Openings · B13

Caro-Kann, Exchange

3.exd5 cxd5 — a symmetrical d-pawn structure, and a choice between a quiet game and the Panov.

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5played as White

Play it through on the board below.

Practise the line

You play White; the other side answers on its own. Nothing here is saved or graded.

8
7
6
5
4
3
2
a1
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
Your move 1 of 30/3
  1. 1.e4c6
  2. 2.d4d5
  3. 3.exd5

Your move. Drag a piece, or tap it and then its square.

The idea

Taking on d5 gives the position a Queen's-Gambit shape: pawns on d4 and d5 and everything else free. White's follow-up is either 4.Bd3 and c3, a slow game with a kingside plan, or 4.c4 — the Panov-Botvinnik Attack, which hits d5 at once and usually leaves White with an isolated queen's pawn and the initiative that comes with it.

Those are two different openings that share three moves, and choosing between them is the first real decision White makes.

Common mistakes

Three that come up again and again below master level: named traps and the errors every coach corrects.

Playing the Panov without wanting the pawn

After 7…exd5
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
The mistake
Playing 4.c4 because it is the critical move, and then trying to avoid the structure it leads to.
Why it costs
The Panov is an isolated-queen's-pawn opening: the pawn on d4 ends up isolated, and it is meant to. It buys the c5 and e5 squares, the open files and a fast attack. Keeping the pawn structure tidy instead gives away the activity and keeps the weakness.
Instead
Play it and use it — pieces to c5, e5 and g5, rooks to c1 and e1, and the d5 break treated as the point rather than the problem.

The minority attack with nothing to attack

After 8.b4
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
The mistake
Launching b4–b5 as though this were the Exchange Queen's Gambit.
Why it costs
A minority attack works by fixing a backward pawn on c6. Black's c-pawn was traded on move three, so there is no target on the queenside at all — the advance only loosens the squares in front of White's own king.
Instead
Play where the pieces point: Qc2 and Bd3 at h7, the knight to e5 or round to g3, and the pressure on d5 with c4.

The knight to f3 before the bishop is out

After 6…Bg4
  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
The mistake
Developing the king's knight first, and inviting …Bg4.
Why it costs
The pin is genuinely awkward: the knight is tied to d4 and the bishop on c1 is tied to the queen. With the queen's bishop already out, …Bg4 can be met by Qb3, hitting b7 and d5 in one move.
Instead
6.Bf4 first, Nf3 after. The move order is the only theory this line has, and it is worth the thirty seconds.

What the engine says

After 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5, these are Black's six best moves according to Stockfish, with the bar showing Black's chance of winning.

  1. cxd5+0.3
  2. Qa5++0.7
  3. Qxd5+0.7
  4. Nf6+0.8
  5. Bf5+1.1
  6. g6+1.1

The engine's main line from cxd5: cxd5 Nf3 Nf6 c4 e6 Nc3 Bb4 cxd5.

Stockfish 18, depth 24. Scores are in pawns from White's side. Another engine or depth will move individual numbers a little; the picture does not change. How we check.

Where it fits

The Caro-Kann, Exchange is a variation of the Caro-Kann Defence, whose page covers the ideas this one takes for granted.

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