I've just been going through Speelman's 1992 book on the Caro-Kann and read a recent blurb by Speelman about 4...Nd7.  He suggests that while it may eventually be busted as Kasparov claimed it would be, it is still suitable for counter-punching players.

This is similar to what Botvinnik and Karpov have said, that the Caro-Kann is ok if you're willing to suffer for 20 moves to get a playable endgame.

I'm not terribly interested in transpositions between the Caro-Kann and the Scandinavian, but I have studied similarities between the Caro-Kann and the Semi-Tarrasch!  There's a famous game, Smyslov-Karpov, that could have arisen from either opening that my hero won.

Having said all this, the Caro-Kann is only a reasonable weapon against opponents who are willing to take up the challenge and try to beat it.  White can gain a comfortable, but meaningless advantage almost without effort.  Or White can try for more, and thereby give Black plenty of counter-attacking chances.  

I choose the Caro-Kann when either I don't mind a draw or I know my opponent will choose one of the lines that is dangerous to both sides.

Greetings,

kylemeister wrote on 02/15/08 at 23:29:00:


You are correct, kylemeister  - I seem to have left out that important point in my previous point.

Kindest regards,

Dragan Glas

Greetings,

Jansa, in Dynamics of Chess Strategy, draws parallels between the pawn structures of the Caro-Kann and the Scandinavian as "impaired" - perhaps that's the way in which they are similar!?

As regards a opening to suit wolfsblut criteria ...

Certainly the Caro-Kann is a very solid opening and would suit someone who is a patient defender and willing to wait until the endgame before coming out of their shell and going for the win - and, yes, it doesn't offer any real dynamic opportunities during the middle-game - at least, not without "going against the grain' (see some of Houska's suggestions to liven up the Caro-Kann!).

In my view, this opening shares certain similarities with the French - the main difference being that the latter offers Black the opportunity to go for the win in the middle-game, having repulsed White's attack(s), instead of having to wait until the endgame.

However, along with the Caro-Kann, perhaps you'd be interested in the Petroff!?

Again, a solid - I mean "sound" - defence against White's 1. e4, which offers the full range of possibilities of play for Black, from quiet, "drawish" lines to dynamic, tactical lines - if White wants a fight.

It is this last point which, I think, indicates that this might also suit your "style", in that you're prepared to "sit back and let White attack" - in the Petroff this equates to "let White decide what he wants to do - draw or fight".

Just a thought!

Kindest regards,

Dragan Glas

As someone who spent a lot of time playing the Caro, I never understood the appeal of the Scandinavian.  I'm not sure why people equate the two (okay, I do understand, but I really don't think the comparison is valid).  The Caro-Kann is ultra solid, and the Scandinavian is ... well ... not.

chk wrote on 01/23/08 at 09:54:59:


Quote:


Well, I rarely if ever play either Scandi or Caro-Kann, since at my level it doesn't really matter much if you're Black or White, so there's no point in playing for a draw as Black, and Caro is more suited for playing for a draw. I only play Scandi in bullett on the Internet, since premoving ...d5 is sometimes a nice thing to do. However, I certainly think that Scandi Main Line is much easier to play for an advantage for both sides, but White has much more chances than Black, since he wins so much tempis with Black's queen moving 3 or 4 times. However, Caro-Kann with 4...Nd7 or 4...Bf5 is much sounder than Scandi. I like positions after 4...Nf6 and 5...gf, but nowadays the Advance Variation is much more popular than 3.Nc3, so complementing the Caro with Scandi only means more theory, since you can't avoid White's 3.e5.
The lines which I'm referring to are:
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 de 4. N:e4 and now 4...Nd7, 4...Bf5 or 4...Nf6 are all Caro Main Line and 4...Qd5 transposes to 1.e4 d5 2.ed Q:d5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 after 5.Nc3 Qa5. The other possibillity to complement Caro with Scandi is by avoiding Panov and Exchange by 3...Q:d5 after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.ed . This again transposes.

Hi,
many thanks to you all for your answers...!
So I go......!

greetings

wolfsblut

Although I'm not Markovich, I'll give you my answer: Caro-Kann can be complemented with Scandi either after 3.ed Q:d5 or 3.Nc3 de 4.N:e4 Qd5 . Nowadays 3.e5 is considered white's most promising answer, so playing both of the variations above instead the normal 3...cd, 4...Bf5, 4...Nd7 or 4...Nf6 only means more theory than in more line Scandi, but doesn't avoid white's most dangerous continuation. In Scandi it only avoid Bc4 with d3 and Nf3 with c4 systems, and these are NOT the most promising tries to reach an advantage. And main line Caro-Kann is much sounder than Scandi anyway.
A subjective answer by Paul