Mikenas Defense: Cannstatter Variation
1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nd4
The Mikenas Defense: Cannstatter Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nd4. It is a line of the Mikenas Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 127 times by this move order. White won 61%, 2% were drawn and Black won 37%. The most popular continuation is 4. e3 (54% of games).
Engine evaluation: +1.65 (Stockfish, depth 48; best line 4. g4 Qf6 5. e3 Qg6 6. Bd3 e4)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/pppp1ppp/8/3Pp3/2Pn4/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nd4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 99 | |
| 1500-1999 | 25 | |
| 2000+ | 3 | |
| All | 127 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. e3 | 69 (54%) | |
| 4. Nc3 | 22 (17%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 15 (12%) | |
| 4. e4 | 9 (7%) | |
| 4. Be3 | 6 (5%) | |
| 4. a3 | 3 (2%) | |
| 4. f4 | 1 (1%) | |
| 4. Bf4 | 1 (1%) |
Highest-rated Lichess games
- ekremmd (2104) – schacharow (2096) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 300 + 0s
- Nullsolo1907 (2107) – yaiddoki1 (1958) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 300 + 0s
- Vasiliki2007 (2059) – FunnyFunnyMoves (1983) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Mikenas Defense 1. d4 Nc6
More Mikenas Defense lines (all)
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.