The Caro-Kann Two Knights Attack after 4.Nxe4 – A Small Edge for White

Right now the board is already half-open: Black has traded their d-pawn for your e-pawn and you have recaptured with your knight on e4. You have a lead in development — your knights are active while Black's kingside pieces are still at home. The small +0.33 edge comes from exactly that: your pieces are more agile, and you can put immediate pressure on Black's position. The pawn structure is symmetrical except that your c2- and f2-pawns are on their starting squares, which gives you flexibility. Your plan is to complete your development (castling, bringing your bishops out) while exploiting the fact that Black's light-squared bishop often becomes a target.

Stockfish's best move for Black is Nf6, hitting your knight on e4. The engine continues: 4...Nf6 5.Qe2 Nxe4 6.Qxe4. After this sequence, Black has traded knights and you have a queen that is already centralised — that's a nice side benefit. The queen on e4 eyes the a8-rook and puts pressure on Black's e7-pawn. You will follow up with natural developing moves like d3, Be3, and 0-0-0 or 0-0 depending on what Black does. This line is solid and keeps your slight advantage. In practice, White scores 47.4% across 680,524 games here — a bit lower than the overall average, but that's partly because the Nf6 line attracts well-prepared Black players.

Black's most common move by far is 4...Bf5 (785,677 games). This looks natural — developing the bishop and hitting your knight. But statistically it's not Black's best move; White scores a healthy 50.3% against it. Your typical plan here is to advance d4, then retreat the knight (often to g3, hitting the bishop, or to c3, keeping the centre solid). Black's bishop on f5 can become vulnerable if you push g4 later, though that is a longer-term idea. For now, just develop with Ng3, Be2, and 0-0, and you will have a comfortable game. The engine slightly prefers Nf6 for Black, so Bf5 is actually a tiny concession.

The statistics flag two moves that lose material or ground: e6 and e5. Let's look at both. 4...e6 (42,261 games) is an inaccuracy that costs roughly 0.6 pawns. The engine says Black should have played Nf6 instead. After e6, you have an easy path: d4, developing your bishop, and Black's dark-squared bishop is still locked in behind their pawn chain. White scores 51.6% here. Worse is 4...e5 (14,759 games), which is a full mistake losing about 1.2 pawns. Black tries to strike in the centre immediately, but it backfires badly — your knight and f3-knight can quickly exploit the open lines. White scores a crushing 56.0% after e5. If your opponent plays either of these, you are already out of the opening with a clear advantage.

Black has two other notable continuations: 4...Bg4 (274,516 games, White scores 49.4%) and 4...Nd7 (117,791 games, White scores 47.9%). Against Bg4, the standard idea is h3, forcing Black to decide between Bxf3 (giving up the bishop pair) or retreating to h5, after which g4 will harass it further. You come out slightly better in both cases. Against Nd7, Black prepares to develop slowly and possibly fianchetto the kingside bishop. Your simple response is d4, controlling the centre, followed by Be3 and Qd2. From +0.33, you are never worse — you just need to play natural, active chess.