Mikenas Defense: Lithuanian Variation
1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nce7
The Mikenas Defense: Lithuanian Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nce7. 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 1,127 times by this move order. White won 38%, 3% were drawn and Black won 59%. The most popular continuation is 4. Nc3 (47% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.69 (Stockfish, depth 46; best line 4. Nf3 Ng6 5. h4 Bb4+ 6. Nbd2 e4)
- ECO
- A40
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
r1bqkbnr/ppppnppp/8/3Pp3/2P5/8/PP2PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nce7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 37 | |
| 1500-1999 | 584 | |
| 2000+ | 506 | |
| All | 1,127 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Nc3 | 534 (47%) | |
| 4. e4 | 450 (40%) | |
| 4. Nf3 | 60 (5%) | |
| 4. g3 | 17 (2%) | |
| 4. d6 | 12 (1%) | |
| 4. a3 | 10 (1%) | |
| 4. Bg5 | 8 (1%) | |
| 4. c5 | 7 (1%) |
Master games
222 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 8%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- IM Nino Batsiashvili (2498) – GM Pentala Harikrishna (2743) 0-1 · Qatar Masters Open 2015 · 2015-12-21
- GM Alojzije Jankovic (2538) – GM Hrvoje Stevic (2618) 1-0 · 13th ch-CRO 2013 · 2013-01-25
- GM David W L Howell (2675) – IM Dhulipalla Bala Chandra Prasad (2431) 1/2-1/2 · Titled Tue 16th Jul Early · 2024-07-16
- WGM Alina L`Ami (2345) – GM Nigel D Short (2682) 0-1 · Spicenet Tanzania Open · 2013-06-16
- IM Neelash Saha (2483) – GM Guha Mitrabha (2542) 0-1 · Titled Tue 14th May Late · 2024-05-14
Search all games of the Mikenas Defense: Lithuanian Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- PARKhande (2579) – terzic64 (2505) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 600 + 0s
- GM AtalikS (2667) – vladtok (2388) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 300 + 0s
- PlantBamboe (2553) – SanchoBrasCubasPanza (2487) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
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.