My first round game vs FM Adamson at the Western States Open

Hi guys,

I figured I'd post this game.  After a bluff of sorts in the Caro-Kann opening, White manages to get a fairly respectable position with the bishop pair, only to see it crumble in time pressure, and is somewhat fortunate to wind up in what should be a simple opposite colored bishop endgame after the time scramble dust clears.  However, I wasn't keeping accurate enough track of what move I was on and blitzed my 41st move - a blunder after which White was irretrievably lost. Augh.

you don't like 3. e5?

You definitely had him pinned down for most of that game, congrats. Especially with the fun Queen positional options to keep him from castling.

Sucks how that endgame worked out, but good fighting John!

And along Odessian's comments, I always prefer the advance variations. Whether it be French, Caro, Alekhine, spatial advantages are FOR THE WIN!

I'm not big on 3. e5, as it's VERY trendy right now and variation-intensive.  Also, I feel like I'm giving Black an advance French for "free" since his bishop is outside the pawn chain.  That said, the line is popular on the highest levels right now, and often leads to exciting games, so it's worth a shot for anyone willing to study a metric arseload of theory. :)

In the Marshall - Capablanca game, White played Bd3, which I think sort of defeats the main purpose of f4 (i.e., to embarras the Black Bishop somewhat with latent ideas of f5).