Caro-Kann Defense: Bronstein-Larsen Variation
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6
The Caro-Kann Defense: Bronstein-Larsen Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B16, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6. It is a line of the Caro-Kann Defense. White is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 860 times by this move order. White won 52%, 6% were drawn and Black won 42%. The most popular continuation is 6. Nf3 (44% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.77 (Stockfish, depth 49; best line 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. Be2 Nd7 8. O-O e6)
- ECO
- B16
- Moves
- 10 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp2pp1p/2p2p2/8/3P4/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 6- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 91 | |
| 1500-1999 | 344 | |
| 2000+ | 425 | |
| All | 860 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 6. Nf3 | 376 (44%) | |
| 6. c3 | 218 (25%) | |
| 6. Bc4 | 78 (9%) | |
| 6. Be3 | 68 (8%) | |
| 6. Bf4 | 53 (6%) | |
| 6. Bd3 | 20 (2%) | |
| 6. g3 | 17 (2%) | |
| 6. c4 | 7 (1%) |
Master games
969 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 23%, Black 35%). The strongest:
- Stockfishdev-20250802-a37b38bd (3731) – LCZero0.31-dag-4d98c58-BT5-3700000 (3692) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
- LCZero0.31-dag-4d98c58-BT5-3700000 (3692) – Stockfishdev-20250802-a37b38bd (3731) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 28 Premier 2025 · 2025-08-03
- LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) – Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-11-10
- Stockfish dev16_20221027 (3625) – LCZero 0.30-dag-9a9c42d_784968 (3599) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 23 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-11-10
- KomodoDragon 2894.00 (3600) – Stockfish dev15_20220401 (3617) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 22 Superfinal 2022 · 2022-04-22
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Bronstein-Larsen Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- kuhmft (2848) – MightActuallyTry (2685) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- DailyTornado (2586) – hierasousse (2587) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- IM MrSuccess (2624) – sivriplayer (2534) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
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.