. From this position the encyclopaedia records no further canonical continuations — practical play branches into unnamed transpositions or returns to the parent line for alternative ideas.
Use the interactive board above to walk through the moves position-by-position. Click any move in the navigation to step backwards, or use the keyboard arrow keys. For statistical data — how often master-level players have reached this position, White's win-rate, draw frequency, Black's score — see the panel in the right column.
Caissly's coverage of A38 extends through every named sub-variation in this line and across all four locales (English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian). Where editorial commentary exists for a specific variation it appears as the page body; otherwise the page presents the structural data, board, and statistics as shown here.