It seems playable with some elite players playing 7...e6. I feel that you need to plan for more than going for the bishop exchange. If I remember correctly, this line was covered in Vidit's Caro Kann chessbase DVD's
Classical Caro-Kann Bf5. 7...e6 or 7...Cd7 first?
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Hey guys! Im playing the Caro classical as black with Bf5. But to avoid the old line 11.Bf4 , I decided to play 7...e6 first (1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Cf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Cf3 e6) and after 11.Bf4 I play 11...Bd6 (the Knight still on b8) and exchange bishops. But I would like to ask, the move 7...e6 is playable as a main option in my carokann repertoire? what is the major difference bettwen 7...e6 and 7...Nd7, is only the line with 8.Ne5 or there are another difference??? Or you thing Cd7 first is necessary?
thank you all!