Caro-Kann Defense

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The basic position of the Caro-Kann defense after 1. e2 – e4 c7 – c6

The Caro-Kann Defense or Caro-Kann for short is an opening of the game of chess . It is one of the semi-open games and is classified in the ECO codes under the keys B10 to B19.

The basic position of the Caro-Kann defense arises after the moves (see also: chess notation ):

1. e2-e4 c7-c6

history

A first traditional game with this opening was played as early as 1847. The name "Caro's opening" goes back to a 1886 in the Berlin weekly Schachzeitung Brotherhood published analysis by Horatio Caro back. The Viennese chess master Marcus Kann also used the opening. Curt von Bardeleben used the double name from Caro and Kann for the first time in 1890 in an article for the German chess newspaper , where he spoke of an "opening Caro-Kann". The current name "Caro-Kann-Defense" only came up in the course of the twentieth century.

In 1910 the Caro defense was played in the famous short game Réti - Tartakower . The opening became popular when Aaron Nimzowitsch added it to his repertoire. In a world championship match , the Caro-Kann defense was first used in 1958 by Mikhail Botvinnik .

In modern tournament practice, the move 1.… c7 – c6 after 1.… c7 – c5 ( Sicilian Defense ), 1.… e7 – e5 ( Open Games ) and 1.… e7 – e6 ( French Defense ) is the fourth most common answer to the most played opening move 1. e2 – e4. Prominent representatives of the black style of play include the former world chess champion Anatoli Karpow and Yevgeny Bareev . Former world champion Viswanathan Anand also often uses the Caro-Kann defense.

Basic strategic idea

With his opening move, Black plans the subsequent expansion in the center with 2.… d7 – d5.

In contrast to the Scandinavian Defense , in which 1.… d7 – d5 is played directly in the first move, after capturing the pawn (3. e4xd5) Black can now strike back with a pawn (3.… c6xd5) and thus maintain his central position . Caro-Kann pursues the same idea as the French defense , 1.… e7 – e6. One of the main differences to the French defense is that the white-squared bishop c8 can be developed on the diagonal c8 – h3 and is not blocked by the e6 pawn. In addition, there is no symmetrical position after swapping on d5. The fact that the Caro-Kann defense is played less often than the French defense is due to the fact that it is more difficult for Black to attack the white center than in the French defense with c7 – c5, Nb8 – c6, Qd8 – c7 / b6 / a5.

Games that are opened with the Caro-Kann Defense are quieter in the main variants than in the French Defense.

variants

The main variants of Caro-Kann arise after the next moves:

2. d2-d4 d7-d5

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The classic system after 7. Ng1 – f3 Nb8 – d7 8. h4 – h5 Bg6 – h7

Main variations with 3rd Nb1 – c3 or 3rd Nb1 – d2

White maintains the tension in the center by protecting the e4-pawn. The variants after 3. Nb1 – c3 or 3. Nb1 – d2 merge after the move 3.… d5xe4 with 4. Nc3 / Nd2xe4. The former world chess champion Anatoli Karpow preferred the development to d2 in his active time in order to be able to support his pawn on d4 with c2-c3 in the modern system - 3.… g7 – g6 and the following fianchetto after g7.

Variants after 3. Nb1 – c3 (or 3. Nb1 – d2) d5xe4 4. Nc3xe4 (or 4. Nd2xe4) :

• Classic system: 4.… Bc8 – f5 5. Ne4 – g3 Bf5 – g6
  The excursion of the white-squared bishop invites White to make the most aggressive and most-played move in this position: 6. h2 – h4. There is a threat of h4 – h5 with the bishop pair winning and White's advantage after e.g. B. 6.… Nb8 – d7 7. h4 – h5 Bg6 – f5 8. Ng3xf5 Qd8 – a5 + and Qa5xf5. Black therefore gives his bishop the escape square h7 with 6.… h7 – h6. In this variant castle both sides after further 7 g1-f3 Nb8-d7 8. h4 h5-h7-Bg6 9. L f1-d3 Lh7xd3 10. Dd1xd3 usually long. White tries to use his space advantage on the kingside and in the center , while Black tries to exert pressure on the half-open d-file and, if necessary, to break the white center through the lever … c6 – c5. White's advanced h-pawn can become a weakness in the endgame .

• Flohr system / Petrosjan - Smyslow system: 4.… Nb8 – d7
  The system was popular in the 1980s. Karpov played it in several world championship fights against Kasparov and in high-class tournaments. Later, Anand, Morozevich, Ivanchuk and Bologan liked to play it. The idea of ​​this solid system is to attack the white knight on e4 with 5.… Ng8 – f6 and, in the event of an exchange on f6, hit back with the knight on d7, in order to avoid weakening the pawn position . White has the opportunity to prepare knight sacrifices on f7 or e6 with the aggressive 5. Ne4 – g5 and the following Bf1 – d3, Ng1 – f3 and possibly Qd1 – e2 . The sixth and last game of the competition between the chess computer Deep Blue and the former world chess champion Garri Kasparow on May 11, 1997 was decided by such a knight sacrifice on e6 in favor of the chess computer (see Deep Blue # competitions against Kasparow ). With accurate play, Black can avoid such sacrifices and hope for a full game.

• Bronstein - Larsen variant: 4.… Ng8 – f6 5. Ne4xf6 + g7xf6
  In this variant Black accepts a double pawn and receives active play on the half-open g-file and through his pawn center. However, Black's structure also has considerable disadvantages: The double pawn makes Black's game more inflexible, and the isolated h-pawn tends to be weak in the endgame.

• Tartakower - Nimzowitsch variant: 4.… Ng8 – f6 5. Ne4xf6 + e7xf6
  Here White has a pawn majority on the queenside (4 white pawns against 3 black pawns), which is why a pawn or minor piece ending is mostly lost for Black. Although Black has a majority of pawns on the kingside, this does not lead to a passed pawn because of the double pawn . In return, Black achieves rapid piece development and, after short castling, a secure king position.

Variants with 3. Nb1 – c3 without swapping on e4:

• Gurgenidze counterattack: 3. Nb1 – c3 b7 – b5
• Modern or Gurgenidze system: 3. Nb1 – c3 g7 – g6

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The Panov attack after 5. Nb1 – c3

The Panov attack

3. e4xd5 c6xd5 4. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3. Black has three main continuations:

• With 5.… e7 – e6 Black renounces the development of his white-squared bishop after f5 or g4 and consolidates his center . After 6. Ng1 – f3 Bf8 – e7 7. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 8. Bf1 – d3 Nb8 – c6 there is a typical Isolani position of the improved Tarrasch defense . This also applies to 7. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 with 6.… Bf8 – b4 instead of Bf8 – e7. 6. Ng1 – f3 Bf8 – e7 7. c4 – c5 is therefore the way to be classified as Caro-Kann. After another short castling, Black intends to use the pawn lever … b7 – b6. If White protects his pawn c5 by 8. b2 – b4 as a precaution, Nc3 is unprotected. Black will then look for counterplay in the center and on the kingside through… Nf6 – e4. This can be seen e.g. B. in 7. c4-c5 0-0 8. b2-b4 Sf6-e4 9. Qd1-c2 f7-f5.
• After 5.… Nb8 – c6 an independent complex of variants begins, some of which lead to a very concrete game and which is analyzed right through to the endgame . For example, Mikhail Botvinnik defeated Rudolf Spielmann in just 12 moves at the 1935 Moscow tournament . Although Black can continue to develop his bishop to f5 or g4, he has to reckon with the advance c4 – c5, which is stronger with the black knight on c6 than without it: After the lever… b7 – b6 it is uncovered and can with Bf1 –B5 are attacked. For the other black pawn lever… e7 – e5 the exchange Bb5xc6 would be disadvantageous. After 5.… Nb8 – c6 6. Bc1 – g5 or 6. Ng1 – f3 Bc8 – g4 separate variants begin, while 6.… e7 – e6 leads to the first variant by changing moves . 6.… Be6 was an attempt by Alexander Alekhine
• 5.… g7 – g6 after 6. Qd1 – b3 prefers to temporarily sacrifice the pawn d5 with 6.… Bf8 – g7 7. c4xd5 0–0.

The advance variant

In contrast to the advance variant of the French Defense , after 3. e4 – e5 Black mostly develops his bishop with 3.… Bc8 – f5, in order to consolidate the point d5 in the next move with… e7 – e6 and to prepare the pawn lever … c6 – c5. White has numerous options on the fourth move: Bf1 – d3, h2 – h4, g2 – g4, Ng1 – e2, c2 – c4, c2 – c3, Lc1 – e3, Nb1 – d2, f2 – f4, as well as

• The positional short system: 4. Ng1 – f3 followed by 5. Bf1 – e2 and
• The sharp Van der Wiel system: 4. Nb1 – c3 e7 – e6 5. g2 – g4 Bf5 – g6 6. Ng1 – e2.

The variants with f2 – f4, c2 – c3 and Lc1 – e3 can also merge into one another by changing trains.

The black bishop on f5 is often the target of white attacks, for example by g2 – g4, h2 – h4 – h5 ( example game ) or Ng1 – e2 – g3 or Ng1 – e2 – f4 or, in the case of an opening of the queenside, by c2– c4 are missing there. That is why the continuation 3.… c6 – c5, which Mikhail Botvinnik played three times against Mikhail Tal in the 1961 World Chess Championship , has been gaining popularity again.

Minor variants

Exchange variant

3. e4xd5 c6xd5 4. Bf1 – d3. After the following c2 – c3 and… e7 – e6 this position corresponds to the exchange variant of the queen's gambit with exchanged colors. 4.… Ng8 – f6 prepares… Bc8 – g4. After 5. h2 – h3 Nb8 – c6 6. c2 – c3 e7 – e5 7. d4xe5 Nc6xe5 Black has an isolani , but free play. From 2007 the exchange variant appeared in the form 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d5 3. e4xd5 c6xd5 4. Nf3-e5. This so-called "Apocalypse Attack" makes the development of Bc8 more difficult and reserves the right to Bf1 – b5.

Fantasy variant

With 3. f2 – f3 the pawn e4 is protected; however, this move is considered double-edged, as it does nothing for the development of the characters. Black can continue with 3.… e7 – e6 along with… Ng8 – f6 or 3.… g7 – g6. Another interesting idea is to develop the knights on d7 and e7 in order to then attack the white center with c5 or e5 (lever). It is not uncommon to continue with 3.… d5xe4 4. f3xe4 e7 – e5 (threatening queen's chess on h4), which clarifies the situation in the center and gives Black free pawn play. Analogous to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit , the player who attracts can instead (after 3.… d5xe4) sacrifice a pawn with 4. Nb1 – c3.

Two-knight system

2. Ng1-f3 d7-d5 3. Nb1-c3. This was followed by Bobby Fischer liked to play. By 3.… d5xe4 4. Nc3xe4 Bc8 – g4 Black makes it difficult for White to form the center.

King's Indian attack

2. d2 – d3 with the idea 3. Nb1 – d2, 4. g2 – g3, 5. Bf1 – g2 etc.

Anti-Caro-Kann

2. c2 – c4 (Accelerated Panov Attack)

• • An independent continuation is 2.… e7 – e5.
  • 2.… d7 – d5 3. e4xd5 c6xd5 will result in the Panow system. 3.… Nf6 offers the Scandinavian Gambit , with which you play on a development lead.

Rasa study gambit

2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-c3 d5xe4 4. f2-f3

with ECO key B15

Follows ideas similar to the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit .

literature

• Jovanka Houska : Opening Repertoire: The Caro-Kann. Everyman, London 2015, ISBN 978-1-78194-210-9 .
• Cyrus Lakdawala : The Caro-Kann: Move by Move. Everyman, London 2012, ISBN 978-1-85744-687-6 .
• Lars Schandorff : Grandmaster Repertoire - The Caro-Kann. Quality Chess, Glasgow 2010, ISBN 978-1-906552-56-5 .
• Peter Wells : Grandmaster Secrets - The Caro Kann. Gambit, London 2007, ISBN 978-1-904600-61-9 .
• Anatoli Karpow : Caro-Kann defense - played right. Beyer, Hollfeld 2005, ISBN 978-3-88805-482-2 .
• Raymond Keene , Shaun Taulbut: How do you play Caro-Kann? Rau, Düsseldorf 1992, ISBN 978-3-7919-0447-4 .
• Alexander Konstantinopolski , Aron Weiz: Caro-Kann-Defense , Schmaus, Hamburg 1982, ISBN

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Edward Winter : The Caro-Kann Defense , as of January 31, 2016
2. ↑ Michail Botwinnik - Rudolf Spielmann, Moscow 1935 . Game to replay on chessgames.com.
3. ↑ Rasa Study Gambit (English).
4. ↑ B15 Caro-Kann, Rasa-Studier gambit. Accessed November 23, 2017 .