Yesterday (1st July 2012) I played a game against CM9k, a very strong chess program. Playing against a program like Chessmaster 9000 is not a walk in the park. CM9k is absolutely merciless punishing errors, is annoyingly patient and has a perfect memory for openings and endgames. Computers almost never blunder tactically, although they can make major strategic errors. 

  It was this strategic deficiency that I wanted to exploit vs CM9k. I hoped to steer our battles to quiet maneuvering trench warfare that requires judgment and foresight rather than brute calculating ability.

 1.e4  c6

  This defense prepared before-hand is known as the Caro-Kann Defense - a very solid system that has a reputation for being effective against attacking maniacs and computers. So, is this the best chess opening against a computer? Any help taken

At your level, you're probably not going to be able to beat CM9k. Instead of focusing on openings, I'd suggest just working on general chess principles. Assuming you have a reasonable computer, you will need to get to about 2000+ in real life before you can expect to get a good game against an engine.

At that point, I would suggest playing chess like Kramnik. The Berlin Defense of the Ruy Lopez may hold a draw, and solid chess will be your best bet. I'm not exactly sure how strong this engine is, but I'd expect winning against it a below-GM level is highly unlikely.