Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Bronstein Variation
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Ne2
The Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Bronstein Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B12, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Ne2. It is a line of the Caro-Kann Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 856 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 4… e6 (84% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 4… e6 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h5 7. c4)
- ECO
- B12
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rn1qkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3pPb2/3P4/8/PPP1NPPP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Ne2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 76 | |
| 1500-1999 | 401 | |
| 2000+ | 379 | |
| All | 856 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… e6 | 717 (84%) | |
| 4… h6 | 43 (5%) | |
| 4… c5 | 34 (4%) | |
| 4… h5 | 24 (3%) | |
| 4… Nd7 | 13 (2%) | |
| 4… Qb6 | 7 (1%) | |
| 4… Bg4 | 5 (1%) | |
| 4… Bg6 | 3 (0%) |
Master games
519 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 15%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- GM So, W. (2753) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2739) 0-1 · Titled Tue 24th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-24
- GM So, W. (2745) – GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2725) 0-1 · SuperUnited CRO Blitz 2025 · 2025-07-06
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2684) – GM Gukesh D (2730) 0-1 · Titled Tue 21st Mar Early · 2023-03-21
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2680) – GM Parham Maghsoodloo (2730) 0-1 · 1st Kasimdzhanov Masters · 2023-03-29
- GM Jakub Kosakowski (2536) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2810) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th Feb 2026 · 2026-02-17
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Dr_Bledow (2592) – LTL_0880 (2559) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- gedchess (2501) – Penicillium_salamii (2615) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- gedchess (2495) – RKNC (2606) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5
More Caro-Kann Defense lines (all)
- Caro-Kann Defense (1. e4 c6) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense (1… c6 2. Nc3) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense (2. Nc3 d5) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack (1… c6 2. c4) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack (2. c4 d5) B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Modern Variation B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Open Variation B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Pseudo-Scandinavian B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack, Van Weersel Attack B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Apocalypse Attack B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Breyer Variation B10
- Caro-Kann Defense: Breyer Variation, Stein Attack B10
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.