Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, Lobron System
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7
The Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, Lobron System is a chess opening classified as ECO B19, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7. 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 22 times by this move order. White won 36%, 5% were drawn and Black won 59%. The most popular continuation is 13. Ne4 (59% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.33 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qe2 Qd5)
- ECO
- B19
- Moves
- 24 plies
- FEN
r2qk2r/pp1nbpp1/2p1pn1p/7P/3P4/3Q1NN1/PPPB1PP1/2KR3R w kq - 4 13- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 21 | |
| All | 22 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 13. Ne4 | 13 (59%) | |
| 13. Kb1 | 7 (32%) | |
| 13. Qe2 | 1 (5%) | |
| 13. Nh4 | 1 (5%) |
Master games
663 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 35%, draw 35%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- GM Veselin Topalov (2771) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2766) 1/2-1/2 · Renova FIDE GP Zug · 2013-04-28
- GM Veselin Topalov (2752) – GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2729) 1/2-1/2 · 1st FIDE GP London 2012 · 2012-09-29
- GM Yifan Hou (2676) – GM So, W. (2778) 1/2-1/2 · 43rd GM 2015 · 2015-07-01
- GM Gadir Guseinov (2631) – GM Nikita Vitiugov (2734) 1-0 · FIDE World Blitz 2013 · 2013-06-09
- GM Gadir Guseinov (2634) – GM David Navara (2728) 1-0 · FIDE World Cup 2015 · 2015-09-14
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, Lobron System and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- malaida-annamalai (2575) – GM Fabsid (2795) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- FM k_zhitnik (2673) – koonta (2563) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- sleepheaddefence (2506) – Knuspermeister2 (2710) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, Spassky Variation 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
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.