I think Kyle checked with the mods and we got the go ahead to start a Malkovich game, so here it is. As far as colors go, if this post number is even Kyle has white, and if it's odd I'll take white.
Looks like it was an even numbered post (if I'm doing that correctly. Can someone double check me?), so it's Kyle's turn to start.
Before we begin, I definitely want to encourage people to post thoughts/critiques/constructive criticisms. There are so many strong players here and Kyle and I can both learn a ton. So fire away but don't be too harsh Haha.
I'm a life long Caro player and can't remember the last time I played anything else against 1.e4. Now would probably not the best time to deviate I'm curious to see which line Kyle chooses because I know he's an aggressive player. Should be fun.
I predict the Advance variation, because that's what I think Kyle plays. Still, I find the Fantasy variation, 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3, more fun. Should be exciting anyway.
I like how Kyle annotated his move with a ! Let's see if there are some ?! and ? coming up...
The nice thing about the Caro-Kann from a White point of view is there are so many different possibilities to play for an advantage, and almost all of them are good.
White has a really hard time showing an advantage in the 4.-Bf5 lines in my latest experience (had a good look recently as sholar, texag and some random dude all played the same stuff against me on chess.com). 3.e5 is the way to go iyam
White has a really hard time showing an advantage in the 4.-Bf5 lines in my latest experience (had a good look recently as sholar, texag and some random dude all played the same stuff against me on chess.com). 3.e5 is the way to go iyam
it's also the way to go if you want to lose horribly
white often seems to lose the initiative hoping for some long-term goals, which is risky.
This is a surprisingly flexible opening. Black usually castles long, and then sometimes white ends up pressuring some pawns on the kingside, sometimes white trades down quickly into an endgame, sometimes white castles short anyway and goes with the opposite sides attack.
I'm assuming Tex can handle this better than a recent OTB opponent of mine:
Not really a whole lot to say here from a theory standpoint, just getting to the starting position of the Caro-Kann.
I thought about it last night, and I'm guessing that Kyle will play the advance variation with an early kingside push, either the Nc3/g4 (25% chance) or c4/h4 (75% chance) stuff. The other day I remember he posted on a thread that when given the chance in the Caro-Kann or French, he likes to push e5 and then attack on the kingside, so that's what I'm thinking he'll play. I don't see him playing the main line or the Short variation of the advance. Could definitely be wrong though, we will see.
4.h4 h5 5.Bd3?! is not critical at all, after 5.-Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Qa5+ followed by Qa6 (a common manoeuvre in the C-K) Black should have easy equality. 5.c4 is popular and complex and 5.Bg5!? has been very hot lately
Two Plus Two
Haha.
I'm curious to see which line Kyle chooses because I know he's an aggressive player. Should be fun.
Linear Mode
