Caro-Kann Defense: Finnish Variation
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 h6
The Caro-Kann Defense: Finnish Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO B16, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 h6. 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 50 times by this move order. White won 56%, 6% were drawn and Black won 38%. The most popular continuation is 5. Nf3 (76% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.53 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Bd3 e6 7. h3 Bxf3)
- ECO
- B16
- Moves
- 8 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2ppp1/2p4p/8/3PN3/8/PPP2PPP/R1BQKBNR w KQkq - 0 5- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 h6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2 | |
| 1500-1999 | 39 | |
| 2000+ | 9 | |
| All | 50 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 5. Nf3 | 38 (76%) | |
| 5. Bc4 | 3 (6%) | |
| 5. c3 | 3 (6%) | |
| 5. f4 | 2 (4%) | |
| 5. Nc5 | 1 (2%) | |
| 5. c4 | 1 (2%) | |
| 5. h3 | 1 (2%) |
Master games
30 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 33%, draw 40%, Black 27%). The strongest:
- Arjun Kalyan (2407) – GM Ivan Rozum (2595) 1/2-1/2 · 10th Chennai Open 2018 · 2018-01-21
- GM Klementy Sychev (2563) – GM Andrei Deviatkin (2436) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2019 · 2019-12-27
- FM Umid Aslanov (2299) – GM Nihal Sarin (2693) 0-1 · Titled Tue 30th Sep 2025 · 2025-09-30
- GM Maxim Vavulin (2556) – GM Andrei Deviatkin (2436) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2019 · 2019-12-27
- Robert-Paul Nastase (2314) – GM Constantin Lupulescu (2635) 0-1 · Iasi Open 2015 · 2015-06-04
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Finnish Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Superstitions_Guy (2799) – ArashNGM21 (2572) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- adonwade-currie (2291) – jan_olav (2218) 1-0 · 2026-09-01 · 180 + 0s
- donlulas_23 (2218) – Tanu108 (2236) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Main Line 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4
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.