Recently strong GM's playing the black side of the fantasy variation of the Caro-Kann (1. e4 - c6, 2. d4 - d5, 3. f3!?) have chosen 3... Qb6 as a way to play the opening. "Normal" moves for black are 3... e6, 3... exd4 or 3... g6 and a lot of theory in books is available when you're interested. But not on this move.

I am wondering is 3... Qb6 is any good, but more importantly, if any of you have, or know of, any good analysis on this line.

To be honest - I have no idea. I have only a couple of games against f3 like and I lost all of them :(

That is the problem... it is a rare contuation, but when you encounter it, you usually face a well prepared opponent

Well right now I don't even know what the point of ...Qb6 here is supposed to be. Let's see. It hits the solid d4 point, and stuff could happen along the a7-g1 diagonal, since Be3 hangs b2... in fact the queen right now keeps that bishop from developing at all. Maybe black intends an aggressive ...e5 advance at some point and use that diagonal, since in many variations with dxe5 (if there is a knight on f6) Ng4 would attack both e5 and f2. It's interesting, meeting a weird move with a weird move.

Yes, the aim of Qb6 is indeed to prepare the e5 advance I think - I collected some games and information in a blog post ( http://blog.chess.com/polleke/a-fantasy-too-far ) but I would love to get a better insight. I hope this line will be covered in the new book "dangerous weapons - the caro-kann" that is supposed to be published very soon. And that there are still some people who have some publications...

Here's a line for White that hasn't gotten much traction (yet?):

Interesting, I will definitely take a look at this line. At first glance I think black is probably okay by playing Kd8 and go for quick development? (Kd8, cxd4 - Nf6, Nc3 - Bd6 threatening Re8...) White seems hindered a bit by his unusual pawn structure, difficult development.

Going a little deeper:

In Gambiteer 1 by Nigel Davies, there is a chapter about Caro-Kann Fantasy Variation. But in the chapter, there's nothing about 3. ... Qb6

I play fantasy variation myself, so i will bookmark this thread and your blog. Thanks alot Polleke.

Here's an example of 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 Qb6. So many pawn pushes by White in the opening.  Ugh! Cramp city! I'd have a difficult time gaining space for my Black pieces.

Qb6 must be more than just o.k. if Ivanchuk played it.

Very interesting game - Ivanchuk knows Nepomniachtchi plays the Fantasy Variation so must have prepared well for it. Probably he concluded that 4. a4 (which Nepo played in the European Championships after 3... Qb6 as well) does not combine too well with the "old" solid main line with 3.... e6 and a later Qb6. The middle game did indeed not look very easy to play for black, but I will check this one out. Thanks for posting!

Interesting line but i haven't played it yet.. will do though.

Ivanchuk playing it once isn't necessarily an endorsement.  He's known for playing early divergences in single games, after a little home cooking, but not repeating the variation.  It's one of the reasons he is virtually impossible to prepare for - Chucky will play anything, depending upon his mood at the time, sometimes it seems he does it just to show he can.

That he has been one of the top handful of players on Earth for 20 years plays a part in this ability, too.  His eccentricities must be taken seriously, so he often gains a clock advantage in the opening in these experiments.

If you like the line, play it!  That's the most important thing, to be happy with the play and positions you get out of an opening variation.  You will have much better results playing lines the books don't like but you feel comfortable in than in trying to force yourself to follow the GM fashions.

Remember not to fear the Fantasy Variation.  If your opponent is <2300 FIDE, he is probably playing it because he gets nowhere in the main lines and is hoping the unusual line will cause you to screw up. 

Black can get an equal game fairly quickly in most of the main lines anyway, it's not a serious attempt at opening advantage - and how could it be?  If 3 f3 were a good move, all the theories of Morphy, Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Nimzowitsch, Tarrasch, Euwe, Botvinnik, Fischer, Karpov, and Kasparov must be incorrect, because it violates several of those principles without gaining any compensating advantage.

Thanks, that sums it all up :-). My problem is that I have started playing OTB chess again about 2 years ago, and people are preparing their games against me now that they know what I like to play. Need to make them think, by playing stuff that is surprising, but above all, not too dodgy!

There were a few people (thanks Flier & Sirprim) that pointed me to the following game, played on board 1 in the chess Olympiad today. Caro-Kann..... boring?! If you want to see an Ivanchuck queen sacrifice...

http://ugra-chess.com/liveboard?gameid=1001070011&tmnt=1

thanks ! very good game.

It's a very good game! to be fair i must say this is not a queen sac since W picked up more than enough material. It's B who sacrificed material to damage W coordination.