What's your favorite opening and why do you play it?

then compare it to e5 or c5, where black has winning chances

i mean even in d4 positions where black plays ACTUAL MAIN LINES he gets good winning chances

which is why white should not play the london, and black shound play more attacking,challenging main lines and not some caro or philidor

Frogboy put more exclamation marks in his writings than all of brilliancies in Caro Kann games combined

First of all, the tartakower is not actually so drawish, from my experience, it almost always ends in a decisive result. There is more than enough imbalance in the position to make it an interesting game. From first glance it may look like a dry position, but anyone who has studied the tartakower know the liveliness of the position! I wouldn’t think you would know much about it since I assume you don’t play the caro Kann. There are tons going for both sides! If white castles queenside, we get an epic opposite sides castling game where both sides are throwing punch after punch at each other, just like in the Yugoslav or the English attack! And if white castles kingside, both sides have clear and distinct plans, sometimes black can put his knight on g6 and land a piece on f4, sometimes black can set up a very dangerous battery along the h2-b8 diagonal, and sometimes black can sacrifice the bishop on f3! With a winning attack! Furthermore, if the tartakower is too dry for you, you can always play Bf5 and let the fun begin!

Second of all, in e4, c6, d4, d5, e5, c5, it’s not that of a bad move! Black doesn’t have to play nc6, instead e6 gets black a fine game. Also, in nc6 f4, there is a lot of nh6 and g5 trickery! That spices up the game and is anything but drawish!

yeah thats reasonable, but i belive the advance variation nearly refutes black as white will get quick, sharp, agressive play and black will be left passive

you play Nc3 only on a bad day tbh

Third of all, in the tal variation, there are tried and tested ways for black to get a fine position! I don’t play Bf5 as much as c5, so I can’t say much about it confidently, but black isn’t the only one getting put under fire, white is too!

yeah i guess, but if white does not play the same setup each time he often is better

but black also locks away his bishop

and white has space and better development and a potential attack

present a sample line?

Also the exchange variation is not super drawish! I assume you are familiar with QGD exchange, well, it’s still the Carlsbad structure! It leads to rich positions you can learn a lot from! And from my experience, again, it is anything but drawish!

The Tal variation is dubious compared to the quiet Short variation but sharper and more aggressive. White does pretty well in this line.

Panov Attack is kind of an Exchange Caro Kann, basically a Reversed Tarrasch. White gets very active play and attacking chances.

whats so special about the short variation? is there any chance you know anything on it?

Looks like a playable position for both sides to me

The short variation is a mature way to play, just developing naturally. It has proven to be reliable on both club level and grandmaster level

I’m not saying the Caro Kann is “ better “ than e5 or c5. But it is certainly completely fine as a main weapon and not to be taken lightly! It has a verified “respect” tag, marked by the frog foundation 🐸. I’m sure Alireza Firouzja would agree!

The Panoc is a very active way to fight the Caro Kann, but if black knows how to navigate it, the Panov endgame is basically a draw. Sure, you could therefore say the caro is frogging drawish 🐸, but that doesn’t make the Caro a drawish weapon by itself! There are also a6 and g6 lines for black that fight for all 3 results!

There's nothing special about the Short. It's just very solid developing moves and that's why it's considered the best.

Tal variation is more risky but provides white better winning chances.