Dealing with the Hillbilly Attack – Why not ...e5? - Chess Forums

3 hrs ago

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#1

As a Caro-Kann player, I often face this dumb move by White with 2. Bc4. My intuition says that if White wastes moves making their Bishop bad and allows me to take the full center, I should go for it. After 2...d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bb3 (or after dealing with 4. Bb5+), my instinct is to play ...e5 and be very happy.

But surprisingly, none of the engine lines includes ...e5. It only wants Black to develop normally and castle.

Can you humans make sense of it? It doesn't even feel like Black is under any pressure; they have plenty of time to do whatever they want and effectively be White!

shru

3 hrs ago

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#2

Engine says it’s because white has d4 to challenge them.

trw0311

2 hrs ago

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#3

Gives yourself an isolated pawn, strength of most caro kann setups is that pawn chain spanning from h6 to d5. This In conjunction with the open c file. Pawns can’t move backwards so you lose the ability to play e6 and keep that pawn structure. E5 isn’t *bad* but will lead to a more open game and with that sniper bishop bearing down on your f pawn it could be hard to hold those pawns.

AvremiAnshin

2 hrs ago

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#4

shru wrote:

Engine says it’s because white has d4 to challenge them.

Yes, the opponent will challenge the center, but that's chess, isn't it? Black can defend with the minor pieces, just like White does in standard 1.e4 e5 openings when Black strikes back. Personally, I would prefer to have that massive space advantage and defend it, rather than not having one.

AvremiAnshin

2 hrs ago

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#5

trw0311 thank you, great answer.

Steve-K

2 hrs ago

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#6

As Black I used to play the Caro-Kann a lot and sometimes got good results, though more recently as Black I favour e4-e5 openings. If White played the Hillbilly, more often than not I won. Wikipedia's article on the C-K maintains that the Hillbilly tends to be played by people unfamiliar with the C-K.