Mikenas Defense
Chess opening · ECO A40 · 2 half-moves
1. d4 Nc6
The Mikenas Defense is reached after 1. d4 Nc6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the Queen's Pawn Game with 1… Nc6.
How often it is played
The Mikenas Defense and its variations appeared in 0.20% of games — 6,017 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 183 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 52%, 3.6% were drawn and Black won 45%. These are games between players of every strength and time control, so they say how the opening does in practice rather than how sound it is.
What the engine thinks
Stockfish, at depth 18, evaluates the position at +0.73 — a clear edge for White. Positive numbers favour White; see reading the evaluation bar.
Similar openings
The most-played alternatives — what else could have been chosen around the move where this opening begins.
| Opening | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Defense | 1. d4 Nf6 | 5.1% |
| Queen's Gambit | 1. d4 d5 2. c4 | 4.5% |
| Queen's Pawn Game: Zukertort Variation | 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 | 2.3% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Mikenas Defense: Lithuanian Variation | 1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 | 0.01% |
| Montevideo Defense | 1. d4 Nc6 2. d5 Nb8 | 0.00% |
| Mikenas Defense: Cannstatter Variation | 1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. d5 Nd4 | 0.00% |
| Mikenas Defense: Pozarek Gambit | 1. d4 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. Nc3 Nxc4 | 0.00% |
Check your own games
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