Caro-Kann Defense: Toikkanen Gambit
1. e4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. e5
The Caro-Kann Defense: Toikkanen Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B10, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. e5. 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 199 times by this move order. White won 48%, 4% were drawn and Black won 48%. The most popular continuation is 3… Bf5 (64% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.18 (Stockfish, depth 41; best line 3… d4 4. f4 f6 5. d3 g6 6. Nf3)
- ECO
- B10
- Moves
- 5 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/3pP3/2P5/8/PP1P1PPP/RNBQKBNR b KQkq - 0 3- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. e5
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 68 | |
| 1500-1999 | 110 | |
| 2000+ | 21 | |
| All | 199 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 3… Bf5 | 127 (64%) | |
| 3… dxc4 | 23 (12%) | |
| 3… e6 | 21 (11%) | |
| 3… d4 | 12 (6%) | |
| 3… c5 | 5 (3%) | |
| 3… Nd7 | 3 (2%) | |
| 3… f6 | 2 (1%) | |
| 3… Be6 | 2 (1%) |
Master games
15 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 53%, draw 0%, Black 47%). The strongest:
- GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2732) – FM Vjacheslav Weetik (2423) 1-0 · Titled Tue 20th Feb Early · 2024-02-20
- GM Jorden Van Foreest (2612) – WGM Tingjie Lei (2467) 0-1 · 79th Tata Steel GpB · 2017-01-16
- GM Mikhail Bryakin (2469) – FM Danila Bilan (2303) 1-0 · Titled Tue 25th Apr Late · 2023-04-25
- GM David W L Howell (2663) – FM Sai Han Thiha (2070) 1-0 · Titled Tue 31st Jan Early · 2023-01-31
- GM Vladimir G Kostic (2255) – IM Mikhail Bryakin (2470) 0-1 · Third Saturday Mix 214 · 2021-08-06
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: Toikkanen Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- bajrushk (2255) – Gello10 (2222) 0-1 · 2026-09-04 · 180 + 0s
- KamuiTech (2286) – lantaklaju (2141) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 600 + 0s
- Valery37 (2189) – goat_15 (2170) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 600 + 0s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense: Accelerated Panov Attack (2. c4 d5) 1. e4 c6 2. c4 d5
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, 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
- Caro-Kann Defense: Dinic Gambit 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.