Caro-Kann defense

The Caro-Kann, though mentioned in Polerio's manuscript in 1590, was not thoroughly analysed until 1886 by Horatio Caro and Marcus Kann, from whom it derives its name. Despite their initial analysis and early success by both players, the 'Caro Kann defence' did not gain mainstream popularity until the 20th century, when modern masters such as Capablanca and Nimzowitsch began using it. In the 'Caro-Kann defence', black responds to white's E4 pawn push with C6, taking control of the D5 square with the aim of pushing their queen's pawn. Black's D5 pawn push supported by their initial occupation of the C6 square aims to challenge white's central control. The Caro-Kann is a common defence against the king's pawn opening, it's classified as a Semi-Open game, similar to the Sicilian or French defences, although it is thought to be more positional and less dynamic than either. It often results in advantageous endgames for black, who generally maintains a superior pawn structure throughout the game and it allows black to circumvent heavy E4 theory in openings such as the Ruy Lopez, Scotch or Italian games.

The Classical Variation of the 'Caro-Kann defence' is historically the most common, however as of late it has been surpassed by the 'Advanced variation' in popularity. The classical variation is often referred to as the Capablanca variation in honour of the Cuban grandmaster José Raúl Capablanca. Much of the Caro–Kann's reputation as a solid defence stems from this variation. Black makes very few concessions in their pawn structure resulting in a favourable endgame. Black generally castles kingside leading to very slow positional games resulting in a reputation as a solid but boring defence. In recent times variations in which black castles queenside or even leaves their king in the centre have grown in popularity, these variations are often very sharp and dynamic.

The short variation is named after Nigel Short, an english grandmaster who pioneered its use in the 1990's, the short variation is a slow and methodical response to black's C6 pawn push. Before Nigel, most advanced variations countered black's slow positionally strategy with an aggressive response, looking for an early or middle game victory. Nigel short rather than countering black's slow style of play, instead leaned into it. In the short variation, white aims to control more central space, castle kingside and slowly strangle black's position. In 1993, Nigel along with Garry Kasparov due to a dispute with the president of FIDE defected to form the Professional Chess Association or PCA for short. The PCA existed until 2006 when it reunified with FIDE.

The 'Exchange variation', though popular at both the club as well as master levels, is not white's most ambitious response to the 'Caro-Kann'. The variation begins with both side's queen's pawns facing off each other, however white gives up their central king's pawn whereas black gives up their C-file pawn. It is common knowledge that central pawns are generally more valuable than flank pawns, which is why this is not considered white's most ambitious response to the 'Caro-Kann'. That said, if white is familiar with the exchange variation and black is not, despite this minor imbalance white can very well outplay black. Regardless of opening, often times should a player find themselves in unfamiliar territory entering the exchange variation can be a sound strategy. Exchange variations often result in weakened pawn structures. A sound strategy should revolve around exploiting these weaknesses or neutralising them if they are on your side. In many exchange variations, including the Caro-Kann's exchange variation, central control becomes less sharp, leading to more pawn exchanges in the center and resulting in an open game.

The Hillbilly attack is appropriately named, for it is the equivalent of a drunken gunfight in which white draws pistols and starts shooting without any concern as to where black is, or what they are doing. In true hillbilly fashion this shoot first, ask questions later response to the Caro-Kann, can very much catch black off guard in an unfamiliar position.