King's Pawn Game: Mengarini's Opening
1. e4 e5 2. a3
The King's Pawn Game: Mengarini's Opening is a chess opening classified as ECO C20, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. a3. It is a line of the King's Pawn Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,410 times by this move order. White won 49%, 4% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 2… Nf6 (32% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 42; best line 2… Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 d5 5. exd5)
- ECO
- C20
- Moves
- 3 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/4p3/4P3/P7/1PPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. a3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,914 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,461 | |
| 2000+ | 35 | |
| All | 4,410 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2… Nf6 | 1,410 (32%) | |
| 2… Nc6 | 1,366 (31%) | |
| 2… Bc5 | 501 (11%) | |
| 2… d6 | 402 (9%) | |
| 2… d5 | 253 (6%) | |
| 2… Qf6 | 94 (2%) | |
| 2… Qh4 | 59 (1%) | |
| 2… a6 | 50 (1%) |
Master games
175 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 10%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- GM Adam Kozak (2601) – GM Quang Liem Le (2739) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Feb Early · 2025-02-18
- GM Cristobal Henriquez Villagra (2603) – GM Alexey Sarana (2658) 1-0 · Titled Tue 14th Apr 2026 · 2026-04-14
- GM Cristobal Henriquez Villagra (2603) – GM Ihor Samunenkov (2616) 1-0 · 1st 3-0 Thu 16th Jul 2026 · 2026-07-16
- GM Adam Kozak (2601) – GM Victor Bologan (2603) 0-1 · Chessable Masters Play-In · 2025-02-17
- IM Bojan Maksimovic (2497) – GM Maxim Matlakov (2674) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Nov Late · 2023-11-21
Search all games of the King's Pawn Game: Mengarini's Opening and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Deadpoolx (2399) – FM sergeikim2003 (2490) 0-1 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- belloid (2314) – eddydaddy (2388) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 0s
- Mnizar_bwi (2212) – MSN_TREBLE_2015 (2204) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Pawn Game (1. e4 e5) 1. e4 e5
More King's Pawn Game lines (all)
- King's Pawn Game (1. e4) B00
- King's Pawn Game: Maróczy Defense B07
- King's Pawn Game: Alapin Opening C20
- King's Pawn Game: Bavarian Gambit C20
- King's Pawn Game: Beyer Gambit C20
- King's Pawn Game: Clam Variation, King's Gambit Reversed C20
- King's Pawn Game: Clam Variation, Radisch Gambit C20
- King's Pawn Game: King's Head Opening (1… e5 2. f3) C20
- King's Pawn Game: King's Head Opening (2… Nf6 3. Nc3) C20
- King's Pawn Game: Leonardis Variation C20
- King's Pawn Game: MacLeod Attack C20
- King's Pawn Game: MacLeod Attack, Lasa Gambit C20
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.