Good line or variation for white against the caro kan

For some context my friend is a 1600 rated player and we play a game of chess every week. Recently he started playing the caro kan as Black and I don't know any theory. There is also a upcoming chess tournament I will be in and  he also be in the same tournament and if I play him with white I am screwed. Some people might suggest the queens gambit or the English but my friend knows theory on both, especially queens gambit and if play a Catalan or something else in the queens gambit I will lose as he knows the queens gambit very well and has experience playing the complex side lines in it. So I hope by finding a variation or idea in the caro kan it's self will be useful.

i too am a caro kann player , defeated many high rated players against myself . if you want caro cann , play the exchange variation and use some brain . that's all the game of chess want u to win

Fischer had the same problem:
the Soviet players played Caro-Kann against him and he had trouble. He played

• the Panov Variation 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 4 c4,
• the Two knights variation 1 e4 c6 2 Nc3 d5 3 Nf3,
• the classical variation 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3,
• and ultimately he settled for the exchange variation:

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044326

A simple line. No variations to memorize.

Hi!

As you say he beats you no matter the opening, I think it is just because he is a better player. Try to improve your general understanding of the game, do not focus on the opening phase. Play what you know better. Improving is a long path, check out my post:

https://www.chess.com/blog/maafernan/chess-skills-development

Good luck!

Depends on what you want out of the opening. The current mainline is the Advance, where the Short Variation is likely White’s best chance. 
The best positional variation is the Breyer with 3. Nf3 as shown above, that’s literally all the theory there is and then White is just better in an endgame. 
The Fantasy or Two Knights are both very solid tactical and tricky variations if you’re willing to learn the theory for one of them. 
But yeah, those would be my recommendations, the Exchange, Mainline, and Panov all offer Black remarkably good chances.

I think people select certain defenses because they want to play certain types of structures and plans that appeal to them or that they feel comfortable with.

Consider the King's Indian: I can almost guarantee you the person playing Black is hoping you lock the center and play q-side so they can get in that classic kingside pawn storm.

My philosophy though is it's best to not give your opponent what they want. And I can say, as a Caro player myself, what I want is an Advance, or an Exchange, or a Two Knights. I feel most comfortable in those structures. I'd be less happy with a Panov or a Fantasy, and probably least happy with a Main Line.

So, if other Caro players are like me, then you should play the Main Line.

indeed. In my opinion, as a CK player, I get most difficulty with Mainline, not the Advance Variation (which is to me a line, a trend but not "mainline"), which not many people will play because it is, unto itself, a lot of theory. It's often a relief not to engage in Karpov's line because it's hella critical and a rollercoaster.

No doubt, I can play Mainline with the best of them but {whew!} I'm glad most guys don't. Heh.

Labahn Attack Caro-Kann

Against CK I rotate between Panov, exchange, main line and KIA. CK is very solid -white gets in trouble pushing too hard, too soon. But white also gets a small plus that persists. I dont find it hard to play vs CK if I am patient and just try to keep a small plus going as long as I can & wait for a chance to make it a bit bigger.

As examples, with

Panov I play it like a geneic IQP position not following some theoretical critical line.

Exchange-I play it like I am defending an exchange QGD a move up through kingside activity. This is very much like playing the London.

Main line- I play it in the style of Geller where I keep more space , queens on the board but dont worry about other exchanges. As the bard thins out it becomes harder for black to defend f7.

KIA- that is a system opening so I dont thing for the first 15 or so moves. (I play this less often.)

- Bill

I stumbled onto the mieses by ACCIDENT when i was trying and failing with the maroczy fantasy and confused it with the alapin diemer french. When I saw I was CRUSHING black 2:1 with it, just doing what comes natural to a king's gambiteer, i found my caro solution.

I've played this same exact game (with possible ...Nf6/...Bg4 transpositions) THREE TIMES already

Advanced can tranapose to an advanced French. Also can play Bayonette attack with 4.g4 as a start try and gain space on the king side hamper the development. If he plays it wrong you have a choice of follow up on either side for your attack, just got to protect your advance line from infiltration.

I hate the advance myself. It just puts my own pawns in the way of ripping Pierre out of his castle and spanking him