Some years back, White began to experiment with this line in the Caro Kann: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 (See Diagram) and now White played the counter-intuitive 5.Ng5. The big question is what should happen after 5.Ng5? Why can’t Black just kick the knight with 5…h6? What should Black do?

Solution:

The fun begins with: 5…h6 [Better, but also having traps is: 5...Ngf6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Qe2 Nb6 (7...Be7 8.Nxf7 Kxf7 9.Qxe6+ Kg6 10.Bd3+ Kh5 11.Qh3#) 8.Bd3 h6 9.N5f3 and it’s a game.] 6.Ne6 fxe6 [Black didn’t like 6...Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qb6 8.Bd3 Ngf6 9.Ne2 fxe6 10.Bg6+ Kd8 11.Nf4 Nb8 12.0–0 Bd7 13.c4 Kc8 14.Qe2 Na6 15.Nxe6 c5 16.d5 Bxe6 17.dxe6 Nb4 18.Rfd1 Qc7 19.Qf3 Nc6 20.Bf4, which is overwhelming.] 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qxg6 mate!

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