Vienna Game: Mengarini Variation
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. a3
The Vienna Game: Mengarini Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO C26, reached after 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. a3. It is a line of the Vienna Game. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 528 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 3… Bc5 (33% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.11 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 3… Nc6 4. Nf3 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Bb5)
- ECO
- C26
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pppp1ppp/5n2/4p3/4P3/P1N5/1PPP1PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. a3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 286 | |
| 1500-1999 | 224 | |
| 2000+ | 18 | |
| All | 528 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Bc5 | 176 (33%) | |
| 3… Nc6 | 159 (30%) | |
| 3… d5 | 91 (17%) | |
| 3… c6 | 30 (6%) | |
| 3… Be7 | 17 (3%) | |
| 3… a6 | 14 (3%) | |
| 3… d6 | 13 (2%) | |
| 3… g6 | 7 (1%) |
Master games
86 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 31%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- Stockfishdev-20240413-c55ae376 (3657) – KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-05
- KomodoDragon3.3 (3592) – Stockfishdev-20240413-c55ae376 (3657) 0-1 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-03
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-22
- Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) – KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-22
- LCZero0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-6147500 (3628) – Berserk13 (3540) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Premier 2024 · 2024-05-06
Search all games of the Vienna Game: Mengarini Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- shirokirina2010 (2535) – iamjeremyplunkett (2531) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
- shirokirina2010 (2522) – yr111 (2491) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
- FM sachista15 (2412) – Rawhen (2506) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Vienna Game: Falkbeer Variation 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6
More Vienna Game lines (all)
- Vienna Game C25
- Vienna Game: Anderssen Defense C25
- Vienna Game: Fyfe Gambit C25
- Vienna Game: Giraffe Attack C25
- Vienna Game: Hamppe-Meitner Variation C25
- Vienna Game: Hamppe-Muzio Gambit C25
- Vienna Game: Hamppe-Muzio, Dubois Variation C25
- Vienna Game: Max Lange Defense C25
- Vienna Game: Omaha Gambit C25
- Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation (2… Nc6 3. g3) C25
- Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation (5. Nge2 d5) C25
- Vienna Game: Paulsen Variation, Mariotti Gambit C25
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.