Definitely.
(I am still alive!!! )

HoemberChess wrote on 11/09/08 at 17:05:23:

i am 90 years old, but new to this forum.
do you think the caro-kann will be enough for the rest of my chess career??

As someone who plays the CK and 1.e4, I was looking to play something against it.

I came up with 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Qf3!? - I can't see a line where Black gets an 'easy' position.

I'm way ahead of you.  I've looked through all of this already.  I have a lot of chess books and videos.

I was trying to get a better understanding of the whole Caro-kann because I was thinking of trying something besides the Advance lines with White.  I played the 4 Nc3 Advance lines like in the Shirov DVD and the Short variation but I wasn't totally happy with either of them.

BlkSabb:  The ...Nf6 lines of the Capablanca main line (a.k.a 4...Bf5 Classical) do not have the reputation (or pedigree) of the older ...Nd7.  In the mid-90s they suddenly became popular because an old attacking setup for white was found to be innocuous.  But more ideas were found for white and the ...Nf6 trend died just as suddenly.  It's not that its unplayable, its just not considered "best".

I would recommend you check out Wells's book on the Caro-Kann for a deeper look into this.  BTW, Davies talks about how the knight is more active on c6 than on d7.  But really, this knight is usually going to be swapped off on e5 or else it goes from d7 into c5.  So, in the long-term, it might be MORE active.   Anyway...check out Wells since I think his book is a modern classic.

As for the remark that the caro-kann is dry or boring -- this is true only if white wants it to be.  Like any major opening, there are some safe/dull lines and some complicated/sharp lines.  The game will only be lifeless if BOTH players allow it.  Botvinnik and Karpov both loved to equalize first with black and grind down the opponent in an endgame (hence their interpretation of the CK).  But other ideas exist in the Caro-Kann besides the "levelling" philosophy of those two giants.

Houska's book, for example, demonstrates many provocative lines for black. Of course white can always play 3. e5 and 4.Nc3 (or the Panov Attack, or others) if he wants a full-blooded fight right from the start.  There is plenty of life in this defense.

It's a mistake to think any classic opening like the Caro-Kann (or the Spanish or the Sicilian or the French) is so one-sided as to only offer one interpretation.  

The interesting thing about the CK is that it can be played in a dynamic or more 'positional' style by the black player.

If Black plays 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 de 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6 gxf6!? then you get a very dynamic game if you need a win.

Against the advance you have the main lines or the gambit 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5!?

The Pannov Attack is a little more tricky to handle, but there are lines with Be6 which are fairly straight forward and dynamic.

I ended up playing the CK through a process of elimination... and by the time I ended up with the CK, I was quite surprised... particularly when I bought Siliman's book, 'The Dynamic Caro-Kann'

BlkSabb wrote on 10/18/08 at 20:01:50:


I notice that Small ECO (2003) has it as leading to equal or unclear, while MCO (2008) gives one path to a slight advantage for White (citing Sandipan-Thejkumar, India 2006).

... e5 is more passive than ... c6, tbh.
The only advantage the scandinavian has over the caro kann is that there is no advance variation, so the scandinavian is less sharp.
But actually the advance variation is quite double edged, black can also play for the win there. I once played the scandinavian, it is playable but not really good, you just lose too many tempi with your queen moves.
And this "modern chess" does not exist, giving up tempis in the scandinavian or placing the knight on c6 in the chigorin is somehow playable, but in the end just not really good ... 

One advantage the caro kann definately has over the french is that there is no exchange, besides it is more easy to play, because you don't shut in your light squared bishop ...

Tbh. I like the caro kann, there is nothing wrong with it,
in my view it is not a dull opening, there is no exchange,
the pawn structure is always antisymmetric, there is always something to play for ...
and yes 4. ... nd7 doesn't score well in my database ... 
4. ... bf5! natural and good!