Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5
The Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B12, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5. It is a line of the Caro-Kann Defense. Black is to move. 8 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 114,198 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 3… Bf5 (58% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 3… c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Nxc6)
- ECO
- B12
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3pP3/3P4/8/PPP2PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 39,730 | |
| 1500-1999 | 58,147 | |
| 2000+ | 16,321 | |
| All | 114,198 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Bf5 | 66,200 (58%) | |
| 3… c5 Advance Variation, Botvinnik-Carls Defense | 37,331 (33%) | |
| 3… e6 | 5,514 (5%) | |
| 3… f6 | 1,474 (1%) | |
| 3… g6 | 830 (1%) | |
| 3… a6 | 718 (1%) | |
| 3… Nd7 | 541 (0%) | |
| 3… h6 | 261 (0%) |
Master games
7,706 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 44%, draw 20%, Black 36%). The strongest:
- LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) – Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-01
- Stockfish dev-20240728-2343f71 (3662) – LCZero 0.31-dag-5350a2e-BT4-61 (3631) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 26 Balanced Lines · 2024-08-01
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2856) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2804) 1-0 · World Rapid 2021 · 2021-12-27
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2862) – GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2784) 1-0 · chess.com Speed 2020 · 2020-12-12
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2832) – GM So, W. (2815) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com Speed 5m+2spm 2017 · 2017-11-18
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM AngelitoRT (2880) – IM Kostik_Mostik (2896) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- IM Kostik_Mostik (2902) – GM Fabsid (2820) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- InvisibleGuest2023 (2842) – IM Kostik_Mostik (2877) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense (2. d4 d5) 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5
Continuations
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Botvinnik-Carls Defense B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Bayonet Attack B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. g4
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Bronstein Variation B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Ne2
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Prins Attack B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. b4
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Short Variation B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Tal Variation B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Van der Wiel Attack (3… Bf5 4. Nc3) B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nc3
- Caro-Kann Defense: Advance, Short Variation B12 · 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. c3 e6 5. Be2
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.