Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Main Line
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4
The Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Main Line is a chess opening classified as ECO B14, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4. 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 393 times by this move order. White won 55%, 6% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 7. cxd5 (26% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.17 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 O-O 9. O-O h6)
- ECO
- B14
- Moves
- 12 plies
- FEN
rnbqk2r/pp3ppp/4pn2/3p4/1bPP4/2N2N2/PP3PPP/R1BQKB1R w KQkq - 2 7- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 27 | |
| 1500-1999 | 162 | |
| 2000+ | 204 | |
| All | 393 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7. cxd5 | 103 (26%) | |
| 7. Bd3 | 57 (15%) | |
| 7. a3 | 46 (12%) | |
| 7. Bg5 | 44 (11%) | |
| 7. Be2 | 27 (7%) | |
| 7. Bd2 | 25 (6%) | |
| 7. Qb3 | 24 (6%) | |
| 7. Qa4+ | 24 (6%) |
Master games
1,017 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 32%, draw 28%, Black 40%). The strongest:
- GM Anish Giri (2764) – GM Alexander Grischuk (2777) 1/2-1/2 · Chessable Masters Final 8 · 2020-06-26
- GM Anish Giri (2752) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2777) 0-1 · Saint Louis Blitz 2023 · 2023-11-18
- GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2712) – GM Hao Wang (2717) 1/2-1/2 · IMSA Basque 2016 · 2016-03-02
- GM Daniil Dubov (2699) – GM Alireza Firouzja (2728) 1/2-1/2 · Lindores Abbey Prelim · 2020-05-21
- GM Gawain C B Maroroa Jones (2640) – GM Anish Giri (2752) 1/2-1/2 · 80th Tata Steel GpA · 2018-01-17
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack, Main Line and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- DanT13 (2522) – GM Fabsid (2811) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- Rumple_DarkOne (2586) – RembrandtvanRijin (2728) 0-1 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
- FM EminovOrkhan (2631) – IM Toro123 (2641) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-07 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack (5. Nc3 e6) 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6
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.