Caro-Kann Defense · Chess.com blitz ·
How the top 10 Chess.com blitz players play the Caro-Kann
492 blitz games where a top-10 Chess.com player had Black and answered 1.e4 with 1…c6. See what White tries, how the top players meet the Advance and how it scores. 9 of the top 10 play it.
Caro-Kann games
492
Advance (3.e5)
31%
most played system
Top players' score
66%
vs ~3,000 avg opponents
Key findings
- 9 of the top 10 play the Caro-Kann as Black. Aleksei Sarana has no games in it.
- The Advance Variation is the most common system. 31% of 492 games are Advance lines. The chart below breaks the rest down by system.
- The top players' usual reply to each system. Advance (3.e5): 3…Bf5 (80%); Main line (4.Nxe4): 4…Nf6 (64%); Panov (…cxd5 4.c4): 4…Nf6 (92%).
- Denis Lazavik scores best in the Caro-Kann. Denis Lazavik scores 74% over 54 games, the highest among players with 50 or more games in the Caro-Kann.
- The top players score lowest against the Two Knights Attack. They score 55% over 75 games against it, and 66% over all 492 games.
- Against the Advance, 3…Bf5 leads. It was played in 121 of 151 Advance games (80%), ahead of 3…c5 (28 games, 19%).
What White plays against 1.e4 c6
Share of each player's games in the Caro-Kann. Tap or hover a segment for the count and the score.
- Advance (3.e5)
- King's Indian Attack
- Two Knights
- Main line (4.Nxe4)
- Exchange (3.exd5)
- Other systems (incl. Panov …cxd5 4.c4, Fantasy 3.f3)
Table view
| Player | Advance (3.e5) | King's Indian Attack | Two Knights | Main line (4.Nxe4) | Exchange (3.exd5) | Other systems (incl. Panov …cxd5 4.c4, Fantasy 3.f3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All 10 players | 151 · 31% · 62% | 76 · 15% · 61% | 75 · 15% · 55% | 67 · 14% · 74% | 52 · 11% · 72% | 71 · 14% · 79% |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 3 · 15% · 83% | – | 3 · 15% · 67% | 4 · 20% · 100% | 3 · 15% · 100% | 7 · 35% · 93% |
| Magnus Carlsen | 15 · 35% · 67% | 6 · 14% · 75% | 4 · 9% · 50% | 5 · 12% · 80% | 2 · 5% · 50% | 11 · 26% · 68% |
| Nihal Sarin | 31 · 46% · 68% | 9 · 13% · 78% | 8 · 12% · 25% | 6 · 9% · 58% | 6 · 9% · 75% | 8 · 12% · 75% |
| Ediz Gürel | 14 · 21% · 57% | 12 · 18% · 50% | 16 · 24% · 37% | 10 · 15% · 75% | 8 · 12% · 50% | 6 · 9% · 58% |
| Denis Lazavik | 14 · 26% · 71% | 5 · 9% · 50% | 10 · 19% · 70% | 6 · 11% · 100% | 6 · 11% · 83% | 13 · 24% · 73% |
| Wesley So | 11 · 23% · 41% | 7 · 15% · 29% | 9 · 19% · 72% | 7 · 15% · 79% | 5 · 11% · 60% | 8 · 17% · 81% |
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 17 · 53% · 74% | 3 · 9% · 100% | 6 · 19% · 67% | – | 2 · 6% · 100% | 4 · 13% · 100% |
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 18 · 23% · 72% | 18 · 23% · 81% | 6 · 8% · 50% | 8 · 10% · 63% | 12 · 16% · 75% | 15 · 19% · 80% |
| Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 28 · 33% · 41% | 16 · 19% · 44% | 13 · 15% · 65% | 13 · 15% · 69% | 6 · 7% · 75% | 9 · 11% · 78% |
| System | Games | Share | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance (3.e5) | 151 | 31% | 62% |
| King's Indian Attack | 76 | 15% | 61% |
| Two Knights | 75 | 15% | 55% |
| Main line (4.Nxe4) | 67 | 14% | 74% |
| Exchange (3.exd5) | 52 | 11% | 72% |
| Panov (…cxd5 4.c4) | 13 | 3% | 77% |
| Fantasy (3.f3) | 8 | 2% | 75% |
| Other systems | 50 | 10% | 80% |
Player by player
The system each player met most often, and how they answer the Advance.
Magnus Carlsen
43 games in the Caro-Kann · score 67%
Faced most: Advance (3.e5), 15 games (35%)
Next: King's Indian Attack, 6 games (14%)
Meets the Advance in 15 games; always 3…Bf5
Nihal Sarin
68 games in the Caro-Kann · score 65%
Faced most: Advance (3.e5), 31 games (46%)
Next: King's Indian Attack, 9 games (13%)
Meets the Advance in 31 games; most often 3…Bf5 (29 games)
Ediz Gürel
66 games in the Caro-Kann · score 53%
Faced most: Two Knights, 16 games (24%)
Next: Advance (3.e5), 14 games (21%)
Meets the Advance in 14 games; most often 3…c5 (11 games)
Denis Lazavik
54 games in the Caro-Kann · score 74%
Faced most: Advance (3.e5), 14 games (26%)
Next: Two Knights, 10 games (19%)
Meets the Advance in 14 games; most often 3…Bf5 (12 games)
Wesley So
47 games in the Caro-Kann · score 60%
Faced most: Advance (3.e5), 11 games (23%)
Next: Two Knights, 9 games (19%)
Meets the Advance in 11 games; most often 3…Bf5 (7 games)
Jan-Krzysztof Duda
32 games in the Caro-Kann · score 80%
Faced most: Advance (3.e5), 17 games (53%)
Next: Two Knights, 6 games (19%)
Meets the Advance in 17 games; most often 3…Bf5 (16 games)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
77 games in the Caro-Kann · score 73%
Faced most: Advance (3.e5), 18 games (23%)
Next: King's Indian Attack, 18 games (23%)
Meets the Advance in 18 games; most often 3…Bf5 (14 games)
Nodirbek Abdusattorov
85 games in the Caro-Kann · score 56%
Faced most: Advance (3.e5), 28 games (33%)
Next: King's Indian Attack, 16 games (19%)
Meets the Advance in 28 games; most often 3…Bf5 (22 games)
Against the Advance: move 3
151 games reached the Advance (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5). Black's third move, player by player.
- 3…Bf5
- 3…c5
- Other third moves
Faded rows: fewer than 20 Advance games.
Table view
| Player | 3…Bf5 | 3…c5 | Other third moves |
|---|---|---|---|
| All 10 players | 121 · 80% · 61% | 28 · 19% · 61% | 2 · 1% · 100% |
| Magnus Carlsen | 15 · 100% · 67% | – | – |
| Nihal Sarin | 29 · 94% · 66% | – | 2 · 6% · 100% |
| Ediz Gürel | 3 · 21% · 33% | 11 · 79% · 64% | – |
| Denis Lazavik | 12 · 86% · 71% | – | 2 · 14% · 75% |
| Wesley So | 7 · 64% · 57% | 4 · 36% · 13% | – |
| Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 16 · 94% · 72% | – | 1 · 6% · 100% |
| Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 14 · 78% · 64% | 4 · 22% · 100% | – |
| Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 22 · 79% · 39% | 6 · 21% · 50% | – |
Move explorer
Starts after 1.e4 c6. Pick all 10 players or one of them, then click a move to go deeper. Rarer moves are grouped as other moves.
- 1.e4
- c6
Caro-Kann Defense
492 games · top players scored 66%
Other moves: 5 games
Questions people ask
- What do top players face in the Caro-Kann?
- In Chess.com blitz, the top 10 players meet the Advance Variation in 31% of 492 games. Here the Advance Variation means 2.d4 d5 3.e5 (also 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 and 4.d4). The rest: the King's Indian Attack 15%, the Two Knights Attack 15%, the main line 14%, the Exchange Variation 11%, the Panov Attack 3%, the Fantasy Variation 2%, other systems 10%.
- What is the second most common system in the Caro-Kann?
- The next most played system is the King's Indian Attack, in 15% of games. Here that means 2.d3, or 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3. Next: the Two Knights Attack at 15%, the main line at 14%, the Exchange Variation at 11%, the Panov Attack at 3%, the Fantasy Variation at 2%.
- What does Magnus Carlsen play in the Caro-Kann?
- In 43 blitz games as Black in the Caro-Kann (1.e4 c6), Magnus Carlsen faced the Advance Variation most (15 games, 35%), then the King's Indian Attack (6, 14%). Magnus Carlsen meets the Advance in 15 games; always 3…Bf5.
- What do top players play against the Advance?
- In the 151 games that reached the Advance (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5), the most common third move is 3…Bf5 (121 games, 80%), followed by 3…c5 (28 games, 19%).
- Does a high score mean the opening is good?
- Not by itself. Scores also reflect the rating gap between the top players and their opponents. Compare lines by how often the top players choose them, and use the scores as context.
- Where do these numbers come from?
- From up to 1,000 Chess.com blitz games as Black of each of the top 10 players on the leaderboard. 492 of them start 1.e4 c6. A win counts as 1 and a draw as ½, from the top player's side. The games were last refreshed on 18 Oct 2026.
How we counted
We took the Chess.com blitz games as Black of each of the top 10 players on the leaderboard, up to 1,000 each, and kept the ones that started 1.e4 c6. Each game counts under the first rule below that fits it:
- Panov (…cxd5 4.c4): White plays d4, exd5 and c4 against …d5 and …cxd5, whatever the order (2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4, or 2.c4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4).
- Advance (3.e5): 2.d4 d5 3.e5 (also 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 and 4.d4).
- Exchange (3.exd5): 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 (also 2.Nf3 or 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4), without the Panov c4.
- Main line (4.Nxe4): 3.Nc3 or 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 (also 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4).
- Two Knights: 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 or 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3.
- Fantasy (3.f3): 2.d4 d5 3.f3.
- King's Indian Attack: 2.d3, or 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3.
- Other systems: everything else, such as 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 without …dxe4 and 4.Nxe4 (3…g6), 3.Bd3, 2.c4 without the Panov structure and rarer second moves.
A win counts as 1 and a draw as ½, from the top player's side. Scores also reflect the rating gap: opponents average about 3,000.
A system that is a position counts every game that reaches the position after the system's moves, in any order of those moves. A row or a card built on fewer than 20 games is faded. Players with fewer than 10 games in the opening have no card or row; their games count in the totals.
ChessDrills is not affiliated with Chess.com.
How do you score in the Caro-Kann?
Free, no signup. Enter your Chess.com or Lichess username and see how you score in every opening you play, from up to 300 recent games.