Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation (3… cxd5 4. Bf4)
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bf4
The Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B13, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bf4. 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 932 times by this move order. White won 48%, 5% were drawn and Black won 47%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nc6 (50% of games).
Engine evaluation: 0.00 (Stockfish, depth 60; best line 4… Bf5 5. c4 Nc6 6. Nf3 e6 7. cxd5)
- ECO
- B13
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/8/3p4/3P1B2/8/PPP2PPP/RN1QKBNR b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bf4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 257 | |
| 1500-1999 | 484 | |
| 2000+ | 191 | |
| All | 932 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nc6 | 464 (50%) | |
| 4… Nf6 | 247 (27%) | |
| 4… Bf5 | 147 (16%) | |
| 4… e6 | 34 (4%) | |
| 4… a6 | 23 (2%) | |
| 4… Qb6 | 7 (1%) | |
| 4… f6 | 2 (0%) | |
| 4… Nd7 | 2 (0%) |
Master games
446 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 26%, Black 37%). The strongest:
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2738) – GM Jorden Van Foreest (2612) 0-1 · 81st Tata Steel GpA · 2019-01-13
- GM Pentala Harikrishna (2729) – GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2615) 1/2-1/2 · Tata Steel India Rapid · 2018-11-09
- GM Alexander Morozevich (2676) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2667) 1/2-1/2 · Nutcracker Classical 2016 · 2016-12-17
- GM Maxime Lagarde (2658) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2678) 0-1 · PRO League KO Stage 2020 · 2020-03-04
- GM Alexei Shirov (2658) – GM Igor Kovalenko (2654) 0-1 · Tal Memorial Blitz 2019 · 2019-07-18
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- GgangbuVip (2682) – Energetic_IP (2622) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- GgangbuVip (2687) – imsk (2520) 0-1 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- sashatimon11 (2446) – kingfischer007 (2289) 1-0 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation (3. exd5 cxd5) 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5
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.