Caro-Kann, Early Deviations

A couple of years ago, I switched from 1. e4 e5 to 1.e4 c6, the Caro-Kann Defence. It took a long time to take that step. I have tried the French several times in the past, but I never felt comfortable with it. I thought that the Caro-Kann would be similar, but I was wrong. Unlike in the French, I find the ideas and plans behind the Caro-Kann easy to understand, and the lead to middle game positions that I'm comfortable with.

I started out by watching some videos, then studied the main lines from books, and tried it out in blitz games online. Nothing new there, that's how we all take on a new opening.

The next step is to dive deeper into the main lines, and also investigate some side lines. This is what stronger players do, but for club players, it's a waste of time. The reason is that those lines, frequently occurring in games at higher levels, rarely happens at the club level. Your opponents will usually deviate before move five, so we need to study openings in a different way than stronger players do.

The method I use when learning a new opening is to study every possible deviation from the main lines, starting with the earliest possible opportunity. After getting a general grasp of the mail lines, I jump to the last chapter in the book (usually titled "Other Lines" or "Odds and Ends". After studying those lines, I proceed to study the moves that aren't even mentioned. Some of those moves are just bad, some out of fashion, and others are not in the sprit of the opening, or an attempt to transpose into another opening. In either case, we need to find out what they are, and decide what to do about them.

The Caro-Kann Defence

 The Caro-Kann comes about after the moves 1.e4 c6:

 

The standard continuation, almost exclusively played at the higher levels, is 2.d4 d5. However, White has several other moves to choose from, and those other moves occur quite often at the club level. There are 29 other moves, here in order of popularity:

• 2.Nc3 d5 Now 3.d4 or 3.Nf3 transposes into a regular line, 3.Qf3 e5 is a good gambit.
• 2.Nf3 d5 Usually transposes after 3.Nc3 or 3.exd5.
• 2.c4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.cxd5 Nf6 is equal.
• 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 is equal.
• 2.f4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 is good for Black.
• 2.Ne2 d5 3.e5 d4 is good for Black.
• 2.Bc4 d5 3.Bb3 dxe4 4.Qh5 g6 Black is better.
• 2.b3 d5 3.Bb2 dxe4 is good for Black.
• 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 exd4 is good for Black. 
• 2.c3 d5 Will most likely transpose into the Exchange or Advance Variations.
• 2.e5 d5 3.d4 is the Advance Variation, but be prepared for 3.exd6 exd6.
• 2.Qf3 d5 3.exd5 cx5 is good for Black.
• 2.Qe2 d5 is often met with 3.d3, which shouldn't cause any trouble
• 2.Be2 d5 is equal.
• 2.a3 d5 is equal.
• 2.f3 d5 3.d4 is the Fantasy Variation. 
• 2.b4 d5 is the standard move, but e5 or Nf6 are worth looking into.
• 2.h3 Prevents a future Bg4. Play d5 and proceed normally.
• 2.Bd3 Blocking the d pawn can't be good. d5.
• 2.h4 d5 3.e5 Now 3...Bc5 d4 transposes into the Tal Variation, but that can be avoided with 3...c5.
• 2.Qh5 Best met by Nf6 followed by e5. Also good is d5.
• 2.a4 With the idea of a4-a5-a6. d5 is best.
• 2.Ke2 Just nonsense. Play d5.
• 2.Nh3 A mistake. d5 is a strong double threat.
• 2.Qg4 You can chase the Queen with d5.
• 2.Na3 Looks pointless. d5 is good.
• 2.g4 The standard d5 gives Black the upper hand.
• 2.Bb5 Giving up a Bishop for no apparent reason. Take it with cxb5.
• 2.Ba6 This is the only move that I couldn't find a real game example of. Just play Nxa6.

That's a long list, but you will encounter most of them sooner or later. The good news is that 2...d5 is a universal response in all lines (except 2.Ba6), so that's all we need to know. There are good alternatives in some lines, but you can't go wrong with d5.

Back to the main line: 1.e4 c6 2.d5 d5

From here, theory branches out in five popular lines:

• 3.e5, the Advance Variation
• 3.Nc3, the Classical Variation
• 3.exd5, the Exchange Variation
• 3.Nd2, the Modern Variation
• 3.f3, the Fantasy Variation  

When you have decided how to play those five lines, it's time to look at the the 3rd move deviations. Make a list of all other legal moves (there are 33 of them), and study them all like we did for the 2nd move deviations.

It's a lot of work, but I think it's worth it. After this exercise, you are prepared for anything in the Caro-Kann whatever your opponent throws at you. 

You can take it one step further if you're really ambitious. In each of the five lines above, after studying the book continuations, make a list of all 4th move deviations, and decide how you're going yo play. This sums up to more than a hundred moves, so it might prove a bit to much for the regular club player.

Takeaway

 There are many aspects to consider when studying a new opening, but for club players, the study of early deviations is more useful than you might think. The goal is to avoid early mistakes, and not knowing what to play is the number one reason for making a mistake. 

 

Slav Defence with 3.e3

This is an article on opening theory, which might surprise since I usually write about mistakes. Also, in my last post, I wrote that opening theory is mainly a waste of time for club players, so I'll try to clarify what I mean by that.

One reader wrote that I underestimate opening theory, but I don't think that I do. I spend as much time on openings as any of my peers, but I don't spend time memorising long lines. Instead, I focus on the ideas behind the book moves, and try to understand the positions that arises from them. There are three main reasons why memorising long lines is bad for players below the Master level:

1. Even if you manage to memorise a line 15 moves deep, it doesn't mean that you understand the resulting position. You'll still be struggling with move 16.
2. The line you've learned will probably never happen. If you don't understand why the moves are played, then your homework is wasted as soon as your opponent deviates from your prepared line.
3. Memorising lines takes away time from studying more important things like tactics, positional play, and endings.

Many new players try to learn the game from move 1 and onwards, believing that once the know everything 50 moves deep, they're good to go. The futility of that approach was examined in Can Chess be Solved?. A better way is to learn all aspects of the game one step at a time, and the best tool you have is your own games. If you spend as much time analysing them as playing them, you're on the right path.

The Slav Defence

The Slav comes about after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6. 

 

 

The idea behind the Slav is to avoid some of the problems in the Queen's Gambit, primarily having the Bishop locked in behind the pawn chain, and getting a vulnerable pawn structure on the queenside.

The main line is 3.Nf3 Nf6. Nc3, leading to a whole array of theory-heavy variations. Black's top choices are 4...dxc4 (The Slav Main Line) and 4...e6 (The Semi-Slav), both quite popular at all levels.

The Semi-Slav might seem contradict the idea of developing the Bishop outside the pawn chain, but the pawn structure is more solid than in the QG. Also, Bf4 or Bg4 can only be successful if White plays passively.

There are lots of alternatives for White in the diagram. Before we turn to 3.e3, let's have a quick look at one of them: 3.c5. It may be tempting to end all threats to c4 once and for all, and at the same time grab some space on the queenside, but it's a mistake. After 3...e5, White must play 4.e3, and Black is already better. 4.dx4 fails to 4...Bxc5, and the pawn on e5 becomes a target.

When learning a new opening, it's really helpful to try out all the options at home to figure out what works and why. Do that for both your and the opponent's moves, and you'll develop a deeper understanding of the opening.

The Slav Defence with 3.e3

This move is rarely seen at the top levels, but it's a common choice amongst club players. It's dismissed by theory - not because it's bad, but more on principle. The most natural move is 3.Nf3. This must be played sooner or later, and there is nothing to gain by delaying it. It also prevents Bf5, as Black gets into trouble after 3 Nf3 Bf5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Qb3. 

Trying to save the pawn by 5...b6 leads to immediate disaster after 6.e4. Figuring out why White is winning is a fun exercise!

One reason for 3.e3 is to protect c4, but that's not necessary, as White gets a good position after 3.Nf3 dxc4 4.e3 b5 5.a4 e6 6.ax5 cxb5 7.b3.

Black has an extra pawn, but it will not last for long. 

From a theoretical standpoint, 3.e3 is an unambitious move that allows Black Bf5, which is considered an easy way to equalise. If White wants to avoid the vast theory of the Semi-Slav, it's a playable move, but if Black is determined to play the Semi-Slav, then e6 follows. 

The Slav Defence Main Line

We can conclude that White has no good reason to deviate with 3.e3. The main line is:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 

Black has a number of options here, but the three most common continuations (in order of popularity) are:

• 4...e6, the Semi-Slav,
• 4...dxc4, the Slav main line,
• 4...a6, the  Chebanenko Slav.

Black occasionally tries 4...Bf5, but that runs into similar problems as with 3...Bf5 above.

Takeaway

Examining every possible deviation from the first three moves is an excellent way for club players to approach a new opening. You will not only develop an understanding of the ideas behind the opening, but you will also avoid and early opening surprises. If you're prepared for any possible deviation in the first five moves, you will save time and energy, build confidence, and avoid early mistakes.

 

The Importance of Opening Theory

Professional chess players find it absolutely essential to keep up with current opening theory. It's even more important for chess book authors, producers of chess training videos and YouTubers, because that's how the earn their income.

How important is opening theory for club players then? To answer that, we must investigate what opening theory really is.

There's nothing scientific about it, so the word "theory" is misleading. It's really just a road map covering a huge number of well-trodden paths through the opening phase of the game. These paths are then organised into groups, usually defined the the first couple moves, and then named after the person who introduced it or the location where the opening was first played. The French Defence (1.e4 e6), the Ruy Lopez Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc5 3.Bb5)  and the Grünfeld Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc5 d5) are just a few examples. The moves in bold are the characteristic moves that defines the opening.

From there it branches out in variations, sub variations and sidelines. Some have names of there own (like the Najdorf Sicilian and the Ruy Lopez, Marshall Attack). Some popular variations cover 20 moves or more, reaching well into the middle game. 

The amount of information covered by opening theory is absolutely overwhelming. To narrow it down most players focus on just a few lines as White and as Black, and memorise those. This works well for Grandmasters, but for club players, is a complete waste of time. Here's why:

A Grandmaster knows what's in fashion at the moment, and what their opponents usually play. When faced with an unexpected move, a GM has a deep understanding of the position at hand, and can now start working out the continuation.

At the club level, anything can happen at any time, and it usually does - around move three or so. At that point, your memorised lines are useless. Since club players are notoriously bad at assessing unfamiliar positions, the game can now take off an any direction, most of them bad.

In this example, my opponent was a booked-up teenager with the White pieces:

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.ex4 cxd4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4

White is threatening Nc3-b5-c7 winning the rook. This can be parried in several ways, but I decided on:

5...a6 

This avoids any unpleasantries on b5, and also prepares for a future pawn push to b5. The position is about equal, without immediate threats, and both players can now proceed with the development of their pieces.

After the game, my opponent told me he was completely taken aback by that move, and said disappointedly "that's not how they play the Caro-Kann". He never recovered from the shock, and proceeded to make several mistakes, arriving at a completely lost position by move 13. 

Back home, I learned that 4.Nc3 is frowned upon by theory, c4 or Bd3 are the popular choices. Also, 5...a6 is actually the main line here, so my opponent had probably mixed up the variations. I knew nothing about any of that at the time of the game, but those fine nuances are not important at this level.

Takeaway

Get rid of that habit of memorising opening lines. They will not do you any good. Instead, focus on understanding the positions that arise from your openings, and the ideas behind them.

How to find the Mistakes

 When you get home from a tournament game, the first thing you do is to scrutinise the game in search for your mistakes. For each mistake, you ask yourselves two questions:

1. Why did I play that?
2. What should I have played instead?

The first question is hard, so we usually dismiss it. The second one is easy though, just start up your chess engine, and it will immediately tell you just how bad your move was, and what you should have played instead.

What do you gain from that exercise? Nothing of any value. You are debunked as weaker than Stockfish. You already knew that, but it still makes you feel bad. Secondly, it doesn't help to memorise the move Stockfish suggests. You'll probably never get into that position again, and if you do, the move to play is long forgotten.

Instead, focus on the first question. You'll find that the answer often lies not in the move as such, but the events leading up to it. What was going on in your mind when you played that move, earlier in the game, before the game, and the day before yesterday? This may sound confusing, so I'll use a game to clarify the concept.

This was a postponed game, so there were only ten players ar the venue. I arrived ten minutes early, which is too short for my preferences, but I still looked forward to having ten minutes to get in the mood. However, the referee greeted me with "The other players are all here, so you may start your game immediately". I could, or rather, should) have insisted on my ten minutes, but I sat down, shook hands, and made my first move.

Me - N.N. (Open Tournament, 2025)
English Opening

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Bc5 4. Bg2 d6 5. e3 Nge7 

 

 Up to this point, it was all on auto pilot, but the last move disturbed me. Now I had to start thinking, but as I mentioned earlier, I wasn't quite ready for that. After pondering a good while over 6. Nge2, I decided to grab some space on the queenside as I usually do in this kind of position.

6. a3 Bf5 Aggressive, but a6 or a5 was better.
7. b4 Bxb4 Did my opponent find something devastating at the board, or was it home preparation? I quickly rejected the latter alternative, because that's not something club players do. It wasn't a spark of divine inspiration either - after the game, he told me that he thought that the Bishop was trapped, and that the capture was the only way out. 

8. axb4 Nxb4 9. Qa4+

Desperately wanting to chase away the Knight. 9.e4 would have been better, even if Black stops any castling plans by Nd3+. Still, White is clearly better after Qa4+, but I had no idea how to proceed.

9... Nec6 10. e4 Realising that this should have been played a move before, I figured that I should work here too, but it was too late. The best alternative was 10.Bxc6 Nxc6 11.d4, avoiding all of the troubles ahead. But, I had already decided to keep the Bishop to provide a safe home for my King.

10... Bd7 As we saw in my previous post, a mistake is often answered with another mistake. This hands the advantage back to White. 10...Nd3+ was still the move to play.

11. Kd1 This is probably a decisive mistake. I was worried about the fork on c2 after Nd4, but that could have been taken care of with 11,Qd1.

11... Nd3 So far, this has been a game between two players with their minds elsewhere, playing well below their normal standards. Now, however, Black wakes up and starts to play chess.

12. Ke2 Unfortunately, it's now too late for White to level up, this move puts an end to all survival chances. The f2 pawn needed protection, but Black has another Knight to throw in.

12... Nd4+ 13. Kxd3 Bxa4 14. Rxa4

  

White has three pieces for the Queen, but the position is totally lost. Black finished it off like this:

O-O 15. Bb2 c6 16. Nh3 b5 17. cxb5 cxb5 18. Ra6 Qc8 19. Rha1 Qc4+ 20. Ke3 b4 21. d3 Qb3 22. Rb1 bxc3 23. Bxc3 Qxb1 24. Bxd4 exd4+ 25. Kxd4 Qb4+ 0-1

Takeaway

After a game like this (and we all have them from time to time), it's pointless to do any "What should I have played instead" exercises. The big mistake here (by both players, but more so by White), was not being mentally and physically prepared for the game. You must do that before the game, when the clock starts, you can only work with what you have.

 

Always Expect the Unexpected

Have you noticed that a bad move will frequently be answered with another bad move, foregoing the chance to take advantage of the mistake? Is that due to a gentlemanly gesture, or are there other mechanisms at work?

As for me, there's no gallantry involved when this happens. Just as most of my peers, I handle surprises poorly. We fail to accept that an unexpected move wrecks our plan, and we must now make a new one (on the bright side, if the unexpected move is bad, your new plan will yield better than the old). Instead, we just carry on as if nothing happened, which most often leads to disaster. This game has several examples of mishandling surprises, both by me and my opponent.

 Me - N.N. (Swedish League, 2025)
English Opening

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. g3 Bc5 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. e3 O-O 6. Nge2 a6 7. O-O d6 

 

 So far, both players have made sensible moves. White now has a number of good moves: d3, d4, a3, b3 or h3 are the popular choices.

8. Nd5 Not really a mistake, but premature, as it can be punished right away with Nxd5.
Bg4 Black sticks to the plan. 
9. Nxf6+ A waste of time. h3 or b3 were still good options 
Qxf6 10. Kh1  

In just a few moves, White's position has gone from better to worse. White is behind in development, and the Knight is pinned.

10... Rab8 11. f3 Be6 12. Qc2 The first mistake. Why not play b3? When a move is rejected (in this case 8.b3 and 9.b3), it somehow disappears from the radar. Now Black can gain a strong initiative by 10...b5 11.cxb5 Nb4, but gives that away by 
Nb4 13. Qc3 (this would not work with the c-pawn gone) 
Rfd8 The first real blunder. b5 was still the move to play. 
14. d4 Finally! White has been aching to play this for a long time. 
b5 The best move, but now it's too late. 

White has a winning position - the Bishop is hanging. Instead of the capture, 15.d4 would be even better. I pondered that for a long time (too long, as it turned out), but wasn't able to calculate the consequences. So, I took the safe route, which is nearly as good. 

15. dxc5 dxc5 16. f4 Wins the award for "Worst blunder of the game". I had the perfectly good 16.b3 bxc4 17.f4 in the back of my mind, but for the fourth and last time in this game, b3 slipped away. 
Bxc4 17. fxe5

Now Black could secure the win with 17...Qb6. That's not an easy move to find, and neither of us had any thoughts in that direction during the game. It follows 18.Bf3 Rd3 19.Qe1 Nc2 and the Rook falls.

 Qe7 This is second best, but allows White to restore equality with 18.Nf4 Bxf1 19.Bf1. However, there's still time to blunder!
18. a3 18... Rd3 Black could have finished it off with 18... Bxe2, but fatigue and time pressure is taking its toll on both players.
19. Qxc4 bxc4 20. axb4 cxb4 21. Nd4 Rb6

White has three pieces for the Queen and two pawns, There are survival chances after 22.Bd5, but with no strength left, I found a much weaker move.

22. Be4 Qxe5 A winning move. The rest of the game contains some more mistakes, but the win was never at risk from this point.
23. Bxd3 cxd3 24. Rf5 Qe4+ 25. Kg1 g6 26. Rfa5 Qb7 27. Nb3 Rf6 28. Nc5 Qf3 29. Bd2 Qf2+ 30. Kh1 Qxd2 31. Ne4 Qxb2 32. Nxf6+ Qxf6 33. Rxa6 Qf3+ 34. Kg1 Qxe3+ 35. Kf1 Qe2+ 36. Kg1 d2 37. Ra8+ Kg7 38. Rd8 Qe1+ 0-1 

Takeaway

The mistakes we make in response to a mistake by the opponent can be avoided by accepting that the position after an unexpected move is new to you. It didn't appear in any of your plans, so you'll just have to scrap them and start over.

Finding Candidate Moves

I sometimes train new players at my chess club, and that gives me valuable insights into obstacles new players experience starting out their chess career. By the way, these new players are not beginners, but typically someone who has played online chess for a while, and wants to try club chess.

All of them have problems with setting up the board, handling the clock, and writing down the moves - their online chess service has always done that for them. However, the biggest problem is finding the move to play. When asked how the pick their moves, they say things like "I want to attack the King, so I look for moves that support that idea" or "I fear that he's attacking my King, so I look for moves that prevent that".

That's when I say "It's not you who decide what to move. The right move is hidden in the position, and your job is to find it." That's typically met with a blank stare. So what does it mean? Is there no room for free will in chess?

In chess books, you'll frequently see the expression "the position demands...". That means that the position wants to develop in a certain way, or more often, in one of several ways. 

To find those moves. you need to develop your positional intuition. You do that by solving a lot of positional puzzles. These are not easily found online, but Lichess has a study on the subject. Combine this with analysing your own games. Find a critical position (i.e. where you didn't know what to play), and now, with Stockfish off, try to find some moves. That's much easier at home than during the game! When you're satisfied with your candidate moves, switch on Stockfish to have them evaluated. Don't worry if they are brutally dismissed. If Stockfish suggests something you didn't consider, take a moment to figure out why that move is good, and your moves were bad. Then move on to the next game and do it again.

 

Why Calculation is Bad for You

We often use pairs of opposites when we talk about personality traits - kind or mean, generous or greedy. In What's Your Style in Chess?, we looked at some opposite pairs used to describe different styles in chess. This time, we'll dive into Calculation.

Calculating players tend to distrust or not paying attention to their intuition. They feel the need to calculate each and every line as deep as they possibly can, and as a consequence regularly end up in time trouble or fatigue. The main cause for time trouble is that they spend too much time on irrelevant lines. Lets do the maths: A standard position offers three plausible candidate moves on average. If each of those has three replies, we have nine different lines to calculate. After your next move, you have 27 positions to evaluate, but only one of them can actually happen in the game. So, if you spend one minute on each position, you have wasted 26 minutes on lines that didn't happen. How many times can you afford that in a single game?

All that calculation can also cause whatever intuition you have to wither and die, and that leaves you with calculation as the only tool in the box.

Intuitive players, on the other hand, tend to pick the candidate move that feels best, and just play it without further ado. Very soon they're half an hour ahead of their calculating opponent. However, this doesn't mean that intuitive players have an advantage. Intuition may provide quick answers to complicated questions, but they're not always right. Calculating players make fewer and less serious mistakes, so if they only succeed in managing their time, they can level the field.

In order to improve, both types of players must venture out of their comfort zone. Intuitive players must work on their calculation skills, and calculating players must learn how to trust and listen to their intuition.

Takeaway

We are what we are, but it's not a good idea to only play on your strengths. Every game requires both intuition and calculation, and to be a better player, you need to work on your weaknesses too. Intuitive players can work on their calculation abilities during their games, but it's harder the other way around. A good training practice for calculating players is to solve puzzles without calculating. Just stare at the position until a move presents itself. If it's the right move, move on to the next puzzle, and if it's not, take some time to figure out what went wrong.