Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation, Modern Main Line
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 Bd6 8. Qe2 h6 9. Ne4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4
The Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation, Modern Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B17, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 Bd6 8. Qe2 h6 9. Ne4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4. 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 5 times by this move order. White won 20%, 20% were drawn and Black won 60%. The most popular continuation is 10… Nf6 (100% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.36 (Stockfish, depth 37; best line 10… Nf6 11. Qe2 Qb6 12. c3 c5 13. dxc5)
- ECO
- B17
- Moves
- 19 plies
- FEN
r1bqk2r/pp1n1pp1/2pbp2p/8/3PQ3/3B1N2/PPP2PPP/R1B1K2R b KQkq - 0 10- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 Bd6 8. Qe2 h6 9. Ne4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2000+ | 5 | |
| All | 5 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 10… Nf6 | 5 (100%) |
Master games
163 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 48%, draw 31%, Black 21%). The strongest:
- GM Sebastian Bogner (2571) – GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2719) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 2nd June · 2020-06-02
- GM Yifan Hou (2629) – GM Qun Ma (2606) 0-1 · ch-CHN 2014 · 2014-03-22
- GM John M Burke (2554) – GM Dariusz Swiercz (2647) 1-0 · US On/L Collegiate Blitz · 2021-09-26
- IM Semen Khanin (2482) – GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2719) 0-1 · Titled Tuesday 2nd June · 2020-06-02
- FM Jan Vykouk (2435) – GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (2736) 0-1 · European Blitz 2017 · 2017-12-15
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation, Modern Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM jacosta-777 (2379) – Vovachericov81 (2456) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 2s
- Kuprinvladimir (2351) – Elitserien (2363) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 2s
- Matjaz1966 (2360) – amazing_owl (2283) 1-0 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation, Modern Variation 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5
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.