Caro-Kann Defense
Chess opening · ECO B10 · 2 half-moves
1. e4 c6
The Caro-Kann Defense is reached after 1. e4 c6. It is White's move in the position shown.
It branches from the King's Pawn Game with 1… c6.
How often it is played
The Caro-Kann Defense and its variations appeared in 5.7% of games — 170,835 of 3,000,000 rated games sampled from Lichess in September 2026. That makes it number 8 of the openings listed here.
Results
White won 48%, 3.8% were drawn and Black won 48%. 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 +0.34 — a small 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 |
|---|---|---|
| King's Knight Opening | 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 | 15% |
| Sicilian Defense | 1. e4 c5 | 9.6% |
| French Defense | 1. e4 e6 | 6.4% |
Main continuations
| Variation | Moves | Share of games |
|---|---|---|
| Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation | 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 | 1.1% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation | 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 | 0.93% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Hillbilly Attack | 1. e4 c6 2. Bc4 | 0.35% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Modern Variation | 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 | 0.32% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack | 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 | 0.28% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Breyer Variation | 1. e4 c6 2. d3 | 0.16% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack | 1. e4 c6 2. c4 | 0.13% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Tartakower Variation | 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 | 0.12% |
Check your own games
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