Caro-Kann Defense: Alekhine Gambit
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Bd3
The Caro-Kann Defense: Alekhine Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B15, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Bd3. 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 853 times by this move order. White won 55%, 4% were drawn and Black won 41%. The most popular continuation is 5… Nxe4 (43% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.23 (Stockfish, depth 47; best line 5… Qxd4 6. Nf3 Qd5 7. Qe2 Bg4 8. O-O)
- ECO
- B15
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp2pppp/2p2n2/8/3PN3/3B4/PPP2PPP/R1BQK1NR b KQkq - 2 5- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Bd3
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 334 | |
| 1500-1999 | 397 | |
| 2000+ | 122 | |
| All | 853 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Nxe4 | 369 (43%) | |
| 5… Qxd4 | 172 (20%) | |
| 5… Nbd7 | 90 (11%) | |
| 5… Bg4 | 70 (8%) | |
| 5… Bf5 | 57 (7%) | |
| 5… e6 | 44 (5%) | |
| 5… g6 | 15 (2%) | |
| 5… e5 | 5 (1%) |
Master games
50 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 20%, Black 48%). The strongest:
- IM Miran Oganian (2437) – GM Matthias Bluebaum (2663) 0-1 · Titled Tue 17th May Early · 2022-05-17
- FM Dobrocmyslov, A. (2297) – GM Pavel Eljanov (2668) 0-1 · Titled Tue 1st Apr Late · 2025-04-01
- GM Aleksandr Shimanov (2576) – Qingyu Yuan (2360) 1-0 · Titled Tue 16th Apr Early · 2024-04-16
- IM Mykola Bortnyk (2433) – FM Akira Nakada (2412) 1/2-1/2 · New York 1924 Centennial · 2024-07-19
- IM Balazs Csonka (2496) – FM Nikolaos Aggelis (2274) 1-0 · Titled Tue 18th Apr Early · 2023-04-18
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Alekhine Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Brian0_81 (2478) – CM handyfish97 (2421) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
- cantorypoeta (2435) – MagiqueRoger (2414) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 300 + 0s
- AaronGT24 (2412) – benga77 (2385) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense (3. Nc3 dxe4) 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4
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.