Caro-Kann Defense: Edinburgh Variation
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Qb6
The Caro-Kann Defense: Edinburgh Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B12, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Qb6. 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 43 times by this move order. White won 56%, 0% were drawn and Black won 44%. The most popular continuation is 4. Ngf3 (47% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.78 (Stockfish, depth 30; best line 4. Ngf3 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bg4 6. a4 Nd7)
- ECO
- B12
- Moves
- 6 plies
- FEN
rnb1kbnr/pp2pppp/1qp5/3p4/3PP3/8/PPPN1PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 2 4- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Qb6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 13 | |
| 1500-1999 | 24 | |
| 2000+ | 6 | |
| All | 43 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4. Ngf3 | 20 (47%) | |
| 4. c3 | 15 (35%) | |
| 4. exd5 | 8 (19%) |
Master games
17 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 41%, draw 30%, Black 29%). The strongest:
- GM Dragan Solak (2635) – GM Baadur Jobava (2665) 1/2-1/2 · 42nd Olympiad 2016 · 2016-09-13
- IM Velimir Ivic (2518) – GM Nikola Sedlak (2583) 0-1 · 18th Premier League BIH · 2019-06-08
- GM Sergei Tiviakov (2674) – Jan Jaap Janse (2202) 1-0 · LBV Open A 2012 · 2012-08-16
- GM Antonios Pavlidis (2539) – IM Klaus Berg (2323) 1-0 · European Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-15
- Igor Smolkov (2328) – GM Konstantin Chernyshov (2529) 1-0 · 26th Czech Open A 2015 · 2015-07-31
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Edinburgh Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Moepje (2476) – WhisperingTed (2434) 1-0 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- Gougnoux06 (2349) – d4isnotamistake (2342) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- Bismarkbhobhojani (2315) – d4isnotamistake (2335) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Modern Variation 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2
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.