BPaulsen wrote on 04/18/11 at 23:36:16:


Finally you and I agree as well 

In regards to the Caro-Kann, I think the Advance is viable for club players if they use 4. h4. White's play is simple/thematic enough, and while black can equalize with good play, it also tends to be unorthodox, which in turn gives it value at the club level where many players aren't going to find the moves that are atypical for the C-K. Any opening variation that puts the onus on black to demonstrate foreknowledge while retaining easy plans is a good choice (similar to why I often recommend 6. cxd5 in the Cambridge Springs).

Two Knights is the other common recommendation just for straightforward chess, but black doesn't really have to do anything special to equalize/get a fully playable game.

In regards to the French - 3. Nc3 all day, every day. Exchange Winawer has plenty of punch at club level (of course there's plenty of other options as well, ie: 4. Nge2), and 4. Bg5 (using Alekhine-Chatard, 6. Be3 MacCutcheon, etc.) tends to just be natural to play for white players.

Pirc/Modern - 4. Be3 or Accelerated Classical. Both are simple enough to play for club players.

Sicilian - Open is the top choice. If absolutely bent on playing Anti-Sicilians then Rossolimo versus 2...Nc6, 3. b3 (does this even have a name?) versus 2...e6, and either Moscow or the Qxd4 Open versus 2...d6 would be my picks.

Finally, I agree with Markovich - the Slav and Caro-Kann have nothing common as far as pawn structures go if you're taking white's pawns into account as well.

There is one and only one good reason to combine the Slav and the Caro-Kann: it allows Black to play 1.c4 c6. Big deal.

Stigma wrote on 04/18/11 at 18:40:00:

Brr, I don't like this one. 4...Bf5 and White has nothing, maybe even less.

Edmar Mednis was one who regarded the Caro and the Slav as "sister openings"; I'm also reminded of Andrew Soltis's chapter (in Pawn Structure Chess) on the "Caro-Slav Family."

No less an Alekhine guru than Bagirov played 1...Nf6 exclusively against 1.e4 and mainly the Slav against 1.d4.  So that says something, though I'm not sure what.  Probably that he thought of the Alekhine as a pretty solid opening.

But that's a load of baloney about "similar pawn structure" between the Slav and the Caro.

If we are at 1600-1700 level I would avoid the Advance against both the French and the Caro. White may think he is grabbing space and preparing an attack, but 3.e5 is usually what Black players hope for, and play best. The exceptions may be the French Milner-Barry Gambit, especially with 9.Nbd2 where Black has to be very careful, and the Caro-Kann Short system which looks deceptively calm but if Black doesn't know a concrete setup he can get into trouble very quickly.

I suggest instead:

Aggressive:
- French Two Knights  (references Moskalenko: The Flexible French, This Bücker article http://www.chesscafe.com/text/kaiss63.pdf, the Kaissiber theory competition thread http://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1238509160/all and maybe the "Jackal" site/book http://homepage.ntlworld.com/adrianskelton/)

- Caro-Kann Fantasy variation (3.f3!?) as presented in, for example, Davies' Gambiteer 1 and Gallagher's Starting Out: The Caro-Kann. This line is recently popular at the very top level with Nepomniachtchi, Ivanchuk and others.

Solid:
- French Tarrasch (the repertoire from Kaufman's The Chess Advantage in Black and White, or the Smagin line 3...Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Ngf3 Nc6 7.Nb3)

- Caro-Kann Exchange 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bf4!? (intending c3, Nf3, Nbd2, Bd3 etc., but avoiding 4.c3 Qc7!)

In the Sicilian, there's no law that says you have to play either Anti-Sicilians or Open Sicilians exclusively, you can mix and match. For example:

- 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4! (there aren't really any exciting antis here) and play the English Attack (Be3, f3) against the Najdorf, Scheveningen and Classical, maybe starting with 6.Bg5 against the latter and playing f3 whenever feasible. De la Villa's Dismantling the Sicilian is a good guide. 
I would actually suggest avoiding the Be3/f3 setup against the Dragon; below 2000 Dragon players are much more likely than even Najdorf players to be booked up on and hoping for this. Play the calmer 6.Bc4 lines with h3/Be3/0-0 instead and watch their frustration.

- 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3!?
- 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3!? These will trip up quite a few Black players who haven't planned their repertoires carefully enough. Here I speak from bitter experience!

- Alternatively the Rossolimo 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 is probably a better try for advantage objectively, and annoys most Sicilian players. There's a great Chessbase DVD by Bologan on it.

- 2.Nf3 a6 3.c3
- 2.Nf3 g6 here I don't believe in 3.c3, so: 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4!? or just play the 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.Nc3 main line, which fits well with 6.Bc4 against the Dragon.

I have never understood why a repertoire should fit together. If someone enjoys the Fort Knox against 1.e4 and the Von Hennig-Schara against 1.d4, why not?
But I understand that contradictions are not virtuous.

Caro-Kann Nc3 and g4 strives for a wide open attack which you say you don't like.
GPA against the Sicilian is probably a waste of time. If you become stronger it will prove teethless. Switch to the Open Sicilian and play slightly offbeat stuff first. Davies in Taming the Sicilian (based on 6.g3) has shown it's not that much work. There are several other options; you only should avoid for the time being topical variations like the Richter-Rauser, the Jugoslav and the English Attacks.
If you like slow manoeuvring games the Classical against the Pirc is OK; I always have preferred the Argentinean Attack 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 0-0 6.0-0-0 and 7.f3. You'll be amazed how many scalps you will earn on a 1600 level.

You should either take up the Tarrasch or the Open Games as Black. Mastering open positions with active piece play is mandatory on our level if you want to improve.

I'm around your strenght as a player, and i have recently switched to the tarrasch QGD with very good results. Against the french i used to be an advance player, but now i feel more comfortable with Nc3. I think that also a switch to the open sicilians would be advisable.