Caro Kanm

I played the Sicilian most of my chess “career”. I started playing the Pirc recently , but I don’t really like it.

So I was thinking of doing the Caro Kann. Thing Is I only know like the first 2 moves.

What is a good book to get all the latest info? I ordered a Soltis book, but is about 25 years old. It will be good for fundamentals.

If you are wondering “Why the Caro Kann all a sudden fool, do you just like the name?” is because about the only phase of the game I feel like I know what I am doing sometimes is an endgame, and I hear black can often get a good endgame with the pawn structure.

I can’t recommend any books, but I can tell you that the Caro-Kann has long enjoyed a reputation for solidarity. This has been achieved , through, , somewhat at the expense of the excitement attached to more glamorous defences , such as the Silcilian Dragon or the Marshall Attack in the Lopez. In recent years, however, at the highest levels, the Caro-Kann has become something of a dream defence for black .

Agreed, Woolly! However, I think it’s exciting.


To the OP: I don’t really have any books on it, but I would use opening databases and the lessons on Chess.com.

#1

"I played the Sicilian most of my chess “career”." ++ Why did you abandon it?

"I started playing the Pirc recently" ++ Why?

"but I don’t really like it." ++ Why?

"I only know like the first 2 moves." ++ It is a start.

"What is a good book to get all the latest info?" ++ A data base is better.

"I ordered a Soltis book, but is about 25 years old." ++ Massively outdated.

"It will be good for fundamentals." ++ Not really.

"black can often get a good endgame with the pawn structure." ++ True, but true for the Sicilian too

Thanks for the responses, I will try online databases.

Tygxc I stopped the sicilian partly because it’s a lot of theory, and partly just to try something new. It’s the one opening I have never changed.

I started playing the pirc because I thought I could pair it with learning the K’s Indian, but I just don’t feel comfortable in the positions. I tried the modern defense a few years ago and had a similar lack of success. 5 moves in I already feel like it’s a bad position.

I kind of like the czech pirc in blitz, but I think it’s probably not good in classical game. Classical is more important to me than blitz.

The Soltis book will pair up the Caro Kann with the Slav, and combined with his pawn structure book I wanted for once to learn an opening based more on the pawn structures. I never learned them systematically besides just knowing double pawns, etc. So a new approach for me. I always felt my opening prep was the worst thing.

As far as outdated material, does that mean Karpov games from the 80’s wouldn’t be a good resource? I thought being outdated applied more to sharper openings.

#7
Of course study of Karpov games and Anand games is beneficial. However, new attacks for white and new defences for black have been found. The Caro-Kann can be quite sharp as well.

https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070917 

FCO ("Fundamental Chess Openings") has a rather gentle, broad introduction to the main variations of the Caro-Kann. (FCO also has the added benefit of having similar introductions to all the main openings and defenses in chess, so I recommend it in general.)

"Grandmaster Secrets: the Caro-Kann" goes a bit deeper into individual variations. Though it's still relatively easy to follow along, with balanced analysis and helpful suggestions.

So I would recommend getting "Fundamental Chess Openings", if you don't already have it. Then, if you want to dive deeper, consider "Grandmaster Secrets: the Caro-Kann".

I also recommend using a database to explore sidelines and alternative moves, to see how grandmasters handle your variations of choice. Combine all three, and you'll become a Caro-Kann expert soon enough.

Thanks for the responses!

Go on YouTube and search for the basics of the caro kann or similar search terms. Then maybe pawn structures of the caro kann. Then just watch caro kann strategy. Try that. After about 30 videos start playing it in rapid or slower and go from there. 

The Caro-Kann is my main defense against 1. e4. The main books I use are by Schandorff and Houska.

I wouldn't worry too much about a book being 25 years old. At your level, there's no need to know the latest cutting-edge theory. You merely need something that'll teach you the basics of the opening.

Since you're a diamond member, just watch Sam Shankland's course on the Caro right here in the lessons section of chess.com.  That's what I did and it helped me quite a bit.

"All pawns and no hope." ;-) I would stick to the Sicilian.

That kind of post when you just want to disagree with the OP in every possible way

The funny thing is, Benny Watts said this, then he proceeded to show this game on the board ... where black wins with the Caro-Kann ...

 

If any e4 defense fits the "all pawns" description, I'd say it's more often the Sicilian. (Not the "no hope" part, though.)

Here's a line:

9 moves in, and black has moved nothing but pawns.

The Tartakower with exf6 has become one of the pleasant discoveries for Black in recent years (the h5-variation). Many fighting ideas has been found. Magnus Carlsen mentioned on stream that the Caro is now played for a win on top level nowadays. I think the only challenge for Black is the advanced variation against which I struggle the most personally while all the other variations never have been a problem for me especially if White allows the Tartakower.

The game Duda - Carlsen inspired me to pick this variation up. Carlsen lost that game but in the analysis many interesting and exciting ideas were found. The positions are just a breath of fresh air.

Haha, I noticed that too. But what do expect from fictional figure. After all he also went from beating Beth in every Blitz game to losing a Blitz simul to her within just a few days...

I recommend starting off with YouTube videos by Gotham Chess, Hanging Pawns and Chess Factor.

If after watching those you want to go deeper and read a repertoire book for Black, there is a recent book called Win with the Caro-Kann by Sverre Johnsen and GM Torbjorn Hansen published by Gambit.

That book has opinions such as favouring the Carls-Botvinnik attack and the Tartakower variations. To be honest I can't remember 99% of the moves listed in the book, but it is a useful reference for when I want to check my opening against the best lines.

@Jenium True!

My view of the Queen's Gambit series is that Beth Harmon's story was actually a superhero origin story ... just disguised as a chess drama.

If it had kept going, she might've started beating players with moves that aren't even possible, like a knight capturing two pieces at once, or her queen mowing down all the pieces on a file, in a single move ...

All the while, the camera would've panned on the onlookers' faces, as they watched in awe and admiration.