1. e4 e6 seems kind of similar to 1. e4 c6.
Both are solid openings, lead to more positional games etc. In the French, however, Black's light square Bishop gets blocked and as I understand it, it's a thematic problem in this opening. One can try and trade it off on a6 etc., but there's no guarantee it will work.
Meanwhile in Caro-Kann it's quite easy to let the light square Bishop out of the pawn chain and only close it with e6 afterwards. This is where Caro-Kann clearly seems more convenient, even though they can lead to similar positions otherwise (or am I wrong).
My question is, why would someone play French rather than Caro-Kann? What are the benefits of 1...e6 that 1...c6 misses?
Thanks for any insights
Both are solid openings, lead to more positional games etc. In the French, however, Black's light square Bishop gets blocked and as I understand it, it's a thematic problem in this opening. One can try and trade it off on a6 etc., but there's no guarantee it will work.
Meanwhile in Caro-Kann it's quite easy to let the light square Bishop out of the pawn chain and only close it with e6 afterwards. This is where Caro-Kann clearly seems more convenient, even though they can lead to similar positions otherwise (or am I wrong).
My question is, why would someone play French rather than Caro-Kann? What are the benefits of 1...e6 that 1...c6 misses?
Thanks for any insights