Tuesday
Apr052016
In the Hall of Mirrors: The Vallicella Trap in the Caro-Kann
Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at 11:35PM
William Vallicella, author of the fine Maverick Philosopher blog, recalls a bit of chess fame he enjoyed thanks in part to my work on this blog. I'll let you read the story over there, and ask a favor of anyone who has Jovanka Houska's new book on the Caro-Kann: is the "Vallicella Trap" mentioned in this one?
tagged Caro-Kann, William Vallicella
Reader Comments (2)
I might have missed it, but as far as I can see 5.Nf3 is no longer mentioned at all.
[DM: Thanks!]
Dennis,
Jovanka Houska completely skips over 5 Nf3 in her new book; not even a mention.
The place for 5 Nf3 would have been on page 148 in Chapter 5 of the 2015 edition. A quick pass over the material in her new book reveals that Houska has changed her repertoire recommendation from the 2007 edition. In her first book she recommended 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Nf3 Bg4 7 cd5 Nxd5 8 Qb3 Bxf3 9 gf3 Nb6, but she says in recent years White has been creating new problems after 10 d5! that Black hasn't been able to solve.
Houska states that her next idea was to recommend the Panov Endgame with 9...e6 but realized that she had nothing new to contribute to existing theory, although its perfectly acceptable for Black. Then she says she spotted a line that "has suddenly swung back into fashion and I was quickly hooked." That idea is 6 Nf3 g6, an ambitious move that can also arise from the Symmetrical English.
My guess is that Houska left out 5 Nf3 because there is no move order significance if Black has no intention of playing ...Bg4 systems. Indeed, she has Black playing 5 Nc3 Nc6 and only playing 6...g6 after White has committed to 6 Nf3, thus avoiding White's dangerous options that could arise after 5 Nc3 g6 6 cd5! as indicated in your old blog post (6...Bg7 7 Qb3 0-0 8 Be2 Nbd7 9 Bf3, Nge2, etc.) It would seem that 5 Nf3 would still be worth mentioning in her new book if only to discuss any possible difference between Black's move 5 options 5...Nc6 and the immediate 5...g6.
[DM: Thanks, Greg!]