No problems for black at all.

Michael Negele wrote a thorough article in Kaissiber #15 (2000) about the Goldman Variation 2.Nc3 & 3.Qf3 against the Caro-Kann. That's the issue with the photograph of Warren H. Goldman on the cover. 37 pages on history and theory of the line, the bibliography lists 74 sources. - Several pages discuss the question why Hans Müller claimed in Deutsche Schachzeitung 1959, p.176, that Rudolf Spielmann had played the line "already 40 years ago in local tournaments in Vienna". 

Vass is probably right: Negele argues that Spielmann had played 5.Qf3, but in his comments of those games never mentions 3.Qf3, so there are serious doubts whether he has ever used Qf3 already in move three.

katar wrote on 03/25/14 at 18:53:04:


Interesting. So it is still a mystery how it got to be called the Spielmann variation?

Does anybody have the Goldman book, maybe he references Spielmann in it???

@Keano: Are you talking about Rudolf Spielmann all the time, or about Jonathan Speelman as well?

I think I was mistaken - I was thinking of the position:

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Qf3!?

But even there I cannot find any Speelman games 

For some reason I have this association of Speelman with Qf3, perhaps the games didn't make the database, or he wrote about it. 
Or failing that I am imagining it 

Update: having said all that this link to a French site:
http://www.mjae.com/caro-kann-spiel.html
calls it "La variante Spielmann de la Caro-Kann"

But as MnB says there is no record of Rudolf Spielmann playing this line in the database!? Strange mystery.

As a Caro-Kann player, I never understood this line; what is White playing for?

Keano wrote on 03/24/14 at 23:31:07:

I read this over and over again, but yet have to meet the first Spielmann game with 3.Qf3 ..... (and I have 1354 games of him in my database). So perhaps you can tell me when and where he played it?

old Speelman favourite isn't it, harmless if you know what to do.