GRANDMASTER REPERTOIRE 7: THE CARO-KANN
Author: Lars Schandorff
Quality Chess (2010)
251 pages
$29.95
Reviewed by John Donaldson
The Caro-Kann has long had a reputation as being solid but a trifle dull, especially the main lines with 4...Bf5. That might have been true in the past when Black met the main lines where White castled queenside by following suit, but things started to change in the early 1980s when Bent Larsen started castling kingside. This approach didn’t catch on in a big way until the last decade when players like Bareev, Motylev and Jakovenko started using it regularly and even the elite (Kramnik, Anand and Topalov) gave it a try.
Danish Grandmaster Lars Schandorff’s new book, THE CARO-KANN, is based on this new interpretation of the Caro-Kann as a dynamic weapon. Schandorff writes in the introduction:
“The Caro-Kann is solid, reliable and this may come as a surprise to some of you – a great fighting weapon. The latter may need a little explanation. It is related to the nature of the opening – typically in the Caro-Kann White has extra space and some initiative, but Black’s position is completely sound and without weaknesses. White must do something active and he must do it quickly, otherwise Black will catch up in development and gain a fine positional game. That White is forced to act is what creates the early tension.”
This is not the first repertoire book on the Caro-Kann. That honor likely goes to Andy Soltis or Egon Varnusz for books written thirty odd years ago, but more recently the only other work for comparison to Schandorff’s is Jovanka Houska’s PLAY THE CARO KANN (Everyman Chess 2007). It makes sense to compare the two.
Both authors advocate 4...Bf5 against 3.Nc3/3.Nd2 with Black normally castling short in the variations 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.0-0-0 Be7 and 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Bb4 13.c3 Be7 14.c4 Qc7. Houska’s treatment was not bad but this line is very topical with much happening in the three years since its publication. Schandorff has several important novelties in lines where Black is being pressed.
Against the Advance variation the authors vary – Schandorff covers 3...Bf5 and Houska the less common 3...c5. They also recommend different systems again the Panov-Botvinnik. Both propose 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 but here they part ways – Schandorff proposing to meet 6.Bg5 with the sharp 6...dxc4 and Houska preferring 6...e6.
Likewise against 6.Nf3 they also vary with Schandorff preferring the main line 6...Bg4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qb3 Bxf3 9.gxf3 e6 and Houska the comparatively less played 9...Nb6. This might seem one variation where the Dane has chosen the less exciting variation but there is a reason – he doesn’t trust 9...Nb6 and gives a concrete line that shows it is not reliable. Though it is not his main line, Schandorff mentions the little played 9...e6 10.Qxb7 Nxd4 11.Bb5+ Nxb5 12.Qc6+ Ke7 13.Qxb5 Nxc3 which might be a simple answer to Black’s problems in this variation.
The two authors offer similar lines against 2.c4 (2...d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6), the Exchange Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Qc7), the Fantasy Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 dxe4 4.fxe4 e5 5.Nf3 Bg4), the Two Knights (1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3) and the Closed (1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bd6). Schandorff’s book is the more up to date of the two books as one might expect.
This is primarily a theoretical work but Schandorff' provides plenty of lively prose to explain what is going on. The clean layout, two to three diagrams per page and sturdy binding make THE CARO-KANN easy to use like other Quality Chess books.
This book can be strongly recommended to players rated 1800 on up who play the 4...Bf5 Caro-Kann or interested in learning it. THE CARO-KANN can also be recommended to Caro-Kann players who prefer 4...Nd7 or 4...Nf6 as two thirds of the book is devoted to non-3.Nc3/Nd2 lines. This book will hold some interest for those who don’t play the Caro but find themselves in Panov-Botvinnik or 2.c4 lines – likely by transposition via 1.c4 c6.
