28
votes
Accepted
Black's tools in the Caro-Kann Advanced Tal Variation
I play the white side of this position often, and have an incredible winrate because to be honest, it feels very hard for black to develop naturally. Here's an example of how things can go wrong:
[FEN ...
- 5,838
24
votes
Accepted
If 1. e4 c6 is considered as a sound defense for black, why is 1. c3 so rare?
"Reversed" Openings in general
A black defense and its white mirror counterpart will often play out quite differently (compare the rather sharp Sicilian Defense and the rather quiet English Opening). ...
- 5,949
22
votes
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What is black’s compensation in the main line of the Caro Kann?
At a basic level, what we want from an opening and a defense, is: we want to be fighting for the center squares (1), we're trying to develop our pieces and get good squares for them (2), and thirdly, ...
- 12k
20
votes
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Why is 14..Qd8 the most popular move in this variation of the Caro Kann?
This is ctg format property, or bug, if you like. There were no games played with 14.Bf4 and as well there were no games played with 14...Qd8. The ctg tree just knows position after 14...Qd8. ...
- 3,286
15
votes
Is the Caro-Kann principled? Why is there no refutation?
An opening move (really any move) can be good for one of two basic reasons.
A. It accomplishes something you want to do.
B. It prevents the opponent doing something they want to do.
Because White ...
- 8,686
14
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Why is the Advance Variation considered strong vs the Caro-Kann but not vs the Scandinavian?
Against a white d4-e5 pawn formation, Black wants to play c5 (see e.g. the French opening). In the Caro-Kann, that will cost two moves (c7-c6-c5), while in the Scandinavian, it's only one move since ...
- 25k
14
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Theoretically, why is 4. Bd3 NOT one of the best candidates in Caro-Kann?
The line usually quoted is 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 Qa5+ 6. Bd2 Qa6! If White now exchanges Queens or allows the Queens to be exchanged he already has a poor endgame structure with a bad dark-square Bishop. ...
- 8,686
13
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Why did Lichess annotate this as a blunder?
Its evaluation drops form +2.3 to +0.0, so it considers it a blunder. Of course this does not match what a human understands as "blunder", but computers are incapable of identifying that.
...
- 16.9k
11
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Theoretically, why is 4. Bd3 NOT one of the best candidates in Caro-Kann?
But I have never seen 4. Bd3 played in titled games.
The reason could be that Black gets a superior version of the French Defense. In the French, Black blocks the natural diagonal of the c8-bishop ...
- 3,525
11
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How can I punish the "bad" knight on c3?
I'm wondering if anyone has any general tips for how to make white
feel this "bad knight"
The fact that you manage to put "bad" and "bad knight" in scare quotes shows ...
- 99.9k
10
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Caro-Kann advance variation w/ 3. c5 dxc5
OK, after reading your reply to my question above, I can more accurately answer.
First, contrary to Fuxia's comment, the move you played, 4...Nc6, is actually more popular now at higher levels than ...
- 32.7k
10
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What is black’s compensation in the main line of the Caro Kann?
The main reasons it is OK for black is that he is still down only one tempo in piece development, but he has traded off his bad bishop for white's good bishop, and his position is still very solid so ...
- 32.7k
10
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Why black is happy with slow development?
I do not know that I would say "happy", but in chess, there are pluses and minuses to every move we make, and on top of that, there are exceptions to many positional concepts. We see GMs move pieces ...
- 32.7k
10
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Accepted
Theoretically, why is 4. Bd3 NOT one of the best candidates in Caro-Kann?
This is a great example for explaining the concept of the bad bishop.
In the center, we see an example of a pawn chain. White has pawns on d4 and e5, and black c6, d5 and (soon) e6. These are pretty ...
- 28.4k
9
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If 1. e4 c6 is considered as a sound defense for black, why is 1. c3 so rare?
1. c3 (and 1. d3 and 1. e3, which can lead to reversed Pircs, French defense or QGD) aren't bad in that they give White a worse position. So those moves might have some merit as a surprise weapon (if ...
- 25k
9
votes
Developing the king before developing most of your pieces
Don't try this at home. ;-)
First of all, a simple LiChess search gives this is B12 Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Tal Variation, i.e. it has even a name and is legit.
Second, 8 games listed, ...
- 17k
9
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Why is this line of the Caro-Kann playable for white?
What is white's compensation for being unable to castle?
With queens off the board castling rights are not that important.
Why is the position after 5. Kxd1 good for white?
White has a center pawn ...
- 99.9k
8
votes
Caro-Kann c5-c4 push
c4 is the usual beginner's mistake of releasing the tension unnecessarily. With the pawn on c5 you exert some pressure on d4 which can be increased with moves like Ne7-c6. When the pawn moves to c4 ...
- 99.9k
8
votes
Caro-Kann advance variation w/ 3. c5 dxc5
This line, the Botvinnik-Carls Defense, is my pet opening as Black. :)
The critical move after 4.dxc5 is e6! If White tries to hold the pawn with Be3, you answer that with Nd7. In many lines after ...
- 1,310
8
votes
Accepted
Why did Lichess annotate this as a blunder?
The "blunder" annotation is derived from server-side analysis using a low engine depth, which is usually inaccurate.
- 96
7
votes
Accepted
What are the main differences between 6...Bb4 and 6...Be7 in the Panov-Botvinnik attack?
According to the Game Database of ChessTempo, the mainlines of 6...Bb4 and 6....Be7 are quite similar:
6....Be7 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.0-0
6....Bb4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nc6 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0
...
- 5,546
7
votes
Accepted
Artificially isolated pawn in the Caro-Kann
The shortest explanation I can think of: if you play 1.e4 and 2.e5, presumably you want that pawn there for a reason. If you then immediately trade it off, you've lost whatever you were trying to ...
- 28.4k
7
votes
What does black achieve with 1.d4 c6?
You're right that players who choose 1...c6 must be fine with the Caro-Kann, which is one reason why it's not that popular. However, there are some people who are fine with the Caro-Kann, and so the ...
- 19.9k
7
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Is it true that amateur players tend to choose the advance variation after 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5?
According to Lichess's database for games between ~1600 rated players in the Caro-kann does indeed show that 3. e5 is much more common than other moves.
e5 in fact accounts for 46% of games played; ...
- 616
7
votes
Accepted
Two Knights of the Caro-Kann: 2.Nc3 vs 2.Nf3
One thing I can think of is that after 2. Nc3 you still have a chance to transpose to main lines after 2 ... d5 3. d4, so it's a tad more flexible. I know it's a stretch, but if your opponent is (for ...
- 1,326
7
votes
Accepted
Does this pawn structure arising from the Caro-Kann Advance Variation have a name?
In "Chess Structures A Grandmaster Guide" by Mauricio Flores Rios he calls this structure "French Type III" Most of the examples keep the c-pawns on for a while, but there is one ...
- 5,206
6
votes
Why is it a good idea to retreat the bishop into the pawn chain in this variation of the Caro Kann?
The immediate point of Bd7 versus Bg6 is to prevent White from playing 6 e6 which could give Black's King a lot of trouble.
Generally, Black cannot entirely avoid White's g4 anyway (it's always a ...
- 61
6
votes
Accepted
What are the similarities and differences in pawn Structure from the Scandinavian and the Caro-Kann?
The pawn structure in the Caro-Kann Classical Variation and the Scandinavian can be the exact same. The optimal pawn breaks are either pushing the c6 pawn to c5 or pushing the e6 pawn to e5. The ...
- 309
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