Caro-Kann Defense, Advance Variation: 3. ...g6 Line

The Caro-Kann Defense is known as one of the most solid systems against 1. e4, and a good one too against ruthless attackers. It also tends to offer a good endgame for Black, who generally ends up in a pawn structure similar to the one in the Scandinavian defense after 1. e4 d5. Note that the great Karpov is a big fan of the opening.

The Caro-Kann, as you most likely know, starts out with 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5. From there, White has three main choices, which are 3. Nf3, 3. exd5 and 3. e5. We will talk about the Advance Variation, 3. e5 :

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This is a reasonable line for both players. In the PGN from the PGNMentor.com website (see article PGNMentor.com PGN Library), a total of 12 042 games are to be found. Of them, 41,1% were won by White, whereas Black won 30,7% of them -- the 28,2% left were drawn.

In my own practice (I play the Caro-Kann), the Advance Variation is what I meet the most. But as White, when confronted to the Caro-Kann, I never play that. I find that it lacks flexibility, and that it's hard to keep that central bind for a long time anyway -- but that's another story. What interests us is the Black side here.

This can pose some problems for Black. If he doesn't react properly, he will get spatially crushed. The main idea in the Caro-Kann is to allow Black's light-squared Bishop on c8 to develop before closing the pawn structure with e6. Notice that initially, that's the main difference with the French Defense (1. e4 e6). So it makes sense that Black's main move is 3. ...Bf5 :

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That line has been played almost exclusively in response to the Advance Variation: 10 367 games out of 12 042 followed with 3. ...Bf5 (86% of the games!). And yet, it is not the line that statistically scores best! White won 41,0% of the games, whereas Black won 30,7% of them (28,3% were drawn). Unfortunately, for those who are afraid of moves like g4 (attacking that f5-Bishop) and h4, the 3. ...Bf5 is not an option.

So what are the other options? The second most popular response is 3. ...c5, which was played in 1 177 games out of 12 042 (9,77% of the games). At this point, the decision as to whether you prefer 3. ...Bf5 or 3. ...c5 is more of a stylistic decision, because results in practice are very similar for both lines. The latter scores perhaps slightly better: W 38,4% ; B 32,0% ; Draw 29,7%.

I find the third option for Black much more interesting though. It has been played a mere 214 times (1,78% of the games), but is the third most popular response nonetheless. Of course I am talking about 3. ...g6 :

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This line makes things much more exciting. The draw percentage drops by 4%, and is now of 24,3%. That 4% though, it is Black who takes it home: White won 40,7% of the games, and Black, 35,1% -- the highest percentage for Black's wins so far. Moreover, this gives kind of a problem to White. White isn't used to dealing with Black's light-squared Bishop, but now it is still waiting to get developed! For instance, 4. Nf3 Bg4, and e6 is coming. Note that Black isn't afraid of exchanging his Bishop for the Knight, because the position is closed and Knights are said to be slightly better than Bishops in closed position, and that anyway, given the e6-d5-c6 formation, Black could consider his light-square Bishop to be his bad Bishop.

Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, Black's other Bishop is going to get on g7, an incredible diagonal given White's pawn structure. Black can push his c-pawn to c5 whenever he wants, and White might just start to regret 3. ...e5 altogether. I have played many games with the 3. ...g6 line, and have had very good results.

Other third moves for Black include (in order of frequence): 3. ...Na6, 3. ...e6, 3. ...h5, and 3. ...Qb6. Although only played in 22 games out of 12 042, Qb6 led to 6 wins for White, but 8 wins for Black (and 8 draws). Maybe Qb6 is worth an investigation, who knows...

P.S.: 3. ...e6 leads to disaster;
P.P.S.: Karpov plays 3. ...Bf5, so it can't be all that bad :)