♞Reflex Chess

The solid answer to 1.e4, and the bishop it sets free

The whole point of playing 1...c6 instead of 1...e6 is that the light-squared bishop gets out first. The whole point of playing against it is to make that bishop regret it.

The Caro-Kann is built on one small improvement over the French. Black supports ...d5 with the c-pawn rather than the e-pawn, which leaves the c8 bishop a diagonal to develop on before the centre closes. In exchange, Black spends a tempo on a move that does not develop a piece, and the c6 square is no longer available to the knight.

The three main lines are three different answers to that bishop. The Exchange releases the tension and plays a slow structural game. The Advance shuts the centre and then hunts the bishop with pawns on g4 and h4. The Classical lets it come out to f5 and gains time chasing it back. All three produce quiet-looking middlegames in which the tactics arrive without warning, which is what the positions in this section train.

Every motif in Caro-Kann Variations

Work through the section in order The solid answer to 1.e4, and the bishop that gets out first. Five graded levels per motif, four positions a lesson. Open the course

Other sections