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Transposition in chess
A transposition means reaching a position by a different order of moves than the usual one.[1][2] In our sample of rated Lichess games from Oct 2025–Sep 2026, 83.6% of the games that reached the Caro-Kann Main Line got there by a different move order than the free opening list's 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4.[3]
Data period: games from 1 Oct 2025 – 30 Sep 2026 (sample of the Lichess open database). Page updated: 19 Oct 2026.
Two routes to one position
The moves 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 and 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 reach exactly the same position, the one on the board above.[4][5] Such changes of route are especially common in the opening.[1] A position can even come about after a different number of moves.[2]
How our pages count move orders
Our statistics count a game for a position when the game stands in that position after the same number of moves, whatever order the moves came in.[6] Games that reach the position after a different number of moves are not counted for it.[6] When some of an opening page's games arrived by a different move order, the caption under its board says how many.[7]
Move orders in the Caro-Kann
In our sample, the share of a line's games that came by a different move order than the free opening list's differs from line to line: 9.8% for the Advance Variation, but 83.6% for the Main Line, whose list order is 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4.[3]
| Position | Games | By another move order | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 | 47,693 | 4,678 | 9.8% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 | 37,933 | 2,482 | 6.5% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Exchange Variation 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 | 39,481 | 4,666 | 11.8% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Panov Attack 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 | 8,773 | 1,175 | 13.4% |
| Caro-Kann Defense 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 | 32,030 | 8,147 | 25.4% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Main Line 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 | 25,593 | 21,405 | 83.6% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Classical Variation 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 | 9,286 | 7,946 | 85.6% |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 | 1,965 | 1,593 | below the page gate |
| Caro-Kann Defense: Tartakower Variation 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ exf6 | 6,539 | 1,939 | 29.7% |
Next steps
- Black's replies to 1.e4 ranked at 1500–1799 (Rankings by Lichess rating level)
- How the wiki texts and numbers are made (Method)
- Chess wiki index (Chess wiki)
Sources
- Wikipedia: Transposition (chess), retrieved 19 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Our use: Facts only, in our own words; no text copied.
- Chessprogramming wiki: Transposition, retrieved 19 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0. Our use: Facts only, in our own words; no text copied.
- Chess Opening Scores (this site): How it works: source, sample, filters, rating levels, margins, retrieved 19 Oct 2026. Licence: CC0 1.0 (Lichess open database; our numbers made from it are CC0 as well). Our use: Our own statistics, calculated by code from the 12-month sample at every build.
- python-chess (Niklas Fiekas): python-chess 1.11.2 (the move replay our build uses), retrieved 19 Oct 2026. Licence: GPL-3.0 library, used as a tool; nothing copied. Our use: Our build replays every line from the starting position and compares the positions.
- Wikipedia: Caro–Kann Defence, retrieved 19 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Our use: Facts only, in our own words; no text copied.
- Chess Opening Scores (this site): How it works, retrieved 19 Oct 2026. Licence: Our own text. Our use: Our own method.
- Chess Opening Scores (this site): Caro-Kann: Win Rate by Lichess Rating, retrieved 19 Oct 2026. Licence: Our own text. Our use: Our own page.
Our sentences are our own wording. How the texts and numbers are made: Method.