King's English Variation

1...e5 is Black's most direct reply to the English. Instead of copying White with ...c5 or keeping Indian Defense options open with ...Nf6, Black puts a pawn in the center at once and makes an early d4 hard to arrange. The resulting position, also known as the Reversed Sicilian, is the Sicilian Defense with colors reversed and White a tempo up. The extra move does not carry Sicilian theory across directly. In MCO-14, Bruce Leverett observed that main Sicilian lines tend to match obscure English sidelines, and the reverse also holds, because White uses the tempo to aim for different positions. ECO codes A20–A29 cover the complex, including move orders where ...e5 comes later, such as 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 e5.

2. Nc3 is chosen in close to three games out of five, and the name Reversed Sicilian is attached specifically to that move. Black then has several named options. 2...Nf6 is the Two Knights Variation, which becomes the Four Knights Variation after 3. Nf3 Nc6. 2...Nc6 is the Reversed Closed Sicilian. From there, 3. Nf3 gives the Three Knights System. After 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7, the Taimanov Variation, both sides have fianchettoed, and 5. d3 makes it the Closed System. After 3. g3 d6 4. Bg2 Be6, the line is called the Troger Defense. 2...Bb4, the Kramnik-Shirov Counterattack, puts the bishop on the c3-knight at once, while 2...d6 3. g3 c6 is the Keres Defense.

Among the other second moves, 2. g3 is the most popular. It fianchettoes first and keeps a wide range of transpositions open. 2. e4, The Whale, fixes a central pawn early and is the only main option after which Black scores slightly better. 2. e3 also appears regularly. 2. Nf3, the Nimzowitsch Variation, invites 2...e4, the Nimzowitsch-Flohr Variation, a kind of reversed Alekhine's Defense in which the knight is chased away. If Black then advances the d-pawn, White can reply cxd5. An immediate 2. d4 throws away White's advantage.

The position is among the most frequently reached in the opening catalogue. The engine rates it as roughly balanced and favors g3, Nc3 and d3, which point to fianchetto setups and maneuvering play rather than early confrontation. White scores slightly better in practice, winning about 51% of games against roughly 45% for Black, with very few draws.