Carr Defense
1. e4 h6
The Carr Defense is a chess opening classified as ECO B00, reached after 1. e4 h6. White is to move. 1 named line continues from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 5,146 times by this move order. White won 52%, 5% were drawn and Black won 43%. The most popular continuation is 2. d4 (40% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.63 (Stockfish, depth 55; best line 2. d4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bd3 Nc6)
- ECO
- B00
- Moves
- 2 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/ppppppp1/7p/8/4P3/8/PPPP1PPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. e4 h6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 2,481 | |
| 1500-1999 | 2,443 | |
| 2000+ | 222 | |
| All | 5,146 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2. d4 | 2,066 (40%) | |
| 2. Nf3 | 1,414 (27%) | |
| 2. Bc4 | 576 (11%) | |
| 2. Nc3 | 321 (6%) | |
| 2. f4 | 260 (5%) | |
| 2. d3 | 141 (3%) | |
| 2. Qf3 | 94 (2%) | |
| 2. e5 | 70 (1%) |
Master games
189 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 37%, draw 11%, Black 52%). The strongest:
- GM Praggnanandhaa R (2758) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2833) 0-1 · Titled Tue 11th Mar Early · 2025-03-11
- GM Vladimir Kramnik (2753) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2830) 0-1 · Titled Tue 2nd Jan Early · 2024-01-02
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2780) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-14
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2786) – GM Hikaru Nakamura (2780) 1/2-1/2 · chess.com SpeedChess 2023 · 2023-09-14
- GM Magnus Carlsen (2839) – GM Vladimir Fedoseev (2683) 1-0 · Titled Tue 12th Sep Late · 2023-09-12
Highest-rated Lichess games
- IM liczner (2754) – kasparik_garik (2619) 1-0 · 2026-09-06 · 180 + 0s
- IM hyperreal (2648) – kasparik_garik (2656) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- IM hyperreal (2637) – kasparik_garik (2667) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
King's Pawn Game (1. e4) 1. e4
Continuations
- Carr Defense: Zilbermints Gambit B00 · 1. e4 h6 2. d4 e5
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.