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Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation (B17)
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7

Number of games in database: 5308
Years covered: 1891 to 2025
Overall record:
   White wins 34.8%
   Black wins 22.5%
   Draws 42.7%

Popularity graph, by decade

Explore this opening  |  Search for sacrifices in this opening.
PRACTITIONERS
With the White Pieces With the Black Pieces
Sergei Tiviakov  26 games
Vlastimil Jansa  26 games
Boris Spassky  24 games
Anatoly Karpov  114 games
Eduard Meduna  100 games
Jonathan Speelman  90 games
NOTABLE GAMES [what is this?]
White Wins Black Wins
Anand vs Bologan, 2003
Deep Blue vs Kasparov, 1997
Fischer vs Petrosian, 1961
Tal vs Petrosian, 1973
Kamsky vs Karpov, 1993
J Polgar vs Anand, 2005
<< previous chapter next chapter >>

 page 1 of 213; games 1-25 of 5,308 
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. W P Shipley vs J Narraway  ½-½371891Globe tourney-2 -4B17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
2. I Rabinovich vs A Selezniev 1-0241914Triberg 1415B17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
3. A Smorodsky vs A Nimzowitsch 1-0251914All-Russian MastersB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
4. A Ilyin-Zhenevsky vs Levenfish  0-1391924Leningrad-chB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
5. Olland vs J Davidson 0-1351924NED-chB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
6. Lasker vs K Akkerman  1-0191924Simul, 31bB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
7. N Grigoriev vs B Blumenfeld 0-1221925Moscow-chB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
8. B Verlinsky vs Ilya Maizelis  0-1431925Moscow-chB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
9. G Cenni vs A Boehm  1-0451925BolognaB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
10. M Romi vs J Davidson  0-1501926SpaB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
11. Yates vs B Alimonda  1-0431926MeranoB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
12. W Von Holzhausen vs A Brinckmann  ½-½351927BremenB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
13. Levenfish vs G Ravinsky  1-0271928Ch LeningradB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
14. L Steiner vs B Koch  ½-½471928Berlin BSGB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
15. H Mueller vs L von Dory  1-0521928Trebitsch MemorialB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
16. A Becker vs L von Dory  1-0251928Trebitsch MemorialB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
17. D Marotti vs V Marin y Llovet  0-1271928The Hague OlympiadB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
18. G Nagy vs M Brody 1-0401928The Hague OlympiadB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
19. A Ilyin-Zhenevsky vs P Romanovsky 1-0261929LeningradB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
20. S F Lebedev vs Shipovsky  1-0331929Ch Moscow (Minor - A)B17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
21. S Martinovski vs Z Weiss  1-0511929Yugoslav Amateur ChampionshipB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
22. Stahlberg vs H G Hansen  1-0451929Nordic Congress, GothenburgB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
23. P Lebedev vs Valdaev 0-1251930Ch KostromaB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
24. G Katz vs B Koch  0-1311930Wilmersdorf CC JubileeB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
25. B Thelen vs J Koksal  1-0271930Kautsky mem7B17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
 page 1 of 213; games 1-25 of 5,308 
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Oct-13-05  azaris: The database contains no games with 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 Qe7. I can't see why, it seems to be an OK move.

azaris-runictapernote, Gameknot 2005:

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 Qe7 9.Ne5 (<I don't see other ways for White to push on>) 9...O-O 10.f4 c5 11.O-O cxd4 (<McShane-Wehmeier, Lippstadt 1997: 11...g6 12.Qf2 cxd4 13.Qh4 h5 14.Bd2 Nxe5 15.fxe5 Bxe5 16.Nf3 Bc7 17.Bg5 Bd8 18.Ne5 Qc7 19.Bxf6 Qxe5 20.Bxd8 f5 21.Rae1 Qg7 22.Be7 Rf7 23.Bd6 Bd7 24.Be5 Qh6 25.Qxd4 Bc6 26.Bc4 Re8 27.Bd6 g5 28.Qe5 Bd7 29.Rf2 Kh7 30.Qd4 b5 31.Bb3 a5 32.c4 a4 33.Bc2 bxc4 34.Qxc4 Rc8 35.Qd4 Bb5 36.Qe5 Bd7 37.Bd3 g4 38.Bb4 h4 39.Bc3 Rg8 40.Rf4 h3 41.g3 Qf8 42.Qe2 Qa8 43.Rd1 Kh6 44.Bd2 Kh5 45.Re1 Qd5 46.Be4 Qxa2 47.Qe3 Rh7 48.Rxg4 Rxg4 49.Bf3 Kg6 50.Bxg4 Qd5 51.Qg5+ Kf7 52.Bh5+ Rxh5 53.Qxh5+ Ke7 54.Bb4+ Kd8 55.Qh8+ Be8 56.Qf6+ 1-0>) 12.Rf3 h6 (<12...Nc5 should fall to 14. Bxh7!>) 13.Nxd7 (<13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 f5 or 13.Rh3/h4 Nc5 >) 13...Bxd7 14.h4? hxg5 15.hxg5 Ng4 16.Bh7+ (<16.Rh3 f5 >) 16...Kxh7 17.Rh3+ Kg6 18.Qxg4 Rh8 (<Close, but no cigar!>) 0-1

Oct-13-05  Averageguy: I don't like the fundamentals behind 4...Nd7. The main benefit in the caro-kann in my opinion is that black gets french-type positions but with the benefit of developing the bishop outside the pawn chain. In this variation black plays e6, not allowing the bishop to be placed out side the pawn chain.
Nov-17-05  Averageguy: I played an interesting game in this variation. I was white and I was against my club champion (rated 1988). The game went 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 de 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Ng3 e6 7.Bd3 Bd6 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 Qc7 10.Qe2 b6 11.Ne4 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 Nf6 13.Qh4 Be7 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bxh6 gh 16.Qxh6 Rd8 17.Ng5 Qf4 18.Bh7+ Resigns. Comments on this game would be appreciated.
Jan-15-06  EnglishOpeningc4: i know this is a late reply, but i dont like Gallagher's book because:

1) he writes it from whites point of view.
2) he spends way too much time on the fantasy variation. 3) he seems to have a gloomy opinion of blacks position in most lines. 4) Deep Blue-Kasparov isnt worth a page and a half
5) less than 1/3 of the games he gives are black wins, and 6) he goes through whole sections without showing a game where black plays correctly in the opening.

i have nothing against him, just this book. i loved his book on the KID

Jan-15-06  Dudley: <Average Guy> That was a nice easy win for you- he didn't have much of a chance after you sacrificed the bishop on h6. I think that black needed to start counterplay early with 7...c5! rather than castling into it as he did. If he was going to castle early, he should have moved Be7 instead of Bd6. That way he could have played 13...g6 and if 14. Bg5 Nd5 which would have held off the mate. Of course he would have had to see early on that his king was in great danger, which you proved quite effectively.
Mar-03-06  LluviaSean: OOO. Lots of draws with this opening. But good win-loss ratio for White. I sometimes play the Caro-Kann when Black. Very safe, but endgames come fast...
Mar-03-06  Helloween: After playing this opening for a long time, I have abandoned it. Although Black has found ways to equalize in 13.b3, 13.Re1 still keeps White with an annoying most of the time. I have switched over to the Najdorf!
Jun-19-06  question marks: <aw1988: By the way, why is it the Steinitz defense?> Seems like a misnomer. Maybe if Karpov dies, they will rename it after him.
Jun-19-06  RookFile: Well, Petrosian was playing this system long before Karpov was.
Jun-19-06  sixfeetunder: This system is also called Smyslov-Petrosian Variation.
Sep-01-06  aw1988: <Gypsy> Flogging the dead horse again. Possibly called the Steinitz defense because it is a 'cramped' game.
Jan-16-07  Robin01: 1.e4, c6; 2.d4, d5; 3.Nc3, dxe4; 4.Nxe4, Nd7; now, what about the move 5.Qe2 here. Is this any good for white? Why is it good or bad? It looks solid to me. Anybody have any lines from any of their games using this line? Thanks.
Jan-16-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  plang: The king bishop is very strong on either d3 or c4. That is an obvious drawback to 5 Qe2.
Jan-16-07  Robin01: <plang>More than likely, black is going to capture the knight on e4 with his knight, so the queen is going to move off of e2, so the bishop can then develop. However, there is also a possible development of the bishop to g2 later.
Feb-20-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  WTHarvey: Here is a little collection of winning combinations in B17 Caro-Kann miniatures: http://www.wtharvey.com/b17.html
Jun-24-07  Kangaroo: Has anybody found at least one game where Steinitz played this variation?

Why is this then named after Steinitz?

Jun-24-07  GamerMan: It is called that because either Steinitz developed it, did a majour peice of writing on it, or played it a lot in his lifetime. And just because we don't have him playing it on record, does not mean he didn't, it just means we never got a copy of said game(s).
Sep-02-07  Cactus: Why is Karpov listed as having more Steinizt variation games than Caro-Kann games?
Sep-03-07  Karpova: He is listed as having played 255 Car Kanns:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...

so no contradiction to 114 Caro Kann games with the Petrosian-Smyslov (or Steinitz variation if you prefer it) variation

Dec-27-07  jamesmaskell: Its known as a number of different things. Karpov variation is the one my pgn viewer chooses to name it and its how I know it.
Feb-13-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Open Defence: an interesting idea for White OTB is

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 Bd6 8. Qe2 h6 9. Ne4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4 Nf6 11. Qe2 c5 12. dxc5 Be3


click for larger view

not as strong as the more conventional dxc5 but interesting and probably not well known at all

Apr-11-08  Alphastar: <1.e4, c6; 2.d4, d5; 3.Nc3, dxe4; 4.Nxe4, Nd7; now, what about the move 5.Qe2 here. Is this any good for white? Why is it good or bad? It looks solid to me. Anybody have any lines from any of their games using this line? Thanks.>

5. Qe2?! is a doubtful move because, as has been said, it blocks in the f1-bishop.

However, black needs to be alert, because the standard move 5. ..Ngf6?? .. well.. figure it out for yourself.


click for larger view

Instead, black should play 5. ..Ndf6! when he can exchange on e4 or white on f6, when he can simply follow up with Bf5 or Bg4. Black then has an easy game.

Apr-11-08  Alphastar: This variation of the Caro-Kann is drawish because white can simplify the position if he wants to. If white is more ambitious there is certainly space for a complicated struggle with counter-chances for black, but this will be entirely up to the player with the white pieces.
Jun-04-08  cuendillar: What about 5.Qf3? It's admittedly unconventional, but I've been doing some analysis on it and it seems ok. Below is an internet corr. game where I tried it out. The move order is different, but that's just transpositions. What's your thoughts, I'd be grateful for input.

cuendillar (2153) - ironpony (1978)
Online Chess.com (1), 08.04.2008

1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 c6 3.Qf3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.d4 Ndf6 6.c3 Bg4 7.Qg3 A novelty of mine 7...Nxe4 8.Qxg4 Ngf6 9.Qh3

The point - black has weak light squares on the kingside


click for larger view

9...e6 10.Nf3 Qd5 11.Bd3 Nc5 12.Bc2 Ncd7 13.0-0 Bd6 14.Ng5 the pressure on e6,f7 and h7 is hard to cope with 14...Nf8 15.Re1 Bc7 16.f4 h6 17.f5 Qd6 18.g3 Qd7 19.fxe6 fxe6 20.Nxe6 Nxe6 21.Rxe6+

Black can resign


click for larger view

Kd8 22.Bf5 Qd5 23.Bg5 Bb6 24.Rae1 Bxd4+ 25.cxd4 Qxd4+ 26.Be3 Qb4 27.Rd1+ Kc7 28.g4 b6 29.Rxf6 Rac8 30.Rf7+ Kb8 31.Qg3+ Ka8 32.Rdd7 Qa5 33.Rc7 Rb8 34.Be4 Rb7 35.Bxc6 1-0

Jun-05-08  RookFile: Qf3 has been tried in big league chess, with reasonable results for white. Here, Petrosian was playing defense against your idea, and responded with 5... Ndf6, ...Nxe4, and ....Nf6, and had no problem getting an early draw.

Lutikov vs Petrosian, 1960

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