@SeanRR said in #34:
> I used to play French defense, but now I believe the Caro-Kann defense is best by test. If white plays accurately, black would be struggling to survive in the French defense. I'm not a big fan of memorising tens of lines just to avoid losing in the opening.
>
> I recommend the Tartakower variation 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6, because I think the white h4 attack in the mainline is too tricky and sharp for beginners. You have to play very accurately to survive the h4 attack, which defeats the purpose of Caro-Kann as a solid, less-memorising defense.
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. h4 Bd6 7. h5 h6 8. Be3 O-O 9. Qd2 Na6 10. Bxa6 bxa6 11. O-O-O Be6 12. Kb1 Rb8
If white tries the h4 attack in Tartakower variation, he just gives black an easy game. Apparently the Tartakower variation is more solid than the mainline. Most white players don't know how to exploit black's doubled pawns at my level.