White plays 3.e5
The main line: 4.Nf3 and Bd3
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Chapter 1 of 6
The Advance: 3.e5
White grabs space with 3.e5. Black develops the bishop to f5 first, then attacks the pawn chain with …e6 and …c5.
3.e5 is White's most popular answer to the Caro-Kann at club level. It looks like the French Advance, with one big difference: Black's light-squared bishop gets out before …e6.
The plan is simple to remember: …Bf5, …e6, …c5, then …Nc6 and …Qb6 against d4. White's sharpest try is 4.h4, chasing the bishop with pawns; club Caro-Kann players score only 44% against it, so it gets a line of its own.
At a glance
4.Nf3 or 4.Be2
…e6, then …c5. If White plays Bd3, trade bishops with …Bxd3.
4.Bd3
…Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6, then …c5 and …Qb6.
4.h4
…h5, stopping h5 and giving the bishop a safe square. After Bd3, trade.
4.g4
…Be4 and, after f3, …Bg6. The bishop is never trapped.
Key ideas
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Compare with the French: there the bishop on c8 is locked behind e6 and d5. Here it is already on f5, and Black's pawn chain is complete. The bishop is often traded for White's light-squared bishop, which removes White's best attacker.
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baHit the base: …c5
White's pawns on d4 and e5 cramp Black, but d4 is the base of the chain. …c5, …Nc6 and …Qb6 all aim at it, and if d4 falls the pawn on e5 becomes a target too.
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baAgainst h4: …h5
White's h4 threatens h5 and g4, chasing the bishop. …h5 stops it at once. The g5 square becomes a hole, but the bishop keeps its diagonal.
From history
Two names, one game
The defence is named after Horatio Caro, an English master who lived in Berlin, and Marcus Kann, an amateur from Vienna. Kann won a short game with it against Jacques Mieses at Hamburg in 1885, and Caro published analysis of it the following year. The hyphenated name appears from 1890.
Caro against Lasker
Horatio Caro is also remembered for handing the future world champion Emanuel Lasker the shortest defeat of his career, in Berlin in 1890.
Tal tries the Advance
In the 1961 return match for the world championship, Mikhail Tal tried 3.e5 against Mikhail Botvinnik's Caro-Kann, with 4.h4 after 3…Bf5, an idea that goes back to Paul Keres. Botvinnik won the match 13–8 and took his title back.
The lines
Click a move or use the arrows. Highlighted moves carry a note, and under each note you'll find the other moves played from that position, including the tempting mistakes. The number under the board is Stockfish's evaluation from your side: minus means your opponent is better.
1278hgfedcbaWhite plays 4.Bd3
4.Bd3: trade the bishops
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White plays 4.h4
4.h4 h5: stop the pawn
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White plays 4.f4
4.f4
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White plays 5.Be2
5.Be2: …c5 and …Nc6
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White plays 5.Nc3
5.Nc3
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White plays 5.c3
5.c3
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White plays 5.c4
5.c4: …Bb4+
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White plays 5.Bg5
5.Bg5: …Qb6
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White plays 5.Nf3
5.Nf3
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White plays 5.c4
5.c4
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A model game
Master games from the Lichess database, with the engine's evaluation under the board.
Radosław Wojtaszek meets 4.h4 exactly as this chapter recommends: 4…h5, then …e6, …Ne7 and …Qb6 against d4 and b2. After the light-squared bishops are traded, his knights find better squares than White's.
Poland–Hungary friendship match · 0-1
Warakomski, T. – Wojtaszek, R., 2015
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Take these into your games
Bishop out first
In every line, …Bf5 comes before …e6. If you play …e6 first, you are in a worse French.
Hit the chain at its base
White's pawns on d4 and e5 are strong only while d4 holds. …c5, …Nc6 and …Qb6 all aim at d4.