Caro kan or French.
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Adios_Mark_Ay_Vivid
Feb 26, 2017
0
#1
I am going from tactical to positional chess. I used to play the Sicilian and I am wondering which is more solid. The kan or the French?
Personally I gave up moving the king pawn as black's first move as I was forever catching my arm on the king and sending the pieces flying all over the board.
Feb 26, 2017
0
#6
Adios_Mark_Ay_Vivid wrote:
I am going from tactical to positional chess. I used to play the Sicilian and I am wondering which is more solid. The kan or the French?
'the French is a little more closed, with it's QB locked behind the pawn chain where one of the Caro-Kann's early goal is to get that bad B outside the pawnchain and hopefully exchange it - which is why I like the Caro-Kann better.
Caro-Kann is much more solid.
Don't be fooled by the reputations of these openings. Both contain solid lines mostly but can get tactical if you or the opponent choose to play this way. If you have leftover tendencies toward tactical struggles this tendency can carry over into many openings. I prefer both openings to the sicilian because many opponents assume that i will not strive for any advantage. Stepping into a winawer french unprepared as white can provide a serious lesson for any doubters.
Caro kann, I like knowing where each piece should go. I personally hate french I bought a book about it and there are so many variations and it gets awfully complicated.
Adios_Mark_Ay_Vivid wrote:
I am going from tactical to positional chess. I used to play the Sicilian and I am wondering which is more solid. The kan or the French?
French tends to be very positional and (IMO) more difficult to master and can easily lead to cramped positions for the second player if not well versed in it. Caro-Kann has a reputation for solidity and generally leads to positional play, that is, typically not as "dynamic" as something like the Sicilian. In my view the C-K is probably the easier to start playing.
If you lean toward the C-K you might also check out the Scandinavian Defense (3...Qd6 variation!), which quite often leads to similar pawn structures of the C-K. The attraction of the Scandinavian is that it is not studied as much as the C-K (or the other popular defenses to 1.e4) and thus your opponent will be less likely to be well versed in it. This makes it more likely, if you study the opening, that you will be playing in your back yard, and not in your opponents'. The Scandinavian also lends itself to a positional style of play. (Hint - fianchetto the King's bishop, and play for a queenside attack).
A good introduction to the Scandinavian is...
"Understanding the Scandinavian" by Sergey Kasparov...
https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Scandinavian-Sergey-Kasparov/dp/1910093653/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488237138&sr=1-1&keywords=scandinavian+defense
Adios_Mark_Ay_Vivid wrote:
Scandi is an interesting suggestion
Will look at it
In fact, due to the similarities in pawn strutures, you can more easily learn and play both (C-K or Scandinavian), as the mood strikes you...
caro > french
Qd6 Scandi > every opening against e4
The last one was the Qd6 Scandi
Do a little research on the ideas of Caro, French, and Scandi. Play them all for a bit and see what you like.
Sicilian can be sharp but positional too.
Play the openings you enjoy.
Adios_Mark_Ay_Vivid wrote:
I think I am going for the Scandi
Which variation? Qd6 is the best one and we have a group about it.
Feb 28, 2017
0
#19
If you want a draw, play the Caro-Kann. If you want to win, play the French.
