Mikenas Defense

1. d4 Nc6

The Mikenas Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO A40, reached after 1. d4 Nc6. White is to move. 4 named lines continue from this position.

In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 32,211 times by this move order. White won 52%, 4% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 2. Nf3 (26% of games).

Engine evaluation: +0.60 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2. d5 Ne5 3. e4 e6 4. Nc3 Nf6)

ECO: A40
Moves: 2 plies
FEN: r1bqkbnr/pppppppp/2n5/8/3P4/8/PPP1PPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 1 2
PGN: 1. d4 Nc6

Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess

Results by rating

Average rating	Games	White / draw / Black
0-1499	18,584	53%42%
1500-1999	9,712	50%46%
2000+	3,915	47%48%
All	32,211	52%44%

Most played moves

Move	Games	White / draw / Black
2. Nf3	8,365 (26%)	53%42%
2. c4	4,918 (15%)	50%47%
2. d5	4,655 (14%)	53%43%
2. Bf4	4,579 (14%)	53%43%
2. e3	3,577 (11%)	49%46%
2. e4	1,814 (6%)	51%45%
2. Nc3	1,773 (6%)	51%44%
2. c3	1,340 (4%)	51%43%

Master games

2,191 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 49%, draw 15%, Black 36%). The strongest:

GM Levon Aronian (2767) – GM Fabiano Caruana (2822) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 1m+1spm 2017 · 2018-07-24
GM Anish Giri (2782) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2801) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 5m+1spm 2018 · 2018-09-07
GM Liren Ding (2791) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 1-0 · Chessable Masters GpB · 2020-06-23
GM So, W. (2770) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2778) 1-0 · Clutch Chess Showdown Int · 2020-06-08
GM Laurent Fressinet (2687) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2855) 0-1 · GCT Blitz Paris 2016 · 2016-06-12

Search all games of the Mikenas Defense and its sub-variations

Highest-rated Lichess games

vistagusta (2844) – IM Kostik_Mostik (2916) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
FM Crew12 (2744) – IM Kostik_Mostik (2901) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Minarque (2725) – Tempstream (2715) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s

Comes from

Queen's Pawn Game (1. d4) 1. d4

Continuations

Montevideo Defense A40 · 1. d4 Nc6 2. d5 Nb8
Mikenas Defense: Cannstatter Variation A40 · 1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nd4
Mikenas Defense: Lithuanian Variation A40 · 1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nce7
Mikenas Defense: Pozarek Gambit A40 · 1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. Nc3 Nxc4

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.