The Caro-Kann According to the Dojo | GM Jesse Kraai

[@ZorbaPress]

That was the best under 20-minutes introduction to the Caro-Kann that I have ever seen. Dojo, thank you very much.

[@JackYBHV]

Bu5 BVB ggh FG un h Durue zu rz

[@AndersHPhotography]

I been in the dojo training 4-5 months best money I ever spend on chess and I actually feel like a real chess player now. I was 1250 and was plateauing, now I am on 1450 and climbing. Best decion I ever made in chess. Dojo NOW guys !!

[@MJ-xg2ow]

For once - google algorithm has worked in favor of me. This is gold. Subscribed to your channel.

[@AndresHortillosa]

Dr. Kraai - what a master class teacher.

[@drumcircler]

I remember Jesse from the very beginnings of Chess TV. Great teacher.

[@mno7pro323]

Great material! Just a little note 16:59 in the 2 knights attack the move after Nxe4 is Qe2 Which sets up a couple of traps For example: Qe2 Nbd7 Nd6# a nice smothered mate since the e pawn is pinned. Another line is Qe2 Nxe4 Qxe4 Nd7 Bc4 Nf6 Ne5! (Oh no my queen) Nxe4 Bxf7# Also if black doesn't go for this Nf6 then there is Bd3 which prevents black from castling due to threatened mate on h7

[@billagap3213]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6. If 5. Nxf6 exf6 and we enter a tartakower structure which has great dynamics for black. If 5. Qe2 Nxe4 6. Qxe4 Be6!? With threats of Bd5 if white plays d4 which is a very normal move.

[@connormonday]

Would you consider making some material for people playing 1.e4 e5?

[@ChessDojo]

That'll be Kostya's job ☺️

[@geonerd]

Wonderfully practical advice!

[@hannahbrown2728]

I fell in love with the Caro-Kann cause Levy as I imagine many players do. I thought itd be prudent to see it taught by multiple people, so Im absolutely *psyched* the Dojo has a video for it.(With Jesse no less! 🌠🎆) Now that Ive started notation Im dipping my toes deeper into the Openings waters but Im gonna stay measured because its more about exercising notation and building confidence? Thanks to all of yall so much for putting stuff out there for free!!! One day Ill feel confident enough to join the program(and when I have the cash 😮‍💨) Edit: Got overly excited but I totally agree about the not thing. I can beat 1300-ish bots with no time controls. I dont necessarily think the understanding would be lost on me I hope, but thats the sort of humility youve gotta embrace. I just wanna comment clearly cause I dont want the youtube metrics to look bad. Ill be back when I finally break that barrier and have a true rating that reflects that instead of just my happy guess from long bot games.

[@gossedejong9248]

absolutely brilliant, thank you!!

[@LBurou]

As always, excellent instruction here! Thank you :-)

[@Alemiha]

"probably 3 million lichess" ahahahaa...Jesse, you're a gem, man

[@lukastux3024]

4:00 This is so accurate! I'm a Caro-Kann player and I ****** **HATE** the French defense, even though nobody told me to. I developed my disgust of it all by myself 😅😅

[@Zenitself]

Hey why no talk on the Pirc / Modern? Would be a great topic for the dojo 😎💪🏽🔥

[@reallyrealbutterfly3602]

there is a reason kostya does not play the pirc :)

[@ChessDojo]

We plan on making vids for lots of different openings! Kostya does fancy him some 1...Nc6 :)

[@jasonrawls6959]

"If we send our kids off to college we'll feel alot freer" 😂 True Dat! ( well depends on whether they still have your credit card)

[@a_doggo]

Great idea!

[@sureshrawte9951]

Thnx!!! Simplified!!!

[@brucelittleboy3594]

Sound practical wisdom. Opponents at this level don't play the deep critical lines anyway. They either don't know them, or they know that they need to avoid them. The main line Jesse recommends quickly steers the battle to a terrain likely to be more familiar to you. (This power of veto is the principal consolation for having the Black pieces.) Btw, I hadn't ever heard the insight that the Nb8 is Black's problem piece in the CK. However, at 12:58 White can play 8. e6! Engines find it, but would a player of around my own strength? Why take the risk? Maybe judiciously learn from your engine and play 7. ...e6 first. [Contrast 13:22 though.] The Engine can sometimes be a good friend, albeit a bad master.

[@jacobjones3227]

Why the hate on lichess?

[@awesomedays9239]

The Dojo loves lichess : D. Just players who play on Lichess Classical and OTB tend to have Lichess ratings 250-500 points higher on lichess than their OTB rating. (Mathematically randomly lichess classical ratings tend to be squished into the 1500-2500 range, while the players on the site in classical have OTB ratings from 1000-2500, so everyone under 2000 USCF/FIDE in particular see the most inflation.)

[@fazzolarijames]

Jesse looks and sounds more and more like Clarence Boddicker every day

[@MrDrElbow]

3 million lichess 😂😂😂😂😂

[@roybatty3989]

Just teach. Skip the diatribe.

[@chrisr530]

Dojo - PLEASE do this with the VIENNA. Really enjoyed the content, thank you Jesse.

[@highgroundchess]

As a newly converted French player to the Caro this is a fantastic overview of the Caro Kann. It has everything you really need to get started with great starting points for sparring positions. Thanks for such a great opening video Jesse. Good stuff.

[@jeroenbarbier3508]

Heh, seems that im not alone. I did the same

[@jotape86]

I did the same french to caro

[@chesslover8829]

Question: Why not play 1...e5 instead of playing the Caro-Kann or the French? In playing 1...e5, one eliminates the problematic queen's bishop of the French and the queen's knight of the Caro-Kann. The resulting positions after 1...e5 tend to be more open and potentially tactical, giving White little to no advantage when both sides of the board play well. P.S. This video helped me narrow my opening choice for Black against 1. e4. (It won't be the Caro-Kann.) Thanks so much! P.S.S. The Caro-Kann has emerged from under the bus, at least for me. Playing 1...e5 requires extensive prep against some 12 to 13 openings that White can play, many of which lead to an open game. (I prefer a semi-open board.) It's often said that 1...e5 is a good opening for beginners. Maybe so if one's opponent doesn't know what to do.

[@robm2111]

I'm 46 and I just started playing chess a little over a year ago. I've been stuck in the 1800's on lichess for a while now. Am I too old to get good at chess? Does my brain lack the plasticity? Any suggestions?

[@alexlafferty5051]

Not an expert here, but I don’t believe so. Firstly, people regularly hit plateaus, so that could be the issue. Secondly, while the age thing will play a factor as younger people will learn faster, it doesn’t mean that you can’t learn, just that it will take longer

[@asdf14051]

at 1800 no way. you still have a lot more potential left

[@Evilanious]

Your improvement is bound to slow down as your rating increases regardless of age. Going from 1800 lichess to 1900 or 2000 requires months or even years of work depending on how much time you spend on chess. After that it only gets slower. The advise for improvement is the same matter your age and rating: play, analyse your games, solve puzzles and learn new ideas.

[@KeepChessSimple]

Energy and time plays a big role. When my kid is finally in bed after a workday and I have about two hours left before I go to bed myself, I rarely have the energie for hard focussed chess training.

[@robwilliams3592]

Nice video... Played all of these position... Lots of good advise... In the advance variation prefer the immediate c5 as I don't like playing against Bf5 because of the g4 line...

[@KeepChessSimple]

Great video. Any specific reason you went for the Caro for this rating range?

[@GeneralBlorp]

This was excellent! 👍

[@luisayala9301]

very grateful, a really instructive video, congratulations dojo team and of course thank you very much

[@vikramlothe1709]

Jokes on you I just crossed 1250 USCF at my last tournament

[@Lurch150]

I'm in the 1100-1200 cohort and I keep losing games as black because my opening is flawed and exploited by my opponents.

[@AndersHPhotography]

I'm also in that cohart Nate. I'm quad-exe. Let's work it out if you want ?

[@Lurch150]

@@AndersHPhotography Sure, how do we connect? Discord?