bleeding edge of the caro-kann

(for the uninitiated, the bleeding edge is even newer than the cutting edge)

so i've been pretty much set in my ways regarding caro-kann theory since i began...karpov system v. the advanced (...Ne7, ...Nd7, ...c5, ...Nc6) ...Bf5 with ...Qc7 in the main line, ...e6, ...Bb4 in the Panov, etc. i got my new NIC and they had some analysis on a different line in the main line after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3



now i always played 10. ...Qc7 here because i was always afraid of 10.Bf4 if i didn't. and with practice it was difficult. it screwed up my development because i liked things like ...Bd6 and going at the king. of course the theoretical books said things along the lines of "...Qc7 is unnecessary because Bf4 isn't that strong anyways" not for me! but in my new NIC they gave a couple of lines with 10. ...e6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 and i decided maybe it was time to take a look at this. the lines they showed featured 13.c3 Be7 14.c4 with the idea that the c-pawn push made his king less safe if he castled queenside. they showed a bunch of games, but the one that got everyone horny about this was Leko-Bareev it looks like a typical Caro to me, but i think it's stronger for Black. it was first played in 1994 at the World Open or something, revived in the Leko-Bareev game and played a bunch of times at the Olympiad, IECC, etc. so it's bleeding edge theory. if i get 3.Nc3 v. the Caro this weekend, i'll give 'er a go

also, i've decided to stop playing on auto-pilot in the advanced Caro and look to play ...c5 earlier, since i've gotten move ordered since i've been playing correspondence by playing the Karpov line.