It starts with 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3. I checked the 1984 edition of The Oxford Companion to Chess, and all it said was that it was popular in the 1950s. Any information would be valuable to me.
[Title "Caro-kann - Two Knights variation"]
[FEN ""]
[StartPly "5"]
1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3
It is unclear when it originated, but the normal variation started in 1886. The first recorded game I could find using it is in 1908.
Source:Wikipedia
This is the first game in 1908 I found when searched in the Mega Database. After that there were games in 1922, 1923 played by Bogoljubow, Tarrasch and Capablanca
[FEN ""]
[Event "Lasker Emanuel tour sim"]
[Site "Netherlands"]
[Date "1908.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lasker, Emanuel"]
[Black "Radsheer"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[PlyCount "21"]
[EventDate "1908.??.??"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventRounds "1"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[SourceTitle "EXT 2001"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "2000.11.22"]
1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Ne5 Bh7 8.
Qh5 g6 9. Bc4 e6 10. Qe2 Bg7 11. Nxf7 1-0
