Good weapon against the Petrov?

I tried this as white for a while. It's still suuuuper boring positions though.

also this

I think 3. d4 is one of the best weapons, 5. c4 and 5. Bd3 are decent too. 5. Nc3 is ok but its well-known and probably has a lot of theory

What I like about the 4 knights (3.Nc3) is it keeps more pieces on for longer, and the structure is still not determined... this means more opportunity to outplay your opponent.

Looks like you can call it for the forum then..

Whites 3rd move determines it all....and black wont even be ready for that.

... is cute.

Isn't that a Fischer game? Or some other famous game?

Maybe confusing it with a different Bh6 one.

What happens after you take the Bishop?

re5

You can use the engine

But yeah, Re5 Qd7, then double rooks and push d5. The point is the queen now attacks the rook on h8.

Okay now I see it! Nice tactic tbh

Has some venom. Usually this comes from a french exchange. White has some initiative. Carlsen meier and carlsen caruana come to mind.

I think the Cochrane gambit is a lot of fun for white and almost sound: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. d4.  It is often best to castle kingside. The intent is to play Nc3, f4 bring rooks behind pawns and slowly push black back with pawns a la Philador. [But my experience is it doesnt work 2x against a good player![]

Do you mean the response 5. d5 c5  ?   Oddly, no one has ever played that against me. I'll try 5. Nc3 ! Thanks! (and dubious or not it's still fun to play)

I play that all the time, following Sakaev's recommendation. I've always got at least a draw against the Cochrane, if I remember well. It's not like I've been facing Vitolins though.

What's the purpose of 7. ...Ng4 ?

After 3. d4, here are some possible scenarios:

Another one:

Players rated 1000-2000 on Chess.com think the Caro and the Petroff are sooo boring! But top grandmasters manage to find plenty to fight for. Maybe it's the players, not the openings