Anyone here played this or have any experience playing white against it? I'm thinking about mixing it in every once in a while to keep things interesting. It looks like it's at least worth trying out in a few blitz games.

I only know I do not know how to play against it. So prob many others do not know either.

Judging by the overwhelming responses from everyone I think this might be a great surprise opening for me to mix in with my main line 4...Bf5 Caro.

I once sat next to GM Spyridon Skembris when he beat up some moderately cute WIM with it in an open tournament, but otherwise i don't have anything to contribute. In fact i had to look up what variation you were talking about.

Here's a great game by Bronstein in the line.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1034824

Lots of little tactics throughout the game followed by a piece sac to wrap things up. His use of the light squares at the end of the game is nice.

I play Panov-Bot attack so have never encountered it. Also it seems [at my mediocre level] that Caro players are usually shocked to see the exd5 followed by c4.

I occasionally play it in blitz without really knowing any theory. Except that against the most common 6.c3 (trying to play Nf3 only after the Black bishop is committed to f5 I assume), 6.- Qd5!? is interesting.

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but I'm starting to seriously look at playing this now and am having trouble finding any good literature on it. I'm going through things in Chessbase, but am not confident enough yet in the variations. I'd love to hear more discussions if y'all have any ideas.

wlrs, from what I've been seeing, 6.c3 seems to be the most troubling line for black. Like you said, 6...Qd5 is interesting and is being played by several 2500+ guys. A move I've haven't seen much but looks reasonable to me is 7.c4. I know it wastes a tempo, but white can gain a lot of time pushing the black queen around. Plus, the queen doesn't have a particularly appetizing square to run to. Any thoughts on that?

Also, 6...h5 is popular there too. I guess black is trying to play the waiting game as well. Certainly an interesting variation and I think it could be a great way to imbalance the game against a lower rated opponent. Every e4 player knows 20 moves of the main line Caro and it gives white a safe game. I'm looking for something to mix it up a bit.

I have some vague recollection of a game that went badly for Black where White got in Bc4 and Qb3, I would assume c3 helps set this up without committing pieces too quickly.

Any thoughts on 4.... h6!? with the idea that after a later Bf5/Ng3 the B can move back to h7 straight away.

Interesting idea. I ran the 4...h6 idea through Chessbase and it has actually been played by 2500+ players. The primary advocate appears to be GM Andrei Deviatkin. He's used it quite a bit against strong players and has some good results. Here's a link to his page on chessgames.com. Click on the Caro Kann link on his page and check out some games. Cool stuff.

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1371973

I think the real test of that idea would be 5.Ng3, which prevents the bishop from developing. After that it looks tough to see how black can get the bishop out before playing e6.

In the San Antonio 1972 tournamnent book Larsen says the best continuation "may be" 6. Ne2. This is the first White reply looked at in Gallagher's "Starting Out: the Caro-Kann", but Gallagher goes on to say that White's strongest response is 6. c3 Bf5 7.Nf3 e6 8. g3!

Gallagher goes on to say Black's issue in the gxf6 variation isn't the pawn structure, but the problem is the Black king doesn't have a safe spot to castle to. Queenside castling is dangerous as White can advance his pawns and the c6 pawn is an inviting target. White's Bg2 also plays a big part in the attack.

When I played G/1 with White I always played 6. Qd3 against 5...gxf6. I believe that Tartakower said this was White's best move. While that may not be true according to today's theory, it certainly helped me win a lot of G/1, as it took away Black's automatic 6th move ...Bf5. My Qd3 would cause Black to think for at least 2+ seconds, and as any G/1 veteran knows, you cannot think for 2+ seconds ever!

But I do think ...gxf6 is an excellent response for Black. Most White players don't see it enough to know how to respond properly and it seems to me that it gives Black a nice initiative. The truth is I hate facing this variation! White however can get a playable game with 6. Ng3. I played over a game earlier tonight where Spielmann beat Alekhine in 1911 with this move.

Ive played both 5-exf6 and 5-gxf6 but they are really second best lines and should probably be played in blitz only.
I think Gurgenidze lines with g6 is better ways to play for a win vs weaker opponents.

I know a lot of strong players used to play g6 on the tournament circuit a number of years ago with great success. However if White plays ed cd; Bf4 then it often transposed into a line that the same strong players used to avoid the KID!