Caro-Kann: Why No Beginner Should Play It...

Another very serious video....

In this video we make the case against the Caro-Kann defence (1 e4 c6)

Hero image credit: Kenny Eliason

#chess #carokann

[samuelkoury]

I feel attacked with the “I play Caro Kann because of Gotham.” And the “I’ve been googling the fried liver.” Then he hits with the “Naroditsky tells me to trade material when I’m ahead.” 😂
Literally the reason that I do all those things.

Well played sir..

[matthewwyjad]

Actually the whole reason I enjoy playing caro kann is that I play way more endgames. I think a end game play is a serious weakness at lower levels, me included. So focussing on a solid game that leads to an end game with a slight Advantage has been really instructive for me. It's also really valuable for someone who has a habit of being overly aggressive, which i am.

[MichaelPastore]

Play any opening that fires your soul, and makes you fall in love with chess again and again.

[Rodri_Santos_Music]

Tbh i improved my black lines a lot when i started using Caro-Kann, is not a weird opening at all but what i like is that you kinda get to mid game quickly, other defenses are too stale and a slight blunder costs you the game, with caro i get quicker games with more real chess and less book strategies

[richardh]

Hilarious! With your wit and humor you‘re easily blowing all the chess teacher competition out of the water. Well played, sir! 🎉😊👍

[sigma]

This guy’s comments are hilarious. “We’re not gonna play 50 engine lines versus a 800. Just play something you know and have a chance or get checkmated”
Made my day. Subbed

[UdyKumra]

To be honest I really enjoy 80 move rook endgames where I'm up a pawn. My favorite form of chess is where I slowly improve my position and squeeze my opponent to death, or let my opponent over-extend in trying to attack the extreme solidity of the Caro-Kann and then launch a vicious counter-attack that eats at least a few pawns and possibly a piece or two as well. And sometimes when I'm feeling very aggressive I'll let them take my knight on f6 and take with the g-pawn instead of the dark-square bishop or queen, opening the g-file and launching my own devastating attack on the king. I've been playing the Caro since 800 I think and I recently hit my peak of 1805 and I've had a great time with it.

I do want to expand my repertoire, but not to e5. e5 is too passive imo, I never enjoy watching games that start with it and I find the lack of kingside space really annoying. Probably I will go and study 50 lines of the Sicilian.

[evaneugenescott]

You got me exactly. I play the Caro because I felt like I was getting trapped by pet lines non stop when I played E5. I want to go back to playing e5 but feels daunting to guarantee a lot of losses up front to make the switch.

[PremierGraphicsWraps]

You are a charismatic dude with a calm confidence. Probably the easiest streamer from whom to learn. I commented on another video about showing other openings for beginners, which you responded "any in mind?". This was what I had in mind. Keep posting what you feel, big dawg!!

[TheGrandmaMoses]

I know you mean well and engines support your refutation, but Fried Liver can only mean one thing if you still play chess to have fun and not to have a second job - fire up the Traxler signal!!!

I also feel it should be mentioned that the solidness of the CaroKann is why people pick it in the first place. It's not about some kind of cheap trap for them, they want to be safe and then milk the opponent's mistakes which will come sooner or later. I feel CaroKann players want to 'play chess' rather than win quickly, and the CaroKann allows for an unbreakable opening that 100% gets them to the 'thinking' part of a chess game.

And to be fair, 9 out of 10 openings not being the Fried Liver are 0.0 ( or rather +0.3 for white due to the first move advantage ) after 7-8 moves as well, you compared a solid game of an opening meant to be solid - as BLACK CHOOSES IT UNLIKE MOST OTHER OPENINGS - to the most 'fireworks' variation out there, with the possible exception of the King's Gambit.

Where are your winning chances in a standard Italian, where are your winning chances in a London system after 8 moves? You'd hope they are nowhere, because if there are winning chances after 8 moves it only means that someone didn't play their opening correctly. And winning like this feels hollow.

[chiedozieagwu]

I play the caro kann because I know what to expect and not the millions of lines that are in 1.e4 e5

[masterofsorrow]

I mean, for black all you really want is to equalize and try to maybe win if your oponnent does something wrong. You can try crazy gambits and attacks - but all of them are losing if your opponent finds the best moves. In Caro if your opponent finds good moves - it's just an easy draw. Any mistake lets you gain an advantage very early. Caro creates pressure on the central pawns, it basically turns the game into black attacking and white defending. And let me tell you something - people blunder those things very frequently. Even on the 1500-1600 level where I'm at. It's a good easy to play opening.

[OcteractSG]

The two openings I really enjoy with the black pieces are the Stonewall Defense (played out of the Dutch or the Slav) and the Tartakower Variation (also known as the Korchnoi Variation) of the Caro-Kann. Nothing else really feels right to me.

Also, there are gambits in the Caro-Kann. For white, there is the Scorpion-Horus Gambit and a Breyer Variation trap that can end in a fast checkmate. For black, there is a trap to win a knight in the Breyer Variation and the Godley Gambit in the Exchange Variation. And these gambits are just the ones I tend to encounter. If you play the Karpov Variation or Fantasy Variation, then there are a lot more traps on the table. Also, we can't really ignore the fact that the Caro-Kann player has to play the Advanced Variation on a knife's edge for the entire game. The reason why it's the most popular variation is because similar-looking positions often require different responses, making it hard to play.

In general, when a Caro-Kann player blunders, their position usually self-destructs in spectacular fashion. Because this threat exists at all levels, a beginner is justified in choosing the Caro-Kann; proficiency in the Caro-Kann may supplement broader proficiency in chess overall, giving a beginner an easier climb if they are willing to stick with the Caro-Kann.

[mootagen]

It's always nice to hear an alternative opinion as opposed to the mainstream stuff that preaches us about which opening we use. However, I really enjoy playing Caro-Kann as black and Vienna as white, occasionally throwing in stuff like Petrov in order not to limit yourself to basically two openings. It's just a matter of taste, in my opinion. Playing Botvinnik-Carls Defense in Caro and Vienna Gambit in Vienna Game really isn't mandatory, you can squeeze much from these openings without sticking to specific variations as well, because there are many possible continuations.
But anyway, nice video, you got a new sub!

[canadadry]

Exactly why I play the Caro Kann. Fewer chances for me to mess everything up. Behold my wall of pawns in which i will sit safely behind, making ONLY the SAFEST of moves, waiting until my oppnent resigns out of boredom on turn 352.

[philiproschactor]

You are an exceptionally witty communicator and I commend you and thank you for the entertainment value of this video let alone the instructional value regarding understanding the power of the caro can which I must admit I always hate to have to face. 👏

[GeorgeFoot]

I like the way you discuss things and the argument you're making, nicely put!

[t]

Idk about beginners but as an intermediate 00 evolution from engines means nothing. It's all about which side its easier to play with when I play the Caro kann and ofc it's the black side unless they prepare very obscure lines against the Caro kann. The sole reason I love this opening is that my opponents most of the times goes to variations and play Nc3 making it very difficult to defend the d4 pawn. I have around 68% win rate with the Caro kann.

[nicholasbrassard]

The caro is solid and among the reasons I climbed from a middling 1200-1300 to 1550. I'm able to consistently get to endgame a pawn or 2 up while white has very few attacking chances.

I like having a solid and quiet opening as black (the slav against d4 is nice since it leads to similar positions as the caro) and then as white I play more aggressive.

Beginners should just play what they are comfortable with and what makes sense to them

[thatchadbrad]

I think if you play chess solely for fast, explosive games then the caro Kahn is not for you. I started playing the caro Kahn because it’s just an extremely stable opening. In my not at all professional opinion, I think that playing the caro Kahn at a low elo allows players to improve in middle and end games way faster than playing some explosive opening like the traxler or Portuguese gambit etc.. For me, I find extreme joy in winning and getting better, and avoiding main line chess openings by playing the caro Kahn is definitely one of the best choices for me