Caro-Kann

What is the best way to play against the Caro-Kann defence? I've heard people say the Advanced Variation is strong, what do you think?

in the french back has a bad white bishop but strong center but in the caro kann its reversed so the advanced is the best bacase it helps white develope all his pices quickly but in the french advanced black attacks the center the center in the caro he cant.the two nigths is a strong varition

How about a trappy line?

Having used to play the Caro-Kann, the lines I've had the most trouble with are:

 and this one:

These two lines were what made me get away from the Caro-Kann. It was the early 2000 years I stopped playing the Caro-Kann, I'm not sure what the theory is for these two lines now.

I prefer to play the classical instead of the advanced or the exchange

As a diamond member you should check out GM Shankland"s video series:

http://www.chess.com/video/player/the-complete-caro---part-9-riazantsev-dominates

Why yes there are 9 seperate videos.

amf what is the "Short" line of the advanced?

Short line is advance with Be2/Nf3. Basicly telling black. I am not going to directly refute your opening setup. I will just develop normaly and in the end my space advantage will tell. 

Ofcourse the main problem in this variation is that you have to deal with the black breaks like c5 and asses when this break is good for white and when it is good for black. 

Superb I will also ckeck it out

i play the old line, N1e2

I tried the following variation and I won with a nice miniature with an early King's side attack by poussing my h pawn and with the classical sacrifice of the bishop on h7 !

FirebrandX Correct me if I am wrong but in centaur chess the opening is the most important part of the game?

Indeed. As some Masters have noted, " Opening play 1/2 realized (into an promising middlegame) is half won (in the endgame)".

You and I are about the same level.  I got to 1400 on this site by playing the Caro-Kann, but once I got there, I ran into the advanced variation almost exclusively, and I started losing almost all of my games.  I revisited Shankland's Caro-Kann tutorials, but in vain because he's not the best teacher for me (I don't doubt his abilities).

At my level, I concluded that the advanced variation makes all of whites decisions too easy because it's really easy for white to defend the pawn on d4 which supports his pawn on e5.  Black can exploit this for drawing chances, but, at my skill level, there is no dynamic counterplay to be had here.  While I suppose that's the dilemma for any opening by black, I would rather open with e5 on this website with players at my level. 

Although, referencing the game you posted, Firebrand (a nice demonstration of said custom opening database)...i have to ask, is 6. OO h6[?!], mainline these days? Or even the somewhat pretentious attack on the King's wing, "normal"? I would (as an avid CK player) more likely postpone ...h6 in favor of lines involving ...c5, ... a6, ... Rc8, ... Nf5. Hitting the centre first, before any wing attack. (The Queenside, i would go, if anything).

I haven't played here much resently, so I find my rating low. :P

Thank you, Firebrand.

The Caro-Kann is known in tournament circles as a drawing weapon for Black. The main reason that players with the White pieces have so much trouble with the Caro-Kann is because it requires technical knowledge and experience in exploiting space advantages. Most players rated under 2000 have very little technical ability or experience in executing a methodical exploitation of a space advantage.

Maybe, instead of asking which variation of the Caro-Kann White should select, you should ask how can I force a transposition to a different opening by playing 1.Nf3 c6.

Saying that the Caro-Kann is a "drawing weapon" is an old wive's tale.  I've won many games with it, and people are assuming that Black plays Qc7 and castles queenside in all scenarios against the Classical.  That just isn't so.  You still have players playing 4...Nd7, 4...Nf6, and castling Kingside in the 4...Bf5 lines.

If you want to talk drawing weapon, check out the Berlin.

Yesterday I watched a series of bullet games between a GM from Philippines and a master on this site; the GM won 4-1. In two games, the GM played the Caro-Kann and won both. Seeing how the GM managed to get all sorts of pieces into white's position was quite interesting. Both times White played the Advance Variation.