The Advance against the French and Caro-Kann: free opening course

Key ideas

• Push the pawn to e5 and keep it there. It takes the f6 square away from Black's knight.
• Black attacks d4 again and again. Guard it with the c3 pawn and the f3 knight, and count attackers.
• Against a queen on b6, push the a-pawn to a3 and then the b-pawn to b4 for queenside space.
• When Black grabs a pawn on d4 or b2, look for checks and forks against the queen.
• In the Caro-Kann the bishop on f5 can get trapped. Pawns on g4, f4 and h4 hunt it down.

The 6 variations in the course

• French: 5...Qb6 6.a3 c4: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 c4 … — Black closes the queenside with 6...c4 and aims the knight at b3. White guards b3 with the rook, then gains space on the kingside with the h-pawn.
• French: 6.a3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Nge7: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. a3 cxd4 … — Black opens the c-file and brings a knight to f5 to attack d4. White hits the queen with Na4 and answers the check with b4. White wins space and time on the queenside.
• French: 5...Qb6 6.Be2: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 cxd4 … — White develops the bishop and castles quickly. After the trade on d4, Black brings a knight toward f5. White gives the bishop for this knight and wrecks Black's kingside pawns.
• French: 5...Bd7: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Be2 Nge7 … — Black develops the bishop first and keeps the queen at home. White develops with Be2 and brings the knight to c2 by way of a3. The knight guards d4 for a long time.
• Caro-Kann: Short System 5.Be2: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 cxd4 … — White plays a quiet Nf3 and Be2, castles, and waits for Black to strike with ...c5. After the trade on d4 the white knight stands well there. White then grows the centre with pawns on d4, e5 and f4.
• Caro-Kann: 3...c5 4.dxc5: 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. c3 e6 … — Black hits d4 at once with 3...c5. White takes the pawn, holds the extra c5 pawn with c3 and Be3, and later puts the bishop on d4. Black's knights get pushed away.

Traps you will learn (3)

• French: 7...Nxd4? and the check on b5 — After 6.Bd3 the d4 pawn looks free. But when Black's queen takes on d4, a bishop check on b5 opens the d-file. The white queen then takes Black's queen.
• French: the poisoned pawn on b4 — After 9.Na4 Qa5+ 10.b4 the b4 pawn looks free. If a knight takes it, axb4 opens the a-file. The queen on a5 and the knight both get into trouble, and White wins a piece.
• Caro-Kann: 8...cxd4? and the bishop hunt — In the Short System Black's queen sits on b6. If Black trades on d4 too early, White gains time on the queen. Then the g-pawn and the f-pawn trap the bishop on the kingside.

How the opening courses work

Each course teaches an opening in a few main variations. For every move you read why it is played, which other moves are good, and which tempting moves are mistakes and why. Each course also shows the traps of the opening: the ones you can set and the ones to avoid.

After a lesson you play the moves yourself in a drill. The lines you learn go into your review, which brings them back when you are about to forget them (spaced repetition). 30 line courses add many short lines per opening, a few new ones a day, and every named opening, more than 3,800 lines, has a lesson of its own.