Answers.Body: <p>I think that playing slower, more 'positional' defenses like the Caro Kann and Tartakower System of the QGD absolutely do help develop positional skills, but of course those are two openings out of many.</p>
  
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Diisciiple
Answers.Body: <p>Based on the sentence syntax I don't believe that the author is intending to make a connection between the mentioned opening systems and positional skills. Every strong player must have good positional skills and must also be a good tactician. You could not become a world class player without both.</p>
  
  <p>Both of these openings do have strong positional ideas and Makogonov (who would be classed as "positional") played them both. So it is likely that he taught them because he believed that they were instructive and because he was familiar with them. </p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2012-07-10T17:48:24.447Z
Answers.Text: I believe you are right, after reading it again, I don't believe Kasparov building positional skills had any direct correlation to the Caro-Kann or Queen's Gambit Declined.
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Body: <p>In the following <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a> biography on Gary Kasparov, I read the following:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>From age 7, Kasparov attended the Young Pioneer Palace in Baku and, at 10 began training at Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school under noted coach Vladimir Makogonov. Makogonov helped develop Kasparov's positional skills and taught him to play the Caro-Kann Defence and the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>This got me thinking: does the Caro-Kann or the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined help with positional skills or was this probably due more to the fact that Makogonov was familiar with it?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2012-07-10T17:57:05.793Z
Comments.Text: Just a minor detail, you might want to edit the spelling of Makogonov's name in your final paragraph. The n and g are transposed. ;-)
Comments.UserDisplayName: Robert Kaucher
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2012-08-12T15:44:41.653Z
Comments.Text: Whoever down-voted? Care to explain?
Comments.UserDisplayName: xaisoft
Tags: <opening><kasparov><positional-play><queens-gambit><caro-kann>
Title: Does the Caro-Kann or the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined help with positional skills?
ThreadText: # Does the Caro-Kann or the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined help with positional skills?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2012-07-10)
  
  In the following [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov) biography on Gary Kasparov, I read the following:
  
  > From age 7, Kasparov attended the Young Pioneer Palace in Baku and, at 10 began training at Mikhail Botvinnik's chess school under noted coach Vladimir Makogonov. Makogonov helped develop Kasparov's positional skills and taught him to play the Caro-Kann Defence and the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined.
  
  This got me thinking: does the Caro-Kann or the Tartakower System of the Queen's Gambit Declined help with positional skills or was this probably due more to the fact that Makogonov was familiar with it?
  
  **Tags:** opening, kasparov, positional-play, queens-gambit, caro-kann
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: Just a minor detail, you might want to edit the spelling of Makogonov's name in your final paragraph. The n and g are transposed. ;-)  
  > **username_0**: Whoever down-voted? Care to explain?  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2012-07-10. Score: 9 | Accepted answer
  
  Based on the sentence syntax I don't believe that the author is intending to make a connection between the mentioned opening systems and positional skills. Every strong player must have good positional skills and must also be a good tactician. You could not become a world class player without both.
  
  Both of these openings do have strong positional ideas and Makogonov (who would be classed as "positional") played them both. So it is likely that he taught them because he believed that they were instructive and because he was familiar with them.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: I believe you are right, after reading it again, I don't believe Kasparov building positional skills had any direct correlation to the Caro-Kann or Queen's Gambit Declined.  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2015-09-15. Score: 4
  
  I think that playing slower, more 'positional' defenses like the Caro Kann and Tartakower System of the QGD absolutely do help develop positional skills, but of course those are two openings out of many.
  
  
  ---
  
  