http://www.amazon.com/Grandmaster-Repertoire-Caro-Kann-Lars-Schandorff/dp/1906552568
http://www.amazon.com/Caro-Kann-Move-Cyrus-Lakdawala/dp/1857446879
Both are very good. The former deals with the 4...Bf5 variations, and the latter with 4...Nd7.
Caro-Kann Book
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The most unlucky moment in Schandorff's book is the comment after 4...Bf5: "unfortunately for white 5.Bd3 is not possible because it drops the d4 pawn". No moves offered.
IMO the gambit line 5...Qxd4 6.Nf3 Qd8 7.Qe2 has to be taken VERY seriously by Black if he doesn't wish being in the wrong end of a miniature.
His coverage of the two knights variation (which is far less innocuous than its looks) is far from perfect, too.
uhohspaghettio wrote:
Why any amateur would want to play the Caro-Kann is beyond me.
To hear your kind and highly constructive comments, is my guess. Educated or not? I'll let you judge.
I watched the video in question and I thought it was pretty good, but I'm a beginner when it comes to openings, strategy and tactics, so far I've only played chess by my own learning. Would you guys say that its weakness is opening up too many different plays for White for a beginner to learn strategy for?
IMO the compensation for white is apparent, but it's not the type of compensation white has in Blackmar-Diemer. White has no pattern attack scheme, but instead he has strong positional pressure. Anyway, I do not think this gambit will be popular at some time, because after the few procat moves White's optimal play is far from obvious- but then the same applies for Black. Probably this gambit is very good for a thematic CC tournament, although even there certain positional understanding is required (engines like White at some +0.3 - 0.4 degree, which I could say it must be a bit optimistic).
Aug 17, 2013
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#8
So which is the best book out of the following (I aspire to play the black side of the opening):
Grandmaster Repertoire 7 Caro Kann by Schandorff
Move by Move: The Caro Kann by Lakdawala
Starting Out: The Caro Kann by Joe Gallagher
Play the Caro Kann by Houska
Grandmaster Secrets The Caro Kann by Peter Wells
the two knights variation of the CK seems to be quite topical at the moment in high level chess, but from what i've seen no one is playing 3... Bg4 against it. is there some reason for this that i don't know about? i thought that was more uncomfortable for white than the alternatives.
Anyone have a good Caro-Kann book to recommend for me please?