The Mikenas Attack in the

English Opening

Samantha212

| Nov 11, 2015 at 10:02 PM

| Posted in: Samantha212's Blog

| 2329 reads

| 16 comments

Hello Chess Fans,

The English Opening is a hypermodern approach
to controling the center with 1.c4 claiming control
of d5 from the flank. It often transposes into
the Reversed Sicilian Opening when Black
plays ...e5, giving White a tempo UP or into
theCatalan after g3, the Nimzo-Indian, Benoni,
orQueen's Gambit after d4.

Named after Englishman Howard Staunton in the

mid 1800s, it wasn't until the 1900s when it was
embraced by Grand Masters and recognized as a
solid opening. Bobby Fischer stunned the chess
world when he deviated from his standard 1.e4
opening to 1.c4 in a World Championship match
against Boris Spassky and won.
Whether
you
currently
play
the English
Opening or have been meaning to add it to your
repertoire, here's a variation that's been making a
resurgence since Hikaru Nakamura played it
against Wesly So in the 2015 Millionaire Chess Final
in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's casually known as The
Mikenas Attackand officially called the Flohr Mikenas - Carls Variation (A18).
The brain child of the collaborative efforts of three
popular players of their day:
Salo Flohr: leading Czech GM in the 1920s and
30s who became such a national hero that his
name was used to sell luxury products at the time.
(Possibly why the variation begins with his name.)

Vladas Mikenas: Lithuanian IM who learned to

played chess in chess parlors. He was recruited to
become a chess tournament journalist before he
joined the tournament curcuit and made a name
for himself in chess history. (Possibly why the
variation is affectionately known after him. - A
journalist would know how to keep his name in
print.)

Carl Johan Carls: German IM who conspired on

the theory and played this newly created variation
in a championship match for the win in 1927.

It's actually a Maroczy Bind in the English

Opening.
Let's go step by step to understand the theory and
the moves that make up this attack in the English
Opening:

After the first 3 moves you'll arrive at the following

position: 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 with 3.e4 the
beginning of the dangerous Mikenas Attack. Black
will normally have a difficult time unless he knows
what he's doing.

We've arrived at the Moraczy Bind, which BINDS-UP

the d5 square, making it difficult for Black to get
counterplay in the center. Let's watch some
variations of Black's choices for his 3rd move:
The English - Mikenas Attack
Flohrs-Mikenas-Carls Variation

1. c4The English Opening

1... Nf62. Nc3e63. e4The Mikenas Attack
3... d5This is Black's best move. It creates counter
attacks for Black as opposed to his other choices.
(3... c5If Black plays ...c5, the e4 pawn is
uncontested. 4. e5Push the pawn forward. 4... Ng8Forcing
the knight back to his original position. There are no other

safe squares for the knight to retreat to. )(3... Nc6IF Black
plays ...Nc6 4. Nf3White needs to develop his kingside
knight to defend the pawn push to e5 4... d5Black's best
move )

f
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As you'll see in the following games, White trades
his c-pawn for Black's center d-pawn, advances his
e-pawn to e5 then supports the pawn center with
d4.

Let's watch Hikaru Nakamura use the Mikenas

Attack against Wesley So:
Hikaru Nakamura vs. Wesley So
Millionaire Chess Final | Las Vegas, Nevada | 2015 | ECO:
A18 | 1-0

1. c4Nf62. Nc3e6[[3. e4Nakamura has set into action

the Mikenas Attack, a Maroczy Bind in the English

Opening.
3... d5Wesley attacks in the center
4. cd5He captures Black's center pawn with a flank
pawn.
4... ed55. e5To make way for the e5 pawn push
5... Ne46. d4Giving White two central pawns.
6... Nc67. Bb5Be78. Nge2O-O9. O-OBf510. Be3Na51
1. Ne4Be412. Ng3a613. Bd3Bd314. Qd3Nc4Wesley is
finally able to put his knight in the center
15. Bc1f6Attempts to break open the center
16. b3Counter attacks
16... Nb6Retreats
17. e6Nakamura gains control of the f7 and d7 squares.
17... Qd6The queen attacks the pawn
18. Re1Hikaru defends
18... g6Wesley wants to prevent the knight from
attacking his queen with Nf5, but moving the pawns in
front of the king weakens his defenses.
19. Bh6BAM! Nakamura takes advantage of the
weakened dark squares.
19... Rfe820. f4Moves the pawn forward to PRY open
the kingside pawns.
20... Kh821. f5g5Wesley avoids exchanging pawns but
creates even more holes around his king.
22. Nh5POW! Taking advantage of the opening and the
knight clears the 3rd rank for the queen to slide over.

22... Rg8Defends the g-file

23. h4Adds even more pressure on the kingside pawns
23... g424. Rf1Qd8Wesley reroutes his queen to attack
the undefended knight
25. Qe2Qe826. Nf4Bd6Wesley attacks the knight but
he would lose a key dark square defender, which would
benefit White.
27. Rae1Nakamura ignores the attack, probably
welcomed it and instead strengthened his e-file with a
rook/queen battery.
27... c628. e7Nc8Black puts a third attacker on the
pawn. Notice how that advanced e-pawn has diverted
Black's pieces away from carrying out their own attack
and has put them in the defensive position, while White's
pieces are coordinating for an attack.
29. Qe6Be730. h5Pushes the h-pawn to support the
knight's next move.
30... b531. Ng6Kamikaze Knight to break open the
remaining pawn defenses
31... hg632. hg6The pawn capture blocks Black's
control of the g-file leaving the g4 pawn hanging.
32... Ra733. Kf2g334. Kf3Rg635. fg6Qg636. Qc8Kh
737. Rh1With discovered checks soon to come and the
queen, bishop and rook working in unison, Black
resigned.

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What we learned from Nakamura's game:

1.After Black attacked with 3...d5, Hikaru captured

the pawn with his flank c-pawn, then pushed the epawn to attack the knight followed by strengthing
his pawn center with d4.
2.He developed his kingside bishop with a pin on
Nc6 to reduce center counter play.
3.Then pushed the e-pawn further up the board to
control more space and diverting Black's pieces
from creating their own attack.
4.He immediately took advantage of HOLES around
the kingside caused by Black pushing his pawns
forward.
5.With his pieces coordinated he pushed the f-pawn
then the h-pawn to further break open Black's
kingside
pawn
defenses.

Anish Giri won a quick game against his opponent

in the 2015 World Cup Tournament using the
Mikenas Attack. Let's watch:
Anish Giri vs. Radoslaw Wojtaszek
World Cup | 2015 | ECO: A18 | 1-0

1. c4Nf62. Nc3e6[[3. e4d5Radoslaw also pushes the

pawn to ...d5, attacking the center.
4. cd5Giri takes Black's center pawn with his flank pawn
4... ed55. e5Then pushes the pawn forward to attack.
5... Ne46. Nf3His move order is slightly different than
Nakamura's, developing the knight first before pushing
the d-pawn into the center.
6... Bf57. d4Supports the pawn center
7... Bb48. Bd2Bc39. Bc3O-O10. Be2Radoslaw hasn't
developed his knight yet to allow the Bb5 pin. Instead,
Giri develops it to e2 to allow his king to castle.

10... c5Black counters White's pawn center.

11. dc5Nc312. bc3Be413. O-ONd714. Nd4Nc515. f3
Bg616. Nb5Giri swings his knight around to centralize on
d6, made possible by his advanced e-pawn.
16... Re817. f4Supports the e5 pawn
17... Be418. Nd6Re719. c4dc420. Bc4Giri has two
pieces attacking f7. Black has two defenders on the
square.
20... Bc621. Qc2He moves his queen to take advantage
of the open diagonal
21... Ne6The knight blocks the bishop's view of f7.
22. Rad1The rook replaces the queen to create possible
tactics with discovered attacks on Black's queen.
22... Qb6She moves away from the x-ray attack with
check.
23. Kh1g6Radoslaw pushes the g-pawn to defend the h7
square but it weakens the dark squares around the king
and White's kingside pawns are rolling up the board.
24. f5Here they come, plowing their way through
24... Nd4He counters with an attack on the queen, to
capture the f-pawn.
25. Qd2Nf526. Rf5gf527. Nf5With his rook attacked
and the threat of mate in 2, Black resigned.

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What we learned from Giri's game:

1.In addition to gaining a strong pawn center, Giri

brilliantly used the e5 pawn to anchor his knight to
d6. A very strong square for the knight.
2.With his d-pawn traded in Black's ...c5 counter
attack, he pushed the f-pawn to support the
advanced e5 pawn.
4.His queen was positioned to take advantage of
the weak dark squares around Black's kingside.
4.The decisive piece in the game was the well
positioned Nd6, which was flexible enough to
create winning tactics with White's coordinated
pieces.

I hope this has shed some light on the resurgence

of The Mikenas Attack in recent tournament play
that you can apply to your own games. Look for
the next in the series and feel free to send a friend
request to be notified of future articles. Until
then....Cheers.