How To Crush The Caro-Kann In Five Moves!

First of all, for those of you in the know, yes, I did steal Johnathan Schrantz’s video title by the same name for my forum topic. To be fair though, I’m giving him the credit, because he single-handedly won me this game with this trap.

I use this trap often. not good objectively and wouldn't recommend for OTB, but for online when it doesnt matter, def worth a try.

:/ :/ :/ :/ :/

That's a very tricky trap.

Though, as Black, I'm one of the annoying Caro-Kann players who would decline the gambit line, and go into something slower, more of a long-game approach, like this perhaps:

After 6. Nc3 (why Nd2? The knight has better prospect on c3 and it’s the bishop that goes to d2) that line actually transposes to Two Knights Exchange theory, and White does quite well in those lines.

Well, here’s my secret.
Caro-Kann players below 2000 are VERY stupid. They know two things and two things only, Mainline Tartakower and Botvinnik-Carls, so if you don’t play an Advance essentially every low level Caro player will play Nf6, regardless of what variation is on the board. Panov? Nf6 as soon as they can’t trade anymore. Two Knights? They premove dxe4 Nf6 exf6 and the twenty second wait if you don’t play Nxf6 is hilarious. This gambit? Nf6 because they literally don’t know what else to do. Only in the Advance will they not immediately play Nf6 as soon as possible.

yes

this is the MUCH better version of the tennison

actually decent if not fallen for, more applicable, and less well known (caro players wouldnt expect it)

its coz c6 becomes actively detrimental for black even without the trap, if accepted

and black doesnt have like 500000 ways to avoid it in a good way

Me? I'm LOVING the mieses gambit! I have a 59:38 record in 39 games after 3.Be3!? if the gambit's fully accepted, my stats jump to 70:22 in 23 games!

these are the "five moves" that do it for me

I just love how there's no more pawn chaining to straightjacket me, or stuff that prevents my Nf3/Bc4 development.

it ties in with my alapin diemer french and gedult BDG scandinavian theory and uses my preferred development/tactics... I ALWAYS love an open f file too. I think I actually stumbled into it by accident TRYING and failing to play the maroczy/fantasy variation and confusing it with the alapin diemer. when I saw I was kicking more butt with the mieses, I found MY carokann solution and am super proud that I'm performing way above average in this line where caros always used to annoy me.

i'm 91% in the 5...Nf6 "main line" in 11 games and and 67:22 in 9x 5...Bg4 games. I've lost 1 game each to 5...e6, 5...h6 & 5...Bf5 sidelines not worth studying yet. I've put little effort into studying the mieses because so far, i'm destroying most caros.

in looking at my games, I just did it in 9 moves in my last one!

I have played a slightly different version of this but it is not a likely that you would get to play it but it is still nice: