Caro-Kann Defense: Endgame Variation
1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 dxe4 4. dxe4 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1
The Caro-Kann Defense: Endgame Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B10, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 dxe4 4. dxe4 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1. 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 1,780 times by this move order. White won 44%, 8% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 5… Bg4 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.15 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5… Nd7 6. a4 Ngf6 7. Nfd2 h5 8. a5)
- ECO
- B10
- Moves
- 9 plies
- FEN
rnb1kbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/8/4P3/5N2/PPP2PPP/RNBK1B1R b kq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 dxe4 4. dxe4 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 759 | |
| 1500-1999 | 557 | |
| 2000+ | 464 | |
| All | 1,780 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5… Bg4 | 1,140 (64%) | |
| 5… Nf6 | 427 (24%) | |
| 5… e6 | 54 (3%) | |
| 5… e5 | 43 (2%) | |
| 5… Nd7 | 38 (2%) | |
| 5… g6 | 26 (1%) | |
| 5… f6 | 22 (1%) | |
| 5… Be6 | 6 (0%) |
Master games
2,210 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 52%, draw 25%, Black 23%). The strongest:
- GM Hikaru Nakamura (2775) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2853) 1/2-1/2 · Chessable Masters Div 1 L · 2023-04-06
- GM Viswanathan Anand (2754) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2835) 0-1 · SuperUnited Blitz 2023 · 2023-07-08
- GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit (2716) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) 0-1 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-12
- GM Anish Giri (2779) – GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (2774) 1-0 · Levitov Chess Week Rapid · 2019-08-06
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2835) – GM Quang Liem Le (2709) 1/2-1/2 · Chess24 Banter Final 2020 · 2020-09-25
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Endgame Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GM sillyMASTER (2849) – GM Fabsid (2822) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- GM sillyMASTER (2810) – GM Fabsid (2813) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- OptimistischesSchach (2793) – hadishahod (2777) 0-1 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Endgame Offer 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3
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.