The c8 knight in the Caro-Kann

I mainly play 3/2 blitz games and when I play as black I've begun playing the Caro-Kann, and I often have a problem developing my queenside pieces, especially the c8 knight.

For example in this recent game:

I had to move the queen to b8 to activate the bishop, while the knight just didn't get to participate the whole game, walled by the opponent's pawns and rook.

So I was wondering if that was just normal to have a completely passive knight in the Caro-Kann, or if there exist some clever ways to activate that piece that I keep missing.

In general the queen's knight in the Caro-Kann is developed at d7 because of the early pawn move to c6. In some lines of both the Advance and Classical variations, Black may choose to go for a ...c5 pawn break first, such as the early 3...c5 in the Advance variation (which is what the above game is by transposition) or after 7...Nf6 instead of 7...Nd7 in the Classical. You can check these out on the Openings explorer here or some other database, if you're curious.

Whether the Nd7 is well-placed on that square usually depends on Black's ability to execute ...c5, ...e5 and sometimes ...f6 and ...b6 pawn breaks. In other variations without a White pawn on e5, often it will go to f6 after a knight there is exchanged for a White Ne4.

Specifically in the above game, by move 14 your opponent has a strong grip on the dark squares, and unfortunately it doesn't look like there's an easy way to break that to your advantage. However, as early as move 5 or 6 the ...c5 lever could be played. 5. b3 does not help White much after ...c5 or ...Ne7 followed by ...c5. The bishop check on b4 I don't think helped you, since it gave White a free tempo for playing c3. Also, the bishop normally belongs on e7 in these types of positions; you saw what a problem it became after getting buried on c7.

Wouldn't an early c5 hinder the development of the f8 bishop?  Since there is a white pawn on e5 that seems to only leave the e7 square for both the bishop and the knight.  If the bishop belongs on e7, does that mean the knight should be developed to h6?  Or maybe it would simply be better to play a kingside fianchetto, leaving the e7 square for the knight?

Black basically has two squares to develop the dark-square bishop to in this structure: e7 and c5. Using the pawn lever with ...c5, whether early or later on, will normally help with piece development, since it's usually exchanged for the d4 pawn and therefore loosens up the dark squares.

You're right about the e7 square, it's high traffic there. Normally the knight is developed Ng8-e7-g6 or -f5, after the bishop is exchanged. If ...c5 is played at some point, then that will also free up the c6 square for it. Sometimes Nh6 is played, but you have to be comfortable playing the resulting position if White chooses to exchange with his bishop on h6. The considerations are very similar to French-type positions.

The fianchetto with ...g6 would lock in the light-square bishop and severely weaken the dark squares on the kingside, especially f6. It also gives up the possible idea of an ...f6 lever in the future.

There's a lot of theory now on the 3...Bf5 Advance variation, along with plenty of example games available for you to check out. I played it early in my career, but switched to playing 3...c5, because the Short system with 4. Nf3 is strong (what your game transposed into) and there are a lot of tactical complications with the 4. Nc3 variation, which aims for g2-g4 and harassing the Bf5 with an early kingside pawn storm.

In all variations, Black needs to develop his minor pieces and get in a pawn lever (usually ...c5 or ...f6), otherwise White can develop a kingside attack or an uncomfortable positional squeeze. 

The f8-bishop often goes to e7, after the g8-knight leaves its original square. The knight often goes to f5 (after playing ...Bf5-g6) via e7. It may also be transferred to the queenside in certain lines. See below for example:

This knight maneuver is quite slow, but it doesn't really matter because of the closed center.

c8 knight? or bishop?

or is it b8 knight?