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Caro-Kann Defense

Moves

Black scores

49.8%

About even
Loses moreEvenWins more

47.7% won4.1% drawn48.2% lost

Theory 46.5% · Stockfish +0.4

Every level and clock · 166M games

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a
1...c6
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<100010001200140016001800200022002500+

Win rate by rating

Black’s score falls away as the rating rises.

RatingScore against evenScoreWonGames
52.1%50.5%5.6M
50.6%49.0%11M
50.6%49.0%20M
50.7%49.0%28M
50.2%48.2%34M
49.5%47.3%32M
48.5%46.0%21M
46.8%43.9%12M
44.6%40.7%2.2M

Every clock · Tap a row to set your level.

What does White play next?

White's most played reply is 2.d4 d5 3.exd5, the Exchange Variation.

Is the Caro-Kann Defense good?

Even for Black, across every level and clock.

Everyone49.8
Stockfish46.5

Stockfish at depth 22 · +0.4 for White

Floor 49.8 is the worst score you would still get, 90% confident.

Among the families

7th of 65 families Black can choose

Where it wins · rating × clock

<100010001200140016001800200022002500+Every levelUltraBulletBulletBlitzRapidClassical
Best 60.1% · under 1000 ultrabulletWorst 39.0% · 2200–2499 classical

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Average game length

How do you score in your own openings?

Leaks reads your recent games and lists the openings you score worst in.

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More Caro-Kann Defense lines

Most played first; each line counts its own games.

All 90 Caro-Kann Defense lines, ranked

90 variations · ranked by floor

Floor — the worst score you would still get, 90% confident.

1
Caro-Kann Defense: Labahn Attack43K games
56.3%Floor 55.9%
2
Caro-Kann Defense: Labahn Attack, Double Gambit2.6K games
56.8%Floor 55.2%
3
Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation, Bulla Attack2.4K games
55.9%Floor 54.2%
Caro-Kann Defense: Spike Variation28K games
54.5%Floor 54.0%
Caro-Kann Defense: Hillbilly Attack10M games
53.6%Floor 53.6%
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Botvinnik-Carls Defense7.4M games
51.9%Floor 51.9%
Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack, Mindeno Variation987K games
51.9%Floor 51.9%
Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Van Weersel Attack14K games
52.5%Floor 51.8%
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Modern Defense, Reifir-Spielmann Line1.6K games
53.6%Floor 51.5%
Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack, Mindeno Variation, Retreat Line223K games
51.4%Floor 51.2%
Caro-Kann Defense: Gurgenidze Counterattack58K games
51.5%Floor 51.2%
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Modern Defense, Czerniak Line2.8K games
52.4%Floor 50.9%
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance, Short Variation13K games
51.4%Floor 50.7%
Caro-Kann Defense59M games
50.6%Floor 50.6%
Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation23M games
50.6%Floor 50.6%
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Prins Attack25K games
51.0%Floor 50.5%
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Van der Wiel Attack, Dreyev Defense13K games
51.2%Floor 50.5%
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Fianchetto Defense194K games
50.6%Floor 50.4%
Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack, Mindeno Variation, Exchange Line499K games
50.4%Floor 50.3%
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Van der Wiel Attack1.3M games
50.2%Floor 50.2%
Caro-Kann Defense: Ulysses Gambit484K games
50.2%Floor 50.1%
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Short Variation6.1M games
50.0%Floor 49.9%
Caro-Kann Defense: Euwe Attack446K games
50.0%Floor 49.9%
Caro-Kann Defense: Breyer Variation4.6M games
49.7%Floor 49.7%
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Gunderam Attack130K games
49.8%Floor 49.5%
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Fianchetto Defense, Fianchetto Gambit58K games
49.8%Floor 49.4%
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov-Botvinnik, Herzog Defense1.1K games
51.4%Floor 49.0%
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation10M games
48.9%Floor 48.8%
Caro-Kann Defense: St. Patrick's Attack22K games
49.3%Floor 48.8%
Caro-Kann Defense: Toikkanen Gambit59K games
49.1%Floor 48.8%
Caro-Kann Defense: Tartakower Variation2.9M games
48.9%Floor 48.8%
Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Open Variation180K games
48.7%Floor 48.6%
Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation3.4M games
48.5%Floor 48.5%
Caro-Kann Defense: Gurgenidze System313K games
48.4%Floor 48.3%
Caro-Kann Defense: Endgame Variation578K games
48.4%Floor 48.3%
Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation784K games
48.3%Floor 48.2%
Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, Lobron System67K games
48.5%Floor 48.2%
Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation, Modern Variation, Kasparov Attack206K games
48.3%Floor 48.1%
Caro-Kann Defense: Forgacs Variation362K games
48.1%Floor 48.0%
Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, Spassky Variation223K games
48.1%Floor 47.9%
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Modern Defense533K games
47.9%Floor 47.8%
Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation, Tiviakov-Fischer Attack12K games
48.5%Floor 47.8%
Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack6.8M games
47.7%Floor 47.7%
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Main Line349K games
47.8%Floor 47.6%
Caro-Kann Defense: Labahn Attack, Polish Variation632 games
50.7%Floor 47.5%
Caro-Kann Defense: Mieses Gambit71K games
47.7%Floor 47.4%
Caro-Kann Defense: Apocalypse Attack320K games
47.6%Floor 47.4%
Caro-Kann Defense: Bronstein-Larsen Variation342K games
47.6%Floor 47.4%
Caro-Kann Defense: Main Line2.5M games
47.3%Floor 47.3%
Caro-Kann Defense: Hector Gambit47K games
47.6%Floor 47.2%
Every Caro-Kann Defense variation, by name90
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Methodology

Across every level and clock, the Caro-Kann Defense family scores 49.8% for Black, from 166M rated Lichess games across 90 variations, and the low and high ends of its range both round to that same figure at this precision. Win rate, draw rate and loss rate come from games played September 2023 to August 2026.

How the figures are made
Whose games these are
166M rated games played on Lichess (2023-09 to 2026-08). The games are Lichess’s and free for anyone to use. What is ours is the reading of them. Last rebuilt September 2026.
Which games we count
  • Rated games only — nothing casual.
  • Both players within 200 rating points of each other. A mismatch tells you about the gap, not about the opening.
  • At least 2 moves played.
  • A game is filed under White’s rating.
Why every number comes with a range
A number off a few hundred games is a guess. The same number off millions is a fact. The range is what tells them apart, and it is what the lists rank on — so an opening cannot reach the top on a lucky run of forty games. The more games behind a figure, the narrower its range.
What the Floor and Edge at worst are
The Floor is the worst score you would still get, 90% confident: the low end of a figure’s range, not its average. Edge at worst is how far wins run ahead of losses, 90% confident, so above zero, that side wins more than it loses even on a bad day. Each is stated for the rating and clock shown, over the games that reached the position. They are on different scales: a score sits at 50 when the sides are level, an edge at zero.
How much we need before we say anything
An opening page needs 100 games. A figure on it needs 100 games at its rating and clock: short of that the answer reads a wider scope and says so, a table row shows only its count, and a map cell shows a dash. Under 1.0K games a figure is drawn faint, and never leads a list or counts as the best or worst place the line wins. The chaos and trap lists need 500 games overall and 250 games at one rating or clock.