Make luft by move 15
Play h3 or Kh1 early in this structure. Four of your 11 losses were checkmates.
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Caro Kann Defense
Solid opening, then your king gets hunted: 4 checkmates in 11 losses.
Score45%−4% vs your average
Win chance after move 1251%−1% vs your average
Blunders per game1.30+0.08 vs your average
Clock left at move 102:41+2s vs your average
8
76
5
4
3
2
a1
bc
d
efgh1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 c5 3. e3 cxd4 4. exd4
What it says about you
This is really a London against ...d5 and ...c5, which after 3...cxd4 4.exd4 becomes a reversed Caro-Kann Exchange structure. Opponents steer into the symmetrical pawn swap. You're comfortable with the opening, with only 0.25 early errors per game, one of your lowest. But you treat the resulting quiet structure as if nothing can go wrong, and your king pays for it.
How you play it
You come out level (move-12 win chance 51.3) but slip to move-20 win chance 48.9. This is one of the few openings where your position gets worse between moves 12 and 20. You score 45% (9-11), and recent games went 0/2. Eight of 11 losses were decided in the middlegame, four came from allowing a mating attack, and four ended in checkmate. Your recent mistakes are all rook moves: 16.Re3, 24.R1e2, 26.Re2 and 30.Rh2.
Last 90 days: 2 games, 0% score.
What you're missing
- 01
King safety: 4 of 11 losses came from allowing a mating attack. 24.R1e2 (Kh1 was best) walked into a fork, dropping from 27% to 3%. 30.Rh2 (Qe3 was best) missed a combination, going from 50% to 6%.
- 02
Your rooks are overworked on the e-file. 26.Re2 hung a rook from a 94% position, down to 55%, and 16.Re3 (Rad1 was best) went from 48% to 13%.
- 03
move-20 win chance (48.9) sits below move-12 win chance (51.3), so your middlegame plans in this structure are costing you ground.
- 04
Your blunder rate of 1.3 per game is above your 1.22 baseline, despite the clean opening.
How to improve it
- 01
After 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 cxd4 4.exd4, the standard plan is c3, Bd3, Nd2, Ngf3, O-O, Re1 and Qc2 or Qb3, with a kingside build-up (Ne5, Qf3, Re3-h3). Expect ...Qb6 hitting b2, and meet it with Qb3 or Qc1 rather than letting it go.
- 02
The open e-file is yours, but double rooks on it (Re1 and Rae1) rather than lifting one to e3 or h2 and leaving the back rank loose.
- 03
Make luft (h3) early and keep a knight on f3 as a king defender. Several losses came from mating attacks against an unguarded king.
- 04
The engine's recurring fix was quiet defence (Kh1, Ra1, Qe3). Before each rook move, ask what it stops guarding.
Where it goes wrong
Your losses in this opening, by where and how the decisive mistake happened.
Phase of the decisive mistake
What the mistake was
Variations you reach
| Exchange Rubinstein Variation | 8 | 50% |
| Main line | 4 | 50% |
Winning positions converted here: 75% (9 of 12).
Recent mistakes in this opening
Your move in red, Stockfish's in black.
8
7
6
5
432
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
hvs Bibo1ergo1sum (1515) · 24-08-26 →
876
5
4
32a1b
c
d
ef
gh
vs drewbuono92 (1495) · 09-08-26 →
8
76
5
4
3
2a1
b
c
d
ef
gh
vs drewbuono92 (1495) · 09-08-26 →
8
7
654
3
2a1
b
cd
ef
gh
vs RChihota (1404) · 15-06-26 →
Next steps
Double on the e-file
Keep rooks together on e1 and e2, or d1 and e1, instead of lifting them to e3 or h2, where 16.Re3 and 30.Rh2 both lost.
Learn the ...Qb6 response
Prepare Qb3 or Qc1 against ...Qb6 in the London Exchange structure so b2 is never a problem.
Drill it
Puzzles built from your own mistakes in the Caro Kann Defense, and every game you've played in it.