English Opening: Caro-Kann Defensive System
1. c4 c6
The English Opening: Caro-Kann Defensive System is a chess opening classified as ECO A11, reached after 1. c4 c6. It is a line of the English Opening. White is to move. 3 named lines continue from this position.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 23,793 times by this move order. White won 48%, 6% were drawn and Black won 46%. The most popular continuation is 2. Nc3 (46% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.23 (Stockfish, depth 56; best line 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. d4 Nf6)
- ECO
- A11
- Moves
- 2 plies
- FEN
rnbqkbnr/pp1ppppp/2p5/8/2P5/8/PP1PPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 2- PGN
1. c4 c6
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1499 | 4,385 | |
| 1500-1999 | 12,962 | |
| 2000+ | 6,446 | |
| All | 23,793 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 2. Nc3 | 11,059 (46%) | |
| 2. d4 | 3,404 (14%) | |
| 2. g3 | 3,244 (14%) | |
| 2. Nf3 | 1,821 (8%) | |
| 2. e4 | 1,631 (7%) | |
| 2. e3 | 1,395 (6%) | |
| 2. d3 | 400 (2%) | |
| 2. b3 | 315 (1%) |
Master games
12,909 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 42%, draw 28%, Black 30%). The strongest:
- Houdini 6.03 (3854) – KomodoMCTS 2503.05 (3809) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-19
- KomodoMCTS 2503.05 (3809) – Houdini 6.03 (3854) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 20 Premier 2020 · 2020-03-17
- GM Levon Aronian (2785) – GM Magnus Carlsen (2840) 1/2-1/2 · World Rapid 2016 · 2016-12-27
- GM Levon Aronian (2830) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2770) 1/2-1/2 · FIDE Candidates 2014 · 2014-03-22
- GM Fabiano Caruana (2819) – GM Anish Giri (2779) 1/2-1/2 · Croatia GCT 2019 · 2019-07-03
Search all games of the English Opening: Caro-Kann Defensive System and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- Nana_jede_cevape (2857) – GM gmbrewchess (2983) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- GM JanistanTV (2735) – GM athena-pallada (2881) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
- JeromePanoSoler (2717) – Pookinator (2778) 0-1 · 2026-09-05 · 180 + 0s
Comes from
English Opening 1. c4
Continuations
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, Gurevich System (2… d5 3. e3) A11 · 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, with g3 (3… Nf6 4. Bg2) A11 · 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2
- Réti Opening: Anglo-Slav Variation, with g3 (4. b3 g6) A11 · 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. b3 g6
More English Opening lines (all)
- English Opening: Achilles-Omega Gambit A10
- English Opening: Adorjan Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Defense, Hickmann Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Chabanon Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Dutch Variation, Ferenc Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Lithuanian Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Löhn Gambit A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Malvinas Variation A10
- English Opening: Anglo-Scandinavian Defense, Schulz Gambit A10
- English Opening: Great Snake Variation A10
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.