The Complete Caveman Caro-Kann

I have posted The Complete Caveman Caro-Kann (download PGN) analyzing 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bg5, about which I have written several articles over the years.  This latest piece offers a complete overview of the system after 5.Bg5 and features annotations by Angus French of his great win with the line at the London Chess Classic Open (which was published in IM Malcolm Pein's column in The Telegraph).  If time allows, I will eventually offer up a complete repertoire for White, including interesting approaches against the topical 3...c5 and alternatives at move four.

I have carried the analysis as deeply as possible, but there are still some positions that are quite unclear, where "White has compensation" is all that can reasonably be claimed.  The complexity of the situation will definitely favor the well-prepared player and computers will offer no easy answers to either side, even in correspondence.  In this way the opening resembles the complex lines of the Botvinnik Semi-Slav and the King's Indian Defense and represents a very interesting challenge for analysts and players alike.  

One thing is certain to me now: White is definitely better if Black goes after the Rook by 5...Qb6 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 Qxb2? 8.e6!  This is a common misstep among players who have not seen this line before (and who therefore assume White has simply lost his mind).

Position after 7...Qxb2? 8.e6!

Of course, the lines are quite complicated even after the Queen falls into its "mammoth trap," but it is eventually possible to discover White's winning ideas, which begin with 8...Qxa1 9.Qb3! -- threatening Qxb2 winning material, or Nf3, O-O, and Nbd2 trapping the Queen.

The most complex play results not from grabbing the Rook in the corner but instead from swiping the d-pawn right in the center of the board with 6.Bd3 Qxd4!? 7.Nf3 (Black can meet 7.Bxf5? with 7...Qxe5+ winning back the Bishop) and now 7...Qg4! -- a variation that I did not even consider in my initial analysis.

Position after 6...Qxd4 7.Nf3 Qg4!

White has lost a couple of recent games with this line (included in my notes), though they featured weak play.  However, there is no question that White is hard-pressed to prove more than "compensation" here, and so it is definitely one avenue for Black players going for the win and willing to take some tactical risks.  White's best in the diagram above may be to exchange Bishops immediately with 8.Bxf5! Qxf5 (the square f5 is not as good as g4 for the Queen) 9.Qe2 followed by a quick c4, though there are no games to illustrate.

A more strategic choice is to decline the gambit with 5...Qb6 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 e6, after which Black should prefer a quick c5! over Anand's idea of Qa6 offering the trade of queens, which White can exploit or even accept with some advantage.  Note, for example, that White can meet Anand's 7...Qa6 (played before White is ready to block the diagonal with c4) with 8.Qh3! e6 9.Nc3 transposing to our main game in the 8.Nc3 which looked very good for White.  And 8.Qxa6!? Nxa6 9.e6!? should also favor White.

After 5...Qb6 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 e6, the chief question is whether to play 8.Nd2 (which leaves open the option of a quick c4 advance) or 8.Nc3 (where White focuses on speedy development and a potential piece breakthrough).  In practice, 8.Nd2 has proven more popular, but White needs to think about how to meet the immediate 8...c5! -- when best must be to fight fire with fire by playing 9.c4!  The resulting play will emphasize White's lead in development.  

Position after 8.Nd2 c5! 9.c4!?

In the process of putting together this blog post, I stumbled upon a recent game that demonstrates some of the dangers Black faces in this line:

Hart, David (2228) - Turner, Jeff (2046)
San Diego CC Championship (1), February 20, 2013    

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bg5 Qb6 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 e6 8.Nd2 c5 9.c4 Ne7 10.Ne2 Nd7 11.0–0 cxd4 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Nc4 Qc7 14.Rac1 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 1–0

While 8.Nd2 is attractive, my personal preference is for the less common 8.Nc3 (not considered by Lukacs and Hazai in their ground-breaking article in NIC Yearbook #100), which can be quite dangerous for Black unless he immediately challenges the center with 8...c5! 

Position after 8.Nc3 c5!

White should probably choose to castle kingside here after 9.Nf3 followed by dxc5 and O-O, as I discuss in my notes, leading to an interesting position where White still has good chances of fighting for the advantage.  This line awaits trials.  And it may well be that the right answer for White is to meet an early Qa6 with the Nc3 line and to choose the Nd2 line followed by c4 as the best remedy for Black's early c5 plan.  

In posting my analysis online for free, I hope to encourage more games and analysis that should eventually yield a more complete understanding of this fascinating line.  I welcome games and new ideas from my readers.


Bibliography

• Jacob Aagaard, "Update" (PGN) Quality Chess
• Andy Catlin, May 2012 Aquinas, West Michigan Chess
• Michael Goeller, The Complete Caveman (2013)
• _______,  A Wild Line in the Caveman Caro-Kann (2012)
• _______, Shirov Goes Caveman vs. Anand (2011)
• _______, Cavewoman (2011)
• _______, Two Rook Sacs in the Caro-Kann (2011)
• _______, Caveman Sighted at Hastings (2011)
• _______, Caveman Redux (2008)
• _______, Caveman Blitz (2007)
• _______, The Caveman Caro-Kann (2007)
• GM Ronen Har-Zvi, The Caveman Caro-Kann (ICC members only)
• GM Alexander Ivanov, "Ivanov Annotates" MACA Chess Horizons (March 2011)
• Peter Lukacs and Laszlo Hazai, "An Obscure Gambit in the Caro-Kann" NIC Yearbook #100 (2011)
• Dennis Monokroussos, "Shirov - Anand, Leon 2011"
• IM Malcolm Pein, "Sachdev the Savage Snowdrop" The Telegraph
• _______, "Ivanchuk Wins Again in Cuba" Telegraph / TWIC (May 24, 2011)
• _______, "Anand Completes Crushing Victory in Leon" Telegraph / TWIC (June 8, 2011)
• San Diego Chess Club, Club Championship Games 2013.
• Jeremy Silman, "Grandmaster Repertoire 7: The Caro-Kann" at JeremySilman.com