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Mastering the Caro kann

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vinupradeep2580

What is the middle game ideas in caro kann defence..?:-)

SevenOneWCSF

Obviously, the ideas vary depending upon the variation but one CK theme would be to exchange off all of the pieces and then freeroll the endgame because of your better pawn structure.

vinupradeep2580

Thanx bro..

Till_98

I did a blog post about it, you can check it out :)

MrDamonSmith

I believe one of the dynamic ways to respond to 3.f3 is 3.....de 4.fe e5 & I encounter it maybe 20% of the time.

schachfan1

The main idea of the Caro-Kann is obviously that the light-squared bishop c8 as a rule has significant mobility, compared with the French defense. And much depends on what variation White chooses. For example I am very fond of 3.f3!? Of course Black's play after 3.f3 differs from play in case of, for example, 3.e5. As for 3.f3, my opponents mostly play either 3. ... e6 (which is really not bad there) or 3. ... de, but not always 4.(fe) e5! The line with 3. ... de might be significantly more dangerous for Black than 3. ... e6, at least judging from my games

Thehuntingwolf

but the Caro-Kann is worse than the French in the case 3.e5 then Black would lost another tempo as they must push the c6-c5 pawn, although they have pushed it before. Nevertheless I still see Caro-Kann as a solid, easy-idea defence and in many cases has sharp plays for people likes them.

Yuri_K

i used to play caro-kann, but too difficult for intermediate player i think. every game was the same, white played advanced. same posititon every game. boring, and too difficult. will try again when i get better at chess.

schachfan1
Thehuntingwolf wrote:

but the Caro-Kann is worse than the French in the case 3.e5 then Black would lost another tempo as they must push the c6-c5 pawn, although they have pushed it before. Nevertheless I still see Caro-Kann as a solid, easy-idea defence and in many cases has sharp plays for people likes them.

Not quite so. The light-squared bishop in the French defense is blocked by the pawn e6 and as a rule it stays for some period rather restricted, whereas that LSB c8 in the Caro-Kann has significant freedom in comparison with the French defense. Whether that bishop's freedom in French defense is worth a lost tempo in Caro-Kann c7-c6-c5 - probably noone could say it for sure, that's just a matter of taste. I know there are very many lovers of French defense who do believe in the destiny of their bishop c8, and it is true that even with that "famous prisoner" bishop c8, the French defense is a rather strong weapon against 1.e4

schachfan1
Yuri_K wrote:

i used to play caro-kann, but too difficult for intermediate player i think. every game was the same, white played advanced. same posititon every game. boring, and too difficult. will try again when i get better at chess.

One should be very patient and have good positional understanding if he/she wants to play Caro-Kann as Black. J.-R. Capablanca, T. Petrosian, A.Karpov, V.Kramnik played Caro-Kann often and with success. Of course they can "afford" playing the Caro-Kann ... with their strength and positional understanding. And of course it is very unlikely that they had thoughts about Caro-Kann as "boring, always the same ... etc." The real game might start there after move 15 or even later, after the opponents pass through opening theory and begin to carry out their own plans

Till_98

you can not say that an opening is better than another one when both openings are very reasonable and different openings!

schachfan1
Till_98 wrote:

you can not say that an opening is better than another one when both openings are very reasonable and different openings!

I totally agree. The same opening or some certain variation might work very well against one opponent, and might bring to unpleasant consequences against some other opponent. Much depends on your own preferences (i.e. tactical, positional etc.) and on your opponent's preferences.

vinupradeep2580

Is classical variation Bc5 is more solid than karpov variation Nd7...

chessdude46

It's more solid in that it's much less sharp. With the Karpov variation, black has to maneuver out of a few potential tactical deathtraps by white, but other than that it works just as well.