But what is the Anti-CK? Black can play c6 against any White opening if he chooses.

The Anti-CK should be called the Caro-Kant. This passes spellcheck. Except for spellcheck!

If you want a gung-ho attack opening, try the Exchange Variation; Panov-Botvinnik Attack - 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4.

There is always the Gunderam Attack, sort of an accelerated Panov Attack. 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 c5. The Panov Attack is good to study because it can be reached by Nimzoindian, Sicilian, Scandinavian, Semi-Tarrsch, Ragozin and English openings.

I'd recommend the Gunderam Attack, myself. Here's an example of the horror that can be visited upon Black if he doesn't wake up in time... 1982: White: IAD Black: LCT - 1.e4 c6; 2.d4 d5; 3.exd5 cxd5; 4.c4 Nf6; 5.c5 (This is the Gunderam Attack) 5...e6; 6.b4 Be2; 7.Nf3 0-0; 8.b5 Qc7 Black is finding that his Q-side is very hard to develop! 9.Be3 Bd7; 10.Nc3 b6; 11.c6 Bc8; 12.a4 Bb4 - and hust look at that White phalanx on the Q-side: w The game concluded: 13.Qb3 Qd6; 14.Bd3 Ne4; 15.Bxe4 dxe4; 16.Ne5 a6; 17.0-0 Bxc3; 18.Qxc3 axb5; 19.axb5 Rxa1; 20.Rxa1 f6; 21.Nc4 Qd8 Black's Q-side is no freer than before! 22.Ra7 e5; 23.Bh6! Qxd4; 24.Rxg7+ Kh8; 25.Qxd4 exd4; 26.Nd6 Be6; 27.Re7 d3; 28.Nxe4 Rd8; 29.Nxf6 Bg8; 30.Bg7#

The reputation of the advance variation suffered further in the second World Champion match between Tal and Botvinnik in 1961. Tal didn't do too well with the advance variation and it was pretty much abandoned until 1981. In 1981 Hort played the advance against Seirawan. Seirawan won brilliantly, but when players started to analyze the Hort-Seirawan game they realized that Black should not have been able to hold in the wild complications. That's when the advance started gaining in popularity. In the 1990's Short started to treat the advance variation positionally. It is Short's treatment of the Advance Variation that is popular today. Before Short, White players tried to use the advance to launch a blitz attack which generally failed at the grandmaster level.

Am I allowed to say that, I find it slightly worrying that so many people I know get their chess knowledge from Wikipedia?

The DB includes only eleven games with the tempo-wasting 4... Bg4 (not really a surprise) so anything thereafter should be taken with a pinch of salt. However, 5. Nbd2 is not in the DB, which favours 5. Bd3.

However, switch to the world DB and 5. Nbd2 gets listed as 3 games, average rating of 2295 with 66% wins for white, 0% wins for black, and 33% draws. Three games isn't much to go on, but following the next few moves didn't see any downside, other than what I described here in my original annotation, so I trusted the masters and gave it a shot.

When I played the move that wasted the tempo, my idea was to capture the f3 knight. This will start to weaken White's ability to defend the d4 pawn. I know my thoughts go very long term, but the overall concept is to push c5, Nf6 and then after e6, Ne7 to Nf5. In the end this looks to move up a pawn. But with Nbd2, my idea is bust because White recaptures with the knight and maintains the additional defense of these center pawns. Of course, at 1500, perhaps my concept is flawed.

Maybe the idea isflawed as you say, madik, but it's up to your opponent to demonstrate the flaw. For all I know, the intervening ...Bf4 might be intended to induce the Knight's emergence to f3, White not believing that Black would impose the pin. Of course, Black has to believe the pin is useful enough to justify the lost time.

In spite of my previous comment, I agree with the DB in its dislike of 5. Be2. The bishop has no future on f3 if Black exchanges, but that wouldn't be a bad square for the queen. If Black doesn't exchange, the pin is no great inconvenience to White, since Black cannot play Nc6, and White can get both bishops out and then move the queen.

If he'd played it on move six, you wouldn't have had to take with your bishop. If he'd left it any later, you could have played Nfd2 and escaped.

Good points. Maybe the position is of a type in which time is less an issue than timing.

I would say that White doesn't really have a lead in development since the f3 bishop will need to be redeveloped. However....

The game seems to have formed a French Defence position in which many pieces on both sides are in unusual positions.

I think black should've passed on your pawn and went p-c4, attacking your N, and making a nice little pawn wall all the while ruining your Lbishop diagonals.

Lucky break! The resurrection of White's dead bishop is especially appropriate for an Easter Sunday annotation.

LoL, good point, Nuntar.

I don't know what I was thinking here. I guess I was more concerned with getting my king out of the center that I completely overlooked this move by White.

The main lines were of course left behind as early as 4... Bg4?!

Bd2 might be better, giving the bishop another possible line of development.

Hunting pawns - or exploiting her superior mobility to create multitudinous threats against Black's position...?

Why not 19. Rc3? It seems that move can either double up on the c-file or go to g3 for attacking possibilities, no?

This oversight hurt black bad. Nothing good arrives on his doorstep after this decimation of the f7 pawn...your Queen is a ruthless destroyer of pawns. haha

Black had to try 20...Kg8.