What I Learned Playing Like Artemiev (2) : The Caro Part 2

Hey guys, hope you've enjoyed the previous article of this series. Today we're going to have a look at what I learned playing the Caro-Kann Artemiev-style in the Classical and Advanced Variation.

But before we do that, I'd like to talk a little bit about the Candidates, though my podcast Chess Adventures does the trick too. I'm going to make a bold claim, of which I am surprisingly certain about. Nepo will not win the tournament. Wang Hao or MVL will. Curious why ? Again, Chess Adventures, guys. Have a listen. Less than five minutes, you're gonna enjoy it. Go to Sticher, Podbean or whatever else (except Apple, for now). Chess Adventures, the only EPIC chess podcast out there.

Oh, and one last shameless plug. All those games are streamed live on my Twitch Channel. Enjoy the show and if you do, please give me a follow. You can even play against me !

Now, let's resume our regular duties. The two lines we're going to look at today are 3.e5 Bf5 and the Classical with 4...Nf6 5-Nf6 ef6. I'll be honest : if it wasn't for honoring the Artemiev-themed week, I would never have ventured into this last notion. But that's how you improve at chess, or anything else : try new stuff and see if it fits. 

The Advanced, first. Having played the White side of it with decent success, I was curious about how I would fair when playing second fiddle. Here is my proposal against the Short system with Nf3 and Be2.

I did not get to play many games in this system, as White either went for the Exchange treated in the first part of this series and the Classical which we'll have a look at right now.

To my surprise, this is still rather fresh ground after Black's latest fashion, pushing the h-pawn even when the opponent has castled to the other side. I submit to you two games, one by yours truly against GM Mikhail Golubev and another from much stronger players at a slower time control.

You may choose which plan corresponds the most to you. If White does not play c3, Black can directly go for an endgame that has scored very well for him.

Again, I was shocked to realize that this line is actually not horrible for Black at all. If you'd like exercises based on my practice of it, please head over to my Twitter profile ! I post everyday !

Tomorrow, we'll start discussing the Slav with a6. Until then, keep safe, clean and I'll be seeing you !