English Opening: Mikenas-Carls Variation (3… d5 4. e5)
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 d5 4. e5
The English Opening: Mikenas-Carls Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A18, reached after 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 d5 4. e5. It is a line of the English Opening. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 115 times by this move order. White won 60%, 5% were drawn and Black won 35%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nfd7 (45% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.07 (Stockfish, depth 44; best line 4… d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. fxg7 cxd2+ 7. Bxd2)
- ECO
- A18
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/ppp2ppp/4pn2/3pP3/2P5/2N5/PP1P1PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 4- PGN
1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 d5 4. e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 52 | |
| 2000+ | 61 | |
| All | 115 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nfd7 | 52 (45%) | |
| 4… d4 | 28 (24%) | |
| 4… Ne4 | 22 (19%) | |
| 4… Ng8 | 13 (11%) |
Master games
255 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 23%, Black 24%). The strongest:
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2856) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2731) 1/2-1/2 · Aimchess Rapid KO · 2022-10-19
- GM Anish Giri (2760) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2740) 0-1 · FTX Crypto Cup 2022 · 2022-08-21
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2749) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2731) 1-0 · Champions Showdown Rapid · 2019-02-22
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2737) – GM Yi Wei (2729) 0-1 · 9th Hainan Danzhou GM · 2018-08-03
- GM Yangyi Yu (2709) – GM Yi Wei (2732) 1-0 · ch-CHN 2021 · 2021-05-14
Search all games of the English Opening: Mikenas-Carls Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Roberz12 (2568) – chesslove11111 (2562) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- FM uhlmannfan (2527) – moisesanto (2534) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- howmuchisthefish2025 (2453) – Walion_Tualag (2420) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening: Mikenas-Carls Variation (2… Nf6 3. e4) 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4
More English Opening lines (all)
- English Opening A10
- English Opening: Achilles-Omega Gambit A10
- English Opening: Adorjan Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense, Hickmann Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Chabanon Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Ferenc Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Lithuanian Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Löhn Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Malvinas Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Schulz Gambit A10
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.