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Caro-Kann Defense

♜♚♝♞♜♟♟♟♟♟♛♞♟♟♟♟♝♟♞♝♞♟♟♟♝♟♟♟♜♛♚♜

The Caro-Kann, 1.e4 c6, aims for a solid centre without locking in the light-squared bishop. Its reliability has made it a frequent choice of world champions.

404master games
2607avg. Elo
7variations
White wins %26 · draw %56 · Black wins %18

Played by: Maghsoodloo, Abdusattorov, Wei Yi, Gukesh, Mamedyarov, Van Foreest, Vachier Lagrave, Caruana

Main line

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 Qb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.O-O Qxb2 9.Qe1 cxd4 10.Bxd4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 Bb4 12.Ndb5 Ba5 13.Rb1 Qxc2 14.Rc1 Qb2 15.Na4 Bxe1

Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.

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Variations played by masters (7)

Advance Variation, Short Variation · ECO B12 · for Black

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 Qb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.O-O Qxb2 9.Qe1 cxd4 10.Bxd4 Nxd4 …
96 games · avg. Elo 2608 · W/D/L 31/46/19 · Model game: Lazavik – Anton Guijarro, 2026 (1/2-1/2)

Advance Variation, Botvinnik-Carls Defense · ECO B12 · for Black

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Qf4 g6 7.Nc3 d4 8.Nb5 Bh6 9.Qh4 Bxc1 10.Rxc1 a6 …
83 games · avg. Elo 2603 · W/D/L 21/43/19

Main line · ECO B10 · for Black

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.Be2 Nf6 7.O-O Be7 8.Rd1 O-O 9.d4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 …
72 games · avg. Elo 2599 · W/D/L 22/43/7 · Model game: Bharath – Ivanchuk, 2025 (1/2-1/2)

Exchange Variation · ECO B13 · for Black

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Qc7 6.h3 e6 7.Nf3 Bd6 8.O-O Nge7 9.Re1 Bd7 10.Nbd2 h6 …
60 games · avg. Elo 2618 · W/D/L 7/44/9 · Model game: Murzin – Livaic, 2025 (1/2-1/2)

Advance Variation · ECO B12 · for Black

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nd2 e6 5.Nb3 Nd7 6.Nf3 Qc7 7.Be2 c5 8.c3 c4 9.Nbd2 h6 10.Nf1 Ne7 …
50 games · avg. Elo 2610 · W/D/L 14/24/12 · Model game: Alekseenko – Anton Guijarro, 2026 (0-1)

Tartakower Variation · ECO B15 · for Black

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.Ne2 Re8 9.O-O Nd7 10.Ng3 g6 …
26 games · avg. Elo 2614 · W/D/L 6/16/4 · Model game: Sjugirov – Pultinevicius, 2024 (1/2-1/2)

Main Line · ECO B15 · for Black

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 6.c3 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.Qc2 Re8+ 9.Ne2 h5 10.O-O h4 …
17 games · avg. Elo 2600 · W/D/L 3/11/3 · Model game: Amar – Neiksans, 2025 (0-1)

Learn every line move by move on an interactive board with Stockfish 19 evaluation, model games and spaced repetition. Also: every chess tournament worldwide and 4,100+ puzzles.

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Other openings

Sicilian DefenseQueen's Gambit DeclinedRuy LopezEnglish OpeningItalian GameIndian DefensePetrov's DefenseNimzo-Indian DefenseFrench DefenseZukertort OpeningQueen's Pawn GameKing's Indian AttackFour Knights GameQueen's Gambit AcceptedCatalan OpeningScotch Game

Statistics from classical games of 2500+ rated players. Notation: K king, Q queen, R rook, B bishop, N knight.