English Variation

The English Variation of the Nimzo-Larsen Attack, 1. b3 c5, has Black answer the queenside fianchetto by advancing the c-pawn. It is classified under ECO A01. Black often chooses it to avoid the more heavily analyzed 1...e5 and 1...d5, where a White specialist is likely to be better prepared. The pawn on c5 covers d4 but leaves e4 and c4 open to White's pawns, and that is deliberate. Black is inviting a transposition to more familiar territory.

White almost always continues 2. Bb2, which engines also prefer, with 2. Nf3 and 2. c4 as reasonable alternatives. Because c5 does not restrain White's central pawns, White can later play e4 and reach a Sicilian with b3 included, or c4 and reach a Symmetrical English. A player who chose 1...c5 is usually content with either outcome. The immediate 2. e4 is also seen frequently and leads to a Sicilian line catalogued as the Czerniak Attack.

Most often White declines the invitation and keeps the game independent with an early e3. Black then chooses between ...e5 and ...d5, and in each case the pawn already on c5 adds to Black's grip on the center. The ...d5 setup joins the c5/d5 structures of the Classical Variation. There, White aims for a reversed Nimzo-Indian with an extra tempo, pinning a knight on c6 and controlling e5, as in 1. b3 d5 2. Bb2 c5 3. e3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bb5. With ...e5 instead, Black builds a broad, Botvinnik-like grip on d4. White then relies on the b2-bishop and later pawn breaks to challenge that center.

Minor second moves such as 2. Ba3 and 2. e3 appear only occasionally. Engines rate the starting position as balanced. In online play White scores slightly better than Black, and draws are rare. Practical results tend to depend less on concrete theory than on how well each player understands the Sicilian, English and reversed Nimzo-Indian structures that the line can turn into.