12

Today in an online game my opponent opened with e4 and I played the Caro-Kann, as I usually do. We went into a line that was new to me, shown below:

rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1 
1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 dxe4 4. dxe4 Qxd1+ 5. Kxd1

I felt pretty good about this position, since white gave up their castling rights for a small advantage in development, which doesn't look worrying at all with the queens already traded off and I went on to win the game. Much to my surprise however, I later discovered that after 5. Kxd1 Stockfish slightly prefers white's position, and that this line has been played by various superGMs with good results.

Why is the position after 5. Kxd1 good for white? What is white's compensation for being unable to castle? What are the main ideas for both sides in this position?

Brian Towers
  • 92,895
  • 10
  • 227
  • 372
Alessandro Codenotti
  • 263
  • 7

1 Answers1

9

What is white's compensation for being unable to castle?

With queens off the board castling rights are not that important.

Why is the position after 5. Kxd1 good for white?

White has a center pawn and a nicely developed knight while black has a pawn on c6 taking away the b knight's best square, no center pawn and no pieces developed. In these open positions fast development is very important.

Brian Towers
  • 92,895
  • 10
  • 227
  • 372