You fritter and waste the hours in an off hand way....

Yes of course , its Time from Dark side of the Moon , I was bored on a Sunday and the words seemed to suit the mood

The caro-kanns a very turtlelike opening, difficult to crack but very slow in terms of attack. It's probably best used against superior opponents.

I'd like to watch that explosion though...

I'm also exploring the Caro-Kann for a small time now.. Curious about this game !

The Caro-Cann is, in my opinion, the most solid defence for black there is against e4.  

You mean 3.Nc3. Not a bad line, actually...

Kinda like the advance version of the caro-kann, this is slightly unusual but sound.

Yes , I always prefer to advance here in the Caro Kann , I think the exchange gives away too much space to black

Do the math. 5 moves, 4 pawns, 1 bishop is that good? When will you 0-0?

Each time you reach for the pawn, give yourself a thump on the ear. If it turns out the move is correct, reward yourself with a shot of Jack Daniels, Johnny Walker Black, Black Heart or Douro Fathers' - whichever takes your fancy (just to ease the pain in your right lug)  . One approach might be just not to make the move unless it attacks something - like a bishop at b5, say. There's a further downside, by the way, to the pawn move here than just neglecting your development: another pawn on a light square. Your game on the Q-side is looking very ... porous.

Why do people like ruachessnut2 bother logging into GK if they don't even play games? ionadowman is right, you need to learn to get the better of those voices, just imagine it as being like another chess game, you've completed thousands so one more shouldn't be a problem.

Seems to be trying to prevent a move I wasnt likely to make anyway.

Hi, guys, a7-a6 isn't a bad move at all. In Advance Caro-Kann, black often plays this move for different reasons, but right here, I would rather throw the queen to b6 to prepare for c5...

I'd rather listen to a 2000+ player than a 1500ish, who is also called 'beginner78' no offense lol. & it is a pointless move  

a6?! b5?! what were you thinking?! Didn't Capablanca or Steintz teach you anything?! black cannot create any more dark-squared weaknesses in his position!

Yes, but only after Bh4.

agreeing with rt4sm: why do u come to GK & not play any games ruachessnut2? scared of having your reputation dented?

mind your own business, toiletduck

What development?

BxN would have been better, at least it would have ensured white's last move truly was wasted, so black can gain a tempo, and the bishop won't exactly be dangerous on f3.

Black should have gone Bf5, going into the normal lines

H'mmm... Castling long carries with it serious risks, given the dark square weaknesses Black has on that side of the board. It has to be admitted, though, that White is set up more for a K-side action. I think Black here has to concentrate on getting his pieces out, and not to worry about castling for some time to come. In fact, delayed castling may have an upside: keeping options open so that if White commits strongly to one wing, judicious castling on the opposite will throw off the attack. That is: keep him guessing!

the N belongs on c6 after c6-c5

I must admit I hadnt considered 8...Bg6 , but at this stage I am playing after an extended pub visit ...as we will see later

I think you are being too hard on the last couple of moves. ...Rc8 does prepare the break ...c5, which would help free Black's game. So it's not a pointless - and therefore not a ridiculous - move. All the same ...Ne7 seems preferable. I'm not sure I would choose ...Bg6 right at this moment either.

I actually quite like Rc8, in the future the c file will probably open up for the reasons ionadowman discussed, nice to have a rook there ready to pounce. Bg6 isn't a lot of good after 9. Qb3, which is actually a better square for the queen than d3, so i can't see the point of forcing him to move there.

Nothing terribly wrong with it, but i'd have either gone cxd or ignored the c pawn altogether, now the game just becomes more cluttered.

I reaaly did expect Thomas to exchage there , but its what I wanted too as I would have then been able to challenge rooks on the open file afte a quick bit of castling. But then ,, he never does play what I want him to !

no need to do anything with the pawn

at least go Qb6 before doing something with the pawn