you can try 1e4,d6 and going into a Phillidor. it is cramped and there's multiple opening traps to defend against. But, it does fit the other ideas that you are looking for.
another option maybe the Owens defense. or a Nf6 Scandinavian. these are a little bit more open games though.
You can play the French VERY positionally with somewhat minimal theory, likely less than your current Caro-Kann repertoire.
With Caro-Kann, you have to worry about Short, Tal, Exchange, Mainline, Panov, Breyer, Two Knights, and a few sidelines.
With Caro-Kann, you have to worry about Rubinstein, Exchange, Advance, and a few sidelines. It's an incredibly compact repertoire and the lines in it are quite tame in comparison to many Caro-Kann lines.
The Closed Ruy Lopez matches most what you ask for. It is also what e.g. Karpov used to play.
Hey guys,
I’m looking into switching up my repertoire against 1.e4.
I love playing closed positions where maneuvering and slowly getting the advantage seems to be my forte. Not a big fan of open positions.
I used to play the Caro-Kann for many years but I’m getting a little bored of it.
Any recommendations? Or am I doomed here..
I tried learning the French defence.. but it’s way too chaotic for me…
As for 1…e5 or 1…c5, just seems like there is too much theory involved..