Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Botvinnik-Carls Defense
B12 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5
White scores 48.7% here across 1,524 club games — but the 5.0% who answer Bb5+ score 44.7%, 4 points worse.
What White actually plays here
Across 1,524 games from a Lichess-derived book of club play, White scores 48.7% in this position. These are the replies people choose, and how each one works out.
| Reply | Games | Share | White scores | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| c3 | 798 | 52.4% | 48.6% | holds up |
| Nf3 | 283 | 18.6% | 48.9% | holds up |
| dxc5 | 253 | 16.6% | 48.0% | holds up |
| Bb5+ | 76 | 5.0% | 44.7% | below the line |
| f4 | 36 | 2.4% | 50.0% | holds up |
| Be3 | 31 | 2.0% | 64.5% | holds up |
| c4 | 27 | 1.8% | 48.1% | holds up |
"Below the line" means the reply scores at least three points worse than the position does overall. Replies played fewer than 25 times are left out: the sample is too small to read.
Is this costing you anything?
A table of averages cannot tell you whether you go wrong here — only your own games can. Opening Leak Lab reads your Chess.com or Lichess archive, finds the decisions you repeat, and checks each one against this book and a bundled Stockfish.