Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Van der Wiel Attack (3… Bf5 4. Nc3)
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nc3
The Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Van der Wiel Attack is a chess opening classified as ECO B12, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nc3. It is a line of the Caro-Kann Defense. Black is to move. 2 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 4,959 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 4… e6 (89% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 47; best line 4… e6 5. Be3 Nd7 6. a3 Qb6 7. Na4)
- ECO
- B12
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rn1qkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3pPb2/3P4/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR b KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nc3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,261 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,006 | |
| 2000+ | 692 | |
| All | 4,959 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… e6 | 4,398 (89%) | |
| 4… c5 | 141 (3%) | |
| 4… h6 | 108 (2%) | |
| 4… Nd7 | 95 (2%) | |
| 4… f6 | 62 (1%) | |
| 4… a6 | 43 (1%) | |
| 4… h5 | 32 (1%) | |
| 4… Qb6 Advance Variation, Van der Wiel Attack, Dreyev Defense | 26 (1%) |
Master games
1,115 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 40%, draw 16%, Black 44%). The strongest:
- Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) – Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-07
- Reckless 0.9.0-dev-b32e0895 (3741) – Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) 1-0 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-04
- Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) – Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-11
- Obsidian dev-16.15 (3714) – Torch 20260128-7136070b (3716) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Premier 2026 · 2026-03-09
- Stockfishdev-20250802-a37b38bd (3731) – Berserk20250622 (3650) 1-0 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
Highest-rated Lichess games
- puziko52 (2845) – kuhmft (2806) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- SnoopyDoggy (2649) – BoneCrusher2020 (2726) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- SnoopyDoggy (2635) – IM liczner (2733) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5
Continuations
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Van der Wiel Attack, Dreyev Defense B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nc3 Qb6
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Van der Wiel Attack (6… c5 7. h4) B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nc3 e6 5. g4 Bg6 6. Nge2 c5 7. h4
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.