[Event "Study the Caro-Kann: The Two Knights Variation"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/study/JgYRYH3Q/XtyPOppW"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/Northern05"]
[ECO "B11"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack, Mindeno Variation, Exchange Line"]
[UTCDate "2019.03.23"]
[UTCTime "08:51:45"]
[Variant "Standard"]

1. e4 c6 { Entering the Caro-Kann. } 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 { Entering the Two Knights Attack } 3... Bg4 { Pining the f3 knight and entering the Mindeno Variation. } ( 3... dxe4 { A common sideline. } 4. Nxe4 ( 4. Ng5 { Entering the Hector Gambit. } 4... e5 5. Ngxe4 f5 6. Ng3 Be6 7. d4 Qxd4 8. Qxd4 exd4 9. Nce2 c5 10. Nf4 Bf7 11. Nxf5 g6 12. Ng3 Nd7 $15 { Black is ahead in development, but has an open centre. Black will then play O-O-O to bring his king in safety. [%cal Ge8a8] } ) 4... Nf6 5. Nxf6+ ( 5. Qe2 ) 5... exf6 6. d4 { Blacks position is playable. In the future black will developing his/her bishops, castle short [%cal Gc8e6,Gf8d6,Ge8g8] } 6... Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O { The f6 pawn is a strength, because it prevents the f3 knight from moving to g5 and e5. [%csl Gf3,Gf6][%cal Gf3g5,Gf3e5] } ) ( 3... Nf6 { A tricky line to play and a good one for black if white plays bad. } 4. e5 Ne4 5. Be2 { The proper way for white to play. } ( 5. Nxe4 $2 $10 { A often played mistake, making the positions equal. } 5... dxe4 6. Ng5 Qd5 7. Qe2 Bf5 8. g4 Be6 $15 { White has two overextended pawns, leaving black with a better position. [%csl Gg4,Ge5] } ) 5... Bf5 6. O-O e6 7. d4 Nxc3 8. bxc3 { Nearly the advanced Caro-Kann. } ) 4. h3 { Forcing the bishop to take. } 4... Bxf3 ( 4... Bh5 ) 5. Qxf3 e6 $10 { Black has got a pawn triangle. [%csl Gf7,Ge6,Gd5,Gc6,Gb7] } ( 5... Nf6 6. d3 e6 { Creating a pawn triangle. [%csl Ge6,Gd5,Gc6,Gb7,Gf7] } 7. Bd2 Nbd7 8. g4 { Creating pressure on whites queen side. For both players it's unsure where to put their kings. } 8... h6 ( 8... b5 $5 { Starting a counterattack. Both sides march on different wings with their kings still in the centre. } 9. g5 b4 $132 { If white takes the knight, black takes another knight. [%cal Gb4c3,Gg5f6] } 10. Nd1 Ng8 11. Ne3 Bd6 12. h4 Ne7 ( 12... h5 { Disabling white to play h5. [%cal Gh4h5] } 13. d4 Ne7 ) 13. h5 ( 13. Ng4 Ne5 ) 13... Rb8 ( 13... Qb6 { Securing the b4 pawn and taking control over the a7-g8 diagonal. [%cal Gb6b4,Gb6g1] } ) 14. h6 Be5 { Protecting the g7 pawn and attacking b2 pawn [%cal Ge5g7,Ge5b2] } ( 14... Ne5 { If white takes the pawn, black takes the knight. [%cal Gh6g7,Ge5f3] } ) 15. O-O-O ) 9. Qg3 ( 9. O-O-O ) 9... Bb4 10. O-O-O d4 11. Nb1 Bxd2+ 12. Nxd2 { [%csl Gd4] } ) 6. d3 { Preparing to develop his bishop. [%cal Gc1h6] } ( 6. d4 { Striking at the centre. } 6... dxe4 7. Qxe4 Nf6 { Gaining a tempo. [%cal Gf6e4] } 8. Qd3 Nbd7 9. g3 Be7 10. Bg2 O-O 11. O-O ) ( 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 { The best move for white in this position. } ( 7. e5 Nfd7 8. d4 c5 $17 { Black is now attacking whites centre and it will slowly collape. } ) 7... Nbd7 8. d4 Bb4 9. e5 Ne4 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Rb1 b5 13. Qg4 f5 $1 $140 14. exf6 Ndxf6 $1 { Protecting the knight and attacking the bishop. [%cal Gf6g4,Gf6e4] } 15. Qxe6+ Kh8 16. Qxc6 { This is a bad move for white, because black gets a lot of initiative. } 16... Rc8 17. Qa6 Nxc3 ) ( 6. Be2 { A passive way to play for white. } 6... Nf6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. d4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4 $15 { This is a very common Caro-Kann position. } ) 6... Nd7 { Solidifying his position. } ( 6... Nf6 7. e5 Nfd7 { Attacking the e5 pawn. [%cal Gd7e5] } 8. d4 { Protecting the other pawn. [%cal Gd4e5] } 8... c5 $15 { Black is now attacking whites centre and it's collapsing. } ) ( 6... Bb4 { Another possible move by black, which is pining the knight. [%cal Gb4e1] } ) 7. Bd2 $32 { The popular and sharper line. } ( 7. Qg3 { An aggressive move. Black can't develop his bishop, because the g7 pawn would be undefended. [%cal Gf8d6,Gg3d6,Gg3g7] } 7... g6 { Preparing to develop his/her bishop on a great diagonal. Black can then create an minority attack on the queen side. [%cal Gf8g7,Gg7a1,Gb7b5,Gb5b4,Gd5d4,Gc6c5] } ) ( 7. g3 Bb4 ( 7... Ngf6 8. exd5 exd5 ) 8. exd5 exd5 { Opening the e-file. } ) 7... g6 8. O-O-O Bg7 9. g4 $14 *