Manny’s Reviews > Opening Repertoire: The Caro-Kann > Status Update

Some nice recommendations against a couple of offbeat lines: 1 e4 c6 2 Ne2 d5 3 e5 d4! and 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 de 4 Ne4 Bf5 5 Nc5 Nd7!

I've always been suspicious of the line 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 f3 de 4 fe e5 5 Nf3 Bg4, but she makes it sound quite attractive. I had not appreciated how many tricks Black has against White's pawn center. In particular, the idea ... Nbd7 and .. c5, then when White plays d5 the Benoni-style pawn sacrifice ... c4.

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 Nf3

And now she recommends 4... Nc6 but adds:

I would also like to make the reader aware of another promising line, 4... Bg4. The problem is that 5 dc Nc6 transposes to 4 dc Nc6 5 Nf3 Bg4 - a variation not covered in this book).

Okay... and why exactly is it not covered, given that the informed opinion among grandmasters seems to be that it's the best response to a critical try?

A trick worth remembering: after 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 Bd3 Nc6 5 c3 Qc7, it's amazing how often you can find a way to divert the queen before White has castled and then play ...Nd4, exploiting the pin down the c-file.

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Nf3 g6 7 cd Nd5 8 Bc4 Nb6 9 Bb3 Bg7 10 d5 Na5 11 00 00 12 Re1 Bg4 13 Bg5 Re8 14 d6 Qd6 15 Bf7+ Kf7 16 Re7+ Qe7 17 Be7 Ke7



and, rather surprisingly, there is no way to pick up any of Black's loose pieces, so he stands better.

A postcard from the world of competitive chess in 2017:

'This position [after a critical pawn sacrifice in the 11 Bd2 variation] is the problem. White has too much pressure for a human to withstand without computer assistance. It does all work out for Black, but it is incredibly complicated, sharp, and requires an amazing memory.'

A couple of pages explaining that the characteristic knight sacrifice on h6 in the 11 Bf4 main line isn't really dangerous if Black knows what he's doing. As General Woundwort says in Watership Down, dogs aren't dangerous! Unfortunately, some of us are rabbits.

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 de 4 Ne4 Bf5 5 Ng3 Bg6 and now the main line plan with h5, h5 etc was apparently invented by Spassky.

How extraordinary! I'd sort of vaguely assumed it must have been Lasker or God or someone.