Caro Kann or Modern Defense

Hi everyone, I was thinking about learning the modern defense. I play caro kann often, but would like to stick to one oppening. Can somebody give their opinion on these oppenings. I think modern defence is quite agressive and if you play it , you play for a win. I already know enough of caro kann theory. I'd like to play for a win sometimes and get something tactical but not too tactical. 

When I play caro kann, i feel that position is dry and it probably will be a draw

If you want something different than the Caro, the Modern is not the answer.

There are 4 good moves against 1.e4.

1...e5

Sicilian (1...c5)

French (1...e6)

Caro-Kann (1...c6)

The other 16 moves are all weaker to varying degrees.

There is a recent book titled The Modern Gurgenidze, it's about playing both the Modern and the Gurgenidze (the Gurgenidze falls into the Caro Kann category or perhaps can be considered more like a hybrid Modern/Caro Kann). Black waits for white to commit before deciding on ...d6 and ...e5, or ...c6 and ...d5.

After 1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 black plays 3...c6 followed by ...d5 (Gurgenidze), but after 3 Nf3 black plays more dynamically with 3...d6 (Modern) followed by ...e5 because with the knight on f3 blocking white's f2 pawn white doesn't have the very dangerous Austrian attack against the Modern.

Also covered in the book is when white plays 1 d4 g6 2 c4, 1 c4 g6 2 Nc3 3 g3, 1 d4 g6 2 Nf3 3 Bg5, 1 d4 g6 2 Nf3 3 Bf4, 1 b3 g6, 1 f4 g6.

I don’t think you should play the modern, it gives white too much space. But go ahead if you want,

only point of the modern is to transpose

caro is a bit passive but your chocie

Of course not! The modern and Pirc can transpose, but by heart the modern is a different opening

Tiger's Modern resists transposition into Pirc lines with 4. ...a6 against basically all of white's main Pirc moves. Idea is a6-b5-Bb7 and delaying castling (sometimes leaving the king in the centre has it's benefits). There are also weird lines like the Pterodactyl.

Caro-Kann is far more solid.

Modern is very risky but more flexible and aggressive. It's an interesting defence if you are willing to take on the risk and enjoy the hypermodern style.

If you want to play aggressively and play for a win with the black pieces though, then there is already a far better defence to do so - the Sicilian.

At your level, I would switch to the Sicilian, but the Caro-Kann isn't bad either

if you want the modern so bad play the kid instead, the modern gives white too easy of a game with his huge pawn center

the caro is fine i guess but try to go for the win

...

doesnt white have a huge pawn center vs the kid too!?

this looks huge to me

keep going

No, modern is not good. If you don't want drawish positions, play the sicilian.

It depends if you like closed centers were you have some control of it directly, or attack the center from afar.

I used to play modern, don't recommend now that I look at my old games

Play what you want to play and remember you don't have to stick to one opening. You should have a broad repertoire it is fun especially when you Rematch your opponents and it is also good for your chess development if you want that.

Which lines are you playing?

There are dry lines in the Caro-Kann ... and there are dynamic sidelines. Different choices can lead to different kinds of games.

Compare these two scenarios:

vs.

These are both the Caro-Kann - but different lines. This is how it might look if two different Caro-Kann players face against the same 1.e4 player.

Notice how one player's approach leads to a dry position, and the other player's approach leads to a more dynamic position ...

I recommend looking through a database, and exploring alternate lines and moves. You don't always have to play the common mainlines. Sometimes, the sidelines can be far more interesting.