Tree path 6 levels King's Pawn Game › Caro-Kann Defense › Caro-Kann Defense › Caro-Kann Defense › Modern Variation › Caro-Kann Defense: Main Line
- Chess Codex
- King's Pawn Game B00
- Caro-Kann Defense B10
- Caro-Kann Defense B12
- Caro-Kann Defense B12
- Modern Variation B12
- Caro-Kann Defense: Main Line B15 you are here
Caro-Kann Defense: Main Line
Overview
Caro-Kann Defense: Main Line is a variation within the Semi-Open Games family, indexed as ECO B15.
The Semi-Open Games group covers semi-open games — replies to 1.e4 where Black declines the symmetrical 1…e5 in favour of an asymmetric pawn structure.
The line arises from 7 plies — specifically the moves 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4.
It is a variation of Caro-Kann Defense: Modern Variation, which itself descends from the root opening King's Pawn Game.
It branches into 3 notable variations — Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, Caro-Kann Defense: Finnish Variation, Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation.
Together the deeper variations number 17 across the full subtree.
Step through the moves on the interactive board below, review the live Lichess statistics, or play this position against Stockfish at one of six difficulty levels.
- ECO code
- B15
- Group
- Semi-Open Games (B)
- Plies
- 7
- Direct variations
- 3
- Total in subtree
- 17
This overview is generated automatically from the opening's metadata. Know this line well? Write a description — submissions are reviewed before publishing.
Statistics from Lichess
14,136,210 games · White 48.9% / Draw 6.1% / Black 45.0%
| Moves | Games | W / D / B |
|---|---|---|
| Bf5 | 6,029,247 | |
| Nf6 | 5,981,722 | |
| Nd7 | 1,744,178 | |
| e6 | 114,039 | |
| e5 | 84,868 | |
| g6 | 66,754 | |
| h6 | 45,552 | |
| f5 | 30,353 |
Source: Lichess Opening Explorer · cached 2026-09-26 01:35:06
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Variations (3)
Show all 17 sub-variations (full subtree)
- B18 Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation 8-ply
- B16 Caro-Kann Defense: Finnish Variation 8-ply
- B17 Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation 8-ply
- B18 Flohr Variation 11-ply
- B18 Main Line 11-ply
- B18 Maróczy Attack 11-ply
- B17 Modern Variation 9-ply
- B17 Smyslov Variation 14-ply
- B17 Tiviakov-Fischer Attack 12-ply
- B18 Caro-Kann Defense: Martian Gambit 13-ply
- B19 Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation 14-ply
- B17 Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation, Modern Main Line 19-ply
- B17 Ivanchuk Defense 10-ply
- B17 Main Line 15-ply
- B19 Spassky Variation 15-ply
- B19 Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, Lobron System 24-ply
- B19 Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation, Seirawan Variation 24-ply