Why The Caro-Kann Is Perfect For Beginners

Hi guys, in this video I will explain why Caro-Kann is a great opening choice for beginners to start out with. Of course you can choice others but if you are stuck and not sure then this is a good starter to try.

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[conorhanratty]

Thanks for the great video! Any chance of an in depth GM repertoire video on the caro kann? Your one on the Smith Morra was great and i learned a lot from it!

[anessavillar]

pls make a caro kann repertoire overview for black not only for begginers !

[JunkBondTrader]

I'm a beginner at 850 on Chess. Funny cos I started a Lichess account, and my rating has settled at 1400 after 15 games or so, I'm slightly under 50/50 so far playing Caro kann as black. I even beat a 1550 playing the Zuckertort variation as white! In fact, lately I've been playing much better vs 1400 players than I have 850 players, as I've dipped from 900 in the past week on Chess. I think likely because I'm playing inadvertently unorthodox moves as a beginner and throwing off the 1400s. In any case, the caro-kann has worked well for me against the 1400s and I'm about 50/50 in my Chess games after 1000+ games. I recommend beginners trying out lichess, as you start at 1500 and get the chance to player higher levels, which can teach you a lot more than playing other beginners constantly. I heard always that Caro Kann is suited for 2000+ players, but Levy of Gotham chess also advocates it for beginners, and I agree as there are beginner ways to play it. Some of the variations seem to be deeply complex however. Nice video highlighting the easier routes

[noooooooo]

as a more advanced caro-kann player, i agree with the recommendation for beginners. however, i think in the same way that Bb5 isn't common against the ...c5 advance, the critical responses to the ...Bf5 advance, h4 and the short variation, are nothing to worry about at a beginner level. in my experience, the most common continuations at low levels involve Bd3 and Black trading the bishop, which leads to a very nice structure similar to the two knights that you showed.

[parker_chess]

E4e5 is still slightly better than the Caro Kann for beginners. There are a few dangerous gambits against e4e5 but are generally taken care of with similar ideas. The caro on the other hand there is the classical, advanced, exchanged, panov, accelerated panov, fantasy, two knights and other setups. And they tend to all be completely different openings with all kinds of ideas. Compared to e4e5 where its all the branch of the same thing and positions are less imbalanced from the start. I've coached beginner level kids and some of them could actually develop and hold on in training games against me for some moves in e4e5 positions but whenever they played something different like caro/french/pirc/owens i would crush them in a matter of 10-15 moves. Its harder to go wrong in e4e5 because you are immediately fighting for the center and positions are more symmetrical.

[dkpandey]

It was the first opening I ever learned and it's quite easy to play. I got safe, familiar positions most of the times. Although one should try other sharper defenses soon after to help develop their tactics and calculation I believe.

[AmongUsAcademy]

Always seems weird to give up the light square bishop so easily.

[mcronrn]

Against 1.d4, what’s your beginner recommendation? 🙏👍🏽

[meowcat]

In the Bf5 advance variation, when is it favorable to keep the pawn tension by delaying cxd4?

[alboresivn]

Para adultos principiantes...jugar caro; para niños principiantes e4-e5

[SerLaama]

Hard disagree.

Spending a tempo not developing and not putting pawn in the center fundamentally allows White to put many questions to Black without even gambiting a pawn, and there are many unintuitive moves that are requires. Sometimes you get large leads in the opening with 1.e4 e5 as White, but mostly when Black tries to hold onto a gambited pawn too greedily, whereas Caro-Kann players regularly just fall apart in the opening when you play anything but Advance. If you're afraid of opening traps, Caro-Kann really, REALLY isn't the opening for you.

Of course when beginners play beginners, generally the opening isn't very consequential for the result of the game — someone will blunder a piece or three at some point, who cares what happened in the first 10 moves — but openings also have instructional value. What you're teaching beginners by having them play Caro-Kann is that having no space and poor development is a-okay because their opponents won't know how to punish passive play. It's the ultimate opening for teaching beginner bad habits that they'll live to regret later.

Beginners also have an instict to hide behind a wall of pawns instead of actively fighting for the center, and Caro-Kann allows them to do that to a relatively high rating — and then they'll have to start learning tactical play when the 1.e4 e5 players have had to calculate central pawn play and tactical ideas from day 1.

The recommendations for short-term results are completely different than the ones that will teach you to be an excellent chess player, and I think your recommendations are too focused on the short-term.

[jamesontang]

Even I recommend to new people, even tho you’ll never see me play it.