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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.c5 e5!?

Quite aggressive and a logical way to try and break down White's pawn chain. Some other ideas:

I  5...e6 An unthinking Black player, might play 5...e6, hoping for a transposition back into a normal position.  I believe then that 6 b4! gives White a big advantage: 6.b4 a5 7.b5 e5 8.Nc3 exd4 9.Qxd4 Qc7 (9...Qe7+ 10.Be3 Be6 11.Rc1 Qc7 12.Nf3 Be7 13.Ne2 0-0 14.Nf4 Bf5 15.Nxd5±) 10.Na4 Ne4 11.Be3±

II  5...Qc7 prepares rather than executes ...e7-e5.  However the Queen is exposed on c7: 6.Nc3 e5 (or 6...a6 7.Qf3 Qc6 (7...e6 8.Bf4±) 8.b4 Bg4 9.Qg3 Qc8 10.h3 Bf5 11.a3 Nc6 12.Be3; 7.Nb5 Qd8 8.dxe5 Ne4 9.Nd6+ Bxd6 10.cxd6±).

III  5...g6 is yet another attempt. Fluid development is the order of the day:  6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Bb5+ Nc6 8.Nge2 0-0 9.0-0 Bg4 10.f3 Bf4 and Qd2 follows attached to the usual plan of b4 etc at the earliest convenience.

6.Nc3! exd4

6...Nc6 7.Bb5 is the usual response.

7.Qxd4 Nc6

I guess he could play 7...Be7 first, get castled and only then go ...Nc6.  I suggest 8.Be3 0-0 9.Rd1 Nc6 10.Qa4 Re8 (10...Be6 11.Nf3) 11.Be2 against this procedure:

Analysis Diagram: after 11.Be2

Obviously the position is unclear but White has a queenside pawn majority and an attack on the d5 pawn.  Unless Black can do something very fast (unlikely) the deficiencies in his position will surely start to tell.

8.Bb5! Be7

8...Bd7 encourages White to take on c6, no real hardship as this is exactly what he wants to play anyway.  9.Bxc6 bxc6 (9...Bxc6 is a poor move. White gets the queenside majority going immediately: 10.b4! a6 11.Nge2 g6 12.Bb2 Bg7 13.Rd1 0-0 14.0-0 Ne4 15.Qd3 f5 16.Nd4± The Knight on d4 is strong and f2-f3 will eject the intruder on e4. ) 10.Nge2 g6 11.Bf4±

9.Be3 0-0 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Qa4

This was an important one, preventing ...Ba6.  It's a bonus that c6 is threatened.

11...Rb8 12.b4 Ng4

Black has to try to disrupt White's plans before Ne2-d4, Rd1 and 0-0 shuts up shop.

13.Bf4 Bf6 14.Rc1 Bxc3+ 15.Rxc3 Qf6 16.Ne2!

Phew!  Holding everything. I leave it to you to judge whether this was luck or logic.

16...Re8 17.0-0! Rxe2 18.Bxb8 Qxc3 19.Qxc6 Bf5 20.Qxd5 Qf6 21.Bxa7

A combinational sequence takes us to a very messy position where Black is a piece up but faces the touchdown of the queenside pawns.  Over the board the practical chances surely favour White.

21...Re8 22.c6 Rd8 23.Qc5 Qe5 24.f4! Qxc5+

Swapping the Queens leads to quick defeat but keeping them on the board isn't much fun:  24...Qe4 25.c7 Rc8 26.b5 Be6 27.Rd1 h6 28.h3 Nf6 29.b6 with an unclear position.

25.Bxc5 Rc8 26.Rd1 h6 27.b5 Nf6 28.b6 Ne8 29.b7 1-0

The line with 5...e5 is going to lead to a real mess, so if you play Gunderam's ingenious idea you will have to reconcile yourself to that.

Having stated this, White must stick to his guns and try to get the queenside pawns going ASAP and try to tie Black down to his weakened d-pawn.  An unclear and interesting middlegame will result.

In Part Three we'll take a look at some other games where White's idea works a treat.
 

On to Part Three of:
An Unusual Weapon Against the Caro-Kann
 

[Index of IM Andrew Martin's columns]