Caissa's corner
So, since my chess metaphor in this thread backfired to the point that Caissa called my bluff and pretty much demanded I play him a real match, I moved the mail-order chess to PM only to be told, with great audacity, that I should open a publicly thread like this one for chess. I can only presume this is to move my imminent beating to a public place in order to humiliate and defame me unjustly.
In order to protect my reputation, heretofore unimpeachable and on which my entire livelihood depends, I reserve the right to unlimited mulligans and occasionally to dismantling Caissa's desk and chair to look for hidden Soviet-era spying technologies.
Anyway, here's the game so far, Caissa - Catchfire, Oct 2012. Caro Kann main line.
1. e4 c6
2. d4 d5
3. Nc3 dxe4
4. Nxe4
Catchfire plays:
4. ... Bf5
Please limit your kibbutzing to giving Catchfire hot tips.
You next best move is to slowly lay down your king, and sniffle a bit.
Or, you can point in a direction to the rear of Caissa, scream in horror, and rearrange the board while he is presumably distracted. I fear however, others may have tried this on him before.
Try the old switcheroo.
5. NG3
I presume chess engines are not permissible.
6. h4
The goddess of chess hardly needs a chess engine.
7. Nf3
ahh, Catchfire deviates from book.
Correct. 8. h5
Joe Gallagher has this line with 7... Nf6 in his 2002 book "Starting Out in the Caro-Kann". (pp. 33-46) The main thing seems to be that Black must be cautious in dealing with Ne5/Bc4/Qe2 by White.
A more recent Caro-Kann author, Jovanka Houska, says that she is not a fan of 7...Nf6.
I play the Caro-Kann as Black Catchfire and usually meet the advance version. In Blitz one of my buddies will often play 2.f4 against me. Since I am comfortable playing against the aAdvance Variation I'm probably a little reticient to play it as white. Karpoov and Beliavsky in their book on the Caro-Kann only examine 7...Nd7
9. Nf3
OOPS!!! Somebody messing with the chess set in my office.
I'll need to keep a written recordsoon, I fear.
Just returned from a 4 day weeekend. 9. Bc4
No worries. It gave me time to run this position through four different computer engines. Unfortunately, they were all programmed for Connect Four.
9. ... Nd7
I also feel fairly comfortable against the Advance variation where I like to play Qb6 early to add some decent pressure queenside. The mainline always strikes me as looser where a wrong step could break everything wide open. As we shall soon see, I am liable to these missteps.
My 10 year old beats me 50% of the time at Connect Four. I could sure use that search engine.
I find that an early ...c5 in the Advance helps to equalize.
10. Qe2
Yes, I am a fan of c5 as well. Although maybe I should stop telegraphing since...
10. ... Qb6
11. c3
11. ...e6
12. Ne5
12. ... Nxe5
13. Qxe5
Gah. Qb6 is looking like a mistake already.
13. ... O-O-O
14. Qe2
14. ...Nd5
15. 0-0
15. ...Bd6
16. Ne4