CaroKahn Rationale

Hello everyone!

I have been trying to memorize openings, the head of our chess club says (and I know this!), that I should know the reason for each move in an opening, not just memorize the moves.  I am learning the CaroKahn right now.  Would anyone be willing to help me understand the rationale of the following move?

I am using Chessbase.com's Opening Explorer to study the opening and this is the most  used response to the CaroKahn.  I am wondering why it is superior to exd5.  If this sort of thing is inappropriate for this forum, please let me know.  I find very few books that give the actual REASON for a certain move in an opening being better than another move.  If there are such books, can you also give me a recommendation?  Thanks for any help.

Warmly,

Barry Glick

3.exd5 isn't a move you should really be considering in this position if you're following basic opening principles. 3.e5 and 3.Nc3 are both more logical - 3.e5 gains space, cramping black's position, especially as the pawn break c5 would now lose a tempo. 3.Nc3 keeps the pawn tension in the centre, forcing black to give up the central pawn with dxe4 in order to be able to comfortably develop his pieces. You're wondering why 3.e5 is superior to 3.exd5, but what is the reason you were considering 3.exd5 in the first place? (I'm not saying exd5 is bad, in fact it's a perfectly good move played by many GMs, but if you aren't sure about this then you should think of it as a bad move).

Thanks for you reply.  I was not considering exd5, only asking why it was an inferior move.  Would you be willing to explain what you mean by "...especially as the pawn break c5 would now lose a tempo?"  I looked up Pawn Break, but I don't understand how black now loses "tempo".

If I moved exd5, wouldn't black respond with cxd5 because if he advanced the pawn, I would dxc5.  If I moved (as I should) e5, black still cannot advance his c pawn without me taking it.  Questions too stupid?

If you are willing, please help me out.

Warmly,

Barry

"Losing a tempo" means wasting time. Black could have played c5 in one go, but if he decides to first play c6 and then c5, this is losing a tempo. A lot of the time, the move c5 is such a useful move that you don't mind the fact that it loses a pawn - in fact it is even possible after 3.e5.

I'm not sure I fully understand your second question, but it seems to me that you're asking why exd5 isn't so effective as it still prevents black from playing c5. However, after exd5 black doesn't really need to have the c5 pawn break, since black has good control of the centre, as white exchanges a central pawn for a flank pawn.

White has 2 pawns in the center, Black has only one. Black's pawn on c6 prevents something like a Knight from going there, however White's pawn on e4 is attacked. If you want to be dogmatic about it principles tell us White should prefer to keep the tension in the center and play something like Nc3, this way if Black captures, White captures last, and will maintain a lead in development... however these rules are not absolutes, and it seems practice has shown that advancing the pawn might be a better move in this particular position. What does advancing the pawn do you our basic principles? Push the pawn to e5 Now White still has two pawns in the center, but one has been compelled to move. They will lock and not control so many squares, however White has gained space. The e5 pawn can cramp Black's (already cramped as Black has a pawn on c6) position, so you can see this is a good move... although the position is becoming closed, so cramping and loss of tempo won't matter so much in this game; one of the things Black "signs up for" when playing the Caro or a French or something like this. By contrast what would exd5 do when we consider our basic principles? exd5 cxd5, now the tension is gone and the position is completely symmetrical. Both sides have one pawn in the center. Black is no longer cramped and White has solved many of Black's opening problems for them. However it's true White still has the move and the attack on the e4 pawn has been taken care of, and the position is more open. Exchange variations are notoriously "boring" for some of these reasons but considering each position sometimes they might even be the best move. Of course you've got to look at each position separately and plans from games that come out of it, but I think in general principles say to support the center and hold the tension as long as possible, if not that then usually to advance and gain space when forced, and only if not that then to exchange and let the opponent have space by capturing last and resolve the tension that way. If you think about it in this way that might help?

The last update of that book was described by IM John Donaldson as "highly recommended for players 2000 on up."

Possibly of interest:

First Steps: Caro-Kann Defence

https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/7800.pdf

I think 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 is just fine if you want a quiet (but not drawish, by any means) position which is simple to understand and play. I am not even sure what "best move" means as early as move three.

exd5 is not a worse move than e5. It produces an open position where White still has the advantage of first move and every prospect of whipping up an attack. In contrast to the French Exchange, it leads to an asymmetrical pawn structure and is thus less drawish (though the "drawishness" of the French Exchange is much exaggerated, especially at amateur level). e5, exd5 and Nc3 (or Nd2) are all good moves (probably equally good), and which you choose is a matter of taste.

The exchange Caro is easy to play, as the pawn structure is extremely well scrutinized (a reverse Carlsbad formation).  What is not so well-known is white's best way to make use of his extra tempo, although recently some Polish GM's contributed a few remarkable ideas.

Which GMs?

Mainly Kacper Piorun and Bartosz Socko.

Polish IM Lukasz Jarmula, who has worked with Socko, has authored a course for white on it recently.

Actually two. His wife Monika has the GM title, too.