English Openings

`F Edi`	`F Lon`	`A Lvp`	Games	Opening Name
`-NWG`	`-NTH`	`-Edi`	142	Player's Guide, Opening 1, Churchill Opening, Northern Opening Edi Variant, FALL=Bohas?
`-NWG`	`-NTH`	`-Yor`	95	Player's Guide, Opening 1: Variant, Northern Yorkshire Variant, Northern Opening Yorkshire Variant
`-NTH`	`-ENG`	`-Yor`	46	Southern Opening Yorkshire Variant, Fall=Atlantic Bind?
`-NTH`	`-ENG`	`-Wal`	26	Player's Guide, Opening 2, Wales Opening, Southern Opening
`-NWG`	`-ENG`	`-Wal`	2	The Splits, Northern Variation
`-NWG`	`-ENG`	`-Edi`	2	The Splits, Southern Variation
`-NTH`	`-ENG`	`-Edi`	2	Southern Opening; Edi Variation
`-NTH`	`HOLD`	`-Yor`	2	North Sea Opening
`-NWG`	`-NTH`	`-Wal`	2	Northern Opening; Wal variant
`-NWG`	`-ENG`	`-Yor`	1	The Splits
`-Cly`	`-ENG`	`-Wal`	1	Unnamed
`HOLD`	`HOLD`	`HOLD`	1	Yorkshire Pudding if Edi,Lvp,Lon-Yor
`-NWG`	`-NTH`	`-Cly`	0	Northern Opening; Clyde Variant

Excerpts from Diplomacy A-Z

ATLANTIC BIND: English Fall '01 F NTH C A Yor-Nor, F ENG-MAO. England passes up the slim chance of Brest for the forward position. (The MAO is much harder to take once France builds a second fleet.) If expelled, the fleet can move to WES threatening Spain, Tunis and Lyon. Used in 1980AY and (without the convoy) in 1973GI.
BOHAS: English opening of F NWG C Edi-Nor, F NTH-SKA. At the risk of leaving NTH open, England gains the ability to start quickly on Russia's Scandinavian holdings, beginning in the south, or for a surprise attack on Den.
CHURCHILL OPENING: The English opening A Lvp-Edi, F Lon-NTH, F Edi-NWG. This is a little more risky than the Northern Opening as England can not guarantee securing a build in Autumn 1901 but it offers more flexibility, England can follow with a Bohas in the Fall to exert pressure on Swe in Spring 02. Perhaps a sign that England is more interested in securing a presence in Scandinavia than resolving the E/F/G situation and hence an early hint of a triple alliance.
NORTHERN OPENING: Richard Sharp's name for the opening: F Lon-NTH and F Edi-NWG. There are four named variations: the Clyde variant, the Edinburgh variant, the Wales variant and the Yorkshire variant, each named after where the English army is sent.
NORTH SEA OPENING: Richard Sharp's name for the opening where England orders A Lvp-Yor, one fleet to NTH and does something "silly" with the other fleet. There are two variations: the Clyde (involving Edi-Cly) and the Thames (Lon-Wal).
SOUTHERN OPENING: Richard Sharp's name for the opening: F Lon-ENG, F Edi-NTH. There are two named variations: the Edi variation and the Yorkshire variation, named after the destination of the English army.
THE SPLITS: Richard Sharp's name for the opening F Lon-ENG and F Edi-NWG. There are three named variations: the Edinburgh, the Wales and the Yorkshire, again named after the army destination.
WALES OPENING: F Lon-ENG, A Lvp-Wal. It is normally attempted when England is quite sure of taking the Channel, a fact seen by its high success rate compared with other F Lon-ENG openings. The most common target for A Wal is Bel. My statistics on 17 openings with entry into ENG shows that A Wal-Bre succeeded 5 times in 5.
YORKSHIRE OPENING: There are two common English opening fleet combinations: the Northern Opening (F Lon-NTH, F Edi-NWG) and the Southern Opening (F Lon-ENG, F Edi-NTH). Each has a "Yorkshire variation" in which A Lvp is ordered to (surprise, surprise) Yorkshire, though in his book, "The Game of Diplomacy," Richard Sharp uses the phrase exclusively in reference to the move when used in conjunction with the Northern Opening. As such, it is the only move to guarantee England a build in 1901, since A Yor can guard London against a sneaky French assault through the Channel, and one fleet can support the other into Norway if Russia opens with A Mos-Stp. The opening vies in popularity with the "Churchill Opening", another version of the Northern Opening in which A Lvp is ordered to Edinburgh, from whence it can be convoyed onto the continent by either of the two fleets (most likely A Edi-Nor or A Edi-Bel).
The only way to guarantee England a build in Winter 1901 is to open A Lvp-Yor/Wal, F Lon-NTH & F Edi-NWG and then order F NWG S NTH-Nor. Note that it may be important which way you support into Nor. If Russia orders A Mos-Stp in S01 and A Stp-Nor in F01 then you need to support the fleet in NTH into Nor in case Germany orders F Den/HEL/Hol-NTH, cutting your support.
YORKSHIRE PUDDING: A joke opening where all the English units are ordered to Yorkshire in Spring 1901! Devised by Denis Jones and used by him in a postal game! Strange character Denis Jones. Needless to say, he didn't do too well in that game.

Excerpts from the Player's Guide

OPENING 1: [A Lvp-Edi; F Edi-NWG; F Lon-NTH]: This is England's best opening, sometimes called the "Churchill Opening" (after Sir Winston's plan to invade Norway in World War II). The army is sometimes stationed in Yorkshire (instead of moving to Edinburgh) partly to guard London in the case of French perfidy. If so, its offensive role is then much more limited. From Edinburgh, it can be convoyed by either fleet. It thus has the choice of going to Norway or to the Continent. It can also be convoyed to Norway by one fleet with support from the other. This opening is viewed as primarily anti-Russian. It can also be anti-German. One powerful Fall move is (A Edi-Nor, F NTH C F Edi-Nor, F NWG-BAR) threatening Russia even more directly.
OPENING 2: [A Lvp-Wal; F Edi-NTH; F Lon-ENG]: This is blatantly anti-French. The threat is A Wal-Bre, F ENG C A Wal-Bre. If France moved F Bre-MAO, she is probably faced with the choice of giving up either Spain or Portugal in order to protect Brest. England may also allow her to slip back in the home center while convoying the army to Belgium instead. Meanwhile, F NTH can either support the army into Belgium or take Norway. It is pretty silly for England to pass up the Norwegian center.

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