Caro-Kann Defense: von Hennig Gambit
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Bc4
The Caro-Kann Defense: von Hennig Gambit is a chess opening classified as ECO B15, reached after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Bc4. 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 1,888 times by this move order. White won 58%, 3% were drawn and Black won 39%. The most popular continuation is 4… Nf6 (66% of games).
Engine evaluation: −0.39 (Stockfish, depth 57; best line 4… Nf6 5. Nge2 Bf5 6. Ng3 e6 7. Nxf5)
- ECO
- B15
- Moves
- 7 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp2pppp/2p5/8/2BPp3/2N5/PPP2PPP/R1BQK1NR b KQkq - 1 4- PGN
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Bc4
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 279 | |
| 1500-1999 | 1,157 | |
| 2000+ | 452 | |
| All | 1,888 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 4… Nf6 | 1,245 (66%) | |
| 4… Bf5 | 411 (22%) | |
| 4… e6 | 87 (5%) | |
| 4… Nd7 | 56 (3%) | |
| 4… b5 | 32 (2%) | |
| 4… f5 | 26 (1%) | |
| 4… e5 | 9 (0%) | |
| 4… c5 | 6 (0%) |
Master games
141 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 45%, draw 12%, Black 43%). The strongest:
- Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) – Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-29
- Reckless 0.10.0-dev-9057bc13 (3749) – Stoofvlees II d9 (3541) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 29 Gambit Bonus 2026 · 2026-05-29
- IM Lazaro Lorenzo De La Riva (2417) – GM Pavel Eljanov (2705) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Apr Early · 2023-04-11
- IM Oleg Badmatsyrenov (2416) – GM Rasmus Svane (2631) 1-0 · Titled Tue 15th Aug Early · 2023-08-15
- IM Oleg Badmatsyrenov (2366) – GM Grigoriy Oparin (2662) 0-1 · Titled Tue 8th Oct Late · 2024-10-08
Search all games of the Caro-Kann Defense: von Hennig Gambit and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- FM Spartan_Lion (2530) – Peggy1234 (2489) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- zloyRW (2457) – Kherson_2000 (2465) 1-0 · 2026-09-02 · 180 + 0s
- Oleg_Chess14 (2490) – cltmpsn31 (2418) 1/2-1/2 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Caro-Kann Defense (3. Nc3 dxe4) 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4
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.