Okay, perhaps if this book were published yesterday most of you still wouldn't recommend it, but if you're prowling a used book store like I was and can pick it up for a couple of bucks, my advice is to grab it.  The book is:

"How to Play the Caro-Kann Defense," by Raymond Keene and Shan Taulbut, published by The Macmillan Chess Library in 1988.

Obviously the lines and recommendations, whatever their original merit, are completely out of date.  But -- the book has about 100 C-K games.  A great way to get a feel for the flavor of the opening.

Just mentioning a few of these games will tell you both how dated the book is and how good some of these games are:  Belyavsky-Larsen/ Bilek-Bronstein/ Fischer-Keres/ Fischer-Petrosian/ Karpov-Miles/ Kasparov-Karpov/ Lasker-Nimzowitsch/ Ljubojevic-Karpov/ Smyslov-Botvinnik/ Spassky-Karpov/ Taimanov-Karpov/ Tal-Botvinnik . . .  Enough.  You get the idea.

I suppose if you go to war with players rated 2000+ who you expect to be booked to the eyebrows with the very latest stuff, you might scoff at this book.  But if you fight your battles down in the classes, you can mine the ore and find gold.  (And, although it is as outdated as everything else, the book does have something I wish every book had -- a good bibliography.)

As Victor Kortchnoi said, "Everything that been forgotten is new."  And Bent Larsen:  "If you want a new idea, read an old book."

I'm not saying this is a great how-to-play book.  If I had to make a choice between this and Gallagher, I'd take "Starting Out . . ." in a heartbeat.  But, if you can find it in a used book store cheap, the games are worth it.

There is also the 'Caro-Crusher' by Nigel Davies and 'Beating the Caro-Kann' by Vassilios Kotronias to be reviewed.

Tops

Here is my review of all current c-k works. Over the past months, I have gathered almost everything there is, at whatever price 

Advance: 

Velickovic, Informator CD 2004: this is an excellent database, full of annotated games and surveys. Assessments are objective and spot on, with alot of analysis new to me. If Black is looking to surprise White, there is plenty of ammunition here with some rare, but surprisingly strong lines. Coverage is complete on all lines for both colours. As a bonus, 3. f3 is also covered!  I think all C-K players should have a copy of this database.

Byron Jacobs, Everyman: This one is VERY dated. But its good at explaining ideas and making sense of the frequently chaotic positions. A reasonable buy if you are starting out on these positions, or if you find the Informator database too lacking in words. For most serious c-k players, the Informator database should be enough.

Classical: 

My only interest is in 4... Bf5/7... Nd7/0-0 (as played by Dreev, Bareev, Anand) so have mainly only read these parts in the following books.

Neil McDonald, Everyman: This is useful for the beginning player but theory has moved quite abit since 2001. A number of lines are missing, especially 11... Qa5+/11... Bb4+. I also think McDonald doesn't emphasise enough on the dangerous g-pawn sacs that Khalifman recommends in Anand3, it is dangerous for Black to play 4... Bf5 and 0-0 with only McDonald's book. But to be fair, these White ideas only became popular in the last two years or so.  If you already keep up using NIC Yearbooks, of which Alon Greenfeld's surveys are fantastic (and you are happy simply playing Be7 and 0-0), then you don't really need this book, which was the case for me!  As an aside, I found McDonald's coverage on the Bronstein-Larsen 4... Nf6 5. Nxf6 gf6 interesting. He makes a reasonable case for Black, even when White fianchettos. I am no expert here, but if you like the B-L then this book looks a must.

Kasparov/Shakarov: Mine is the 2nd ed from Batsford. Same comments as above apply, theory has moved on. But here you have Kasparov's interesting comments (as usual he is a man of strong opinions!), and its amazing how far-sighted he was. Many of his comments and suggestions are now main line theory. Coverage of older theory here like 6. N1e2 and 6. Bc4 is good, and some of the tactical variations have to be seen to be believed. Kaspy has a knack for pointing out critical moments in the game, and critical maneuvers in critical positions. This book is worth picking up, if you can ever find a copy!

Opening for White According to Anand3, Khalifman, Chess Stars 2004:

Okay this is the one you've been waiting for. An excellent piece of work by Khalifman, but Black players need not be afraid. I agree with Tracke's comments in general. Indeed there have been improvements for Black since Khalifman's book was published! Some of which are featured by Andrew Martin here on Chesspub, or in NIC.  Amazing how fast theory changes nowadays 

One recent example is 
7... Nd7 8. h5  Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Bb4 13. c3 Be7 14. c4 Qc7 15. d5!? (Khalifman's suggestion) cd5 16. cd5 Qd6! (Khenkin's novelty in Rodriguez-Khenkin 2005) and Martin already likes Black, see July update. 

There are of course other examples, but if you understand I don't wish to show my whole repertoire! Besides, if you have kept up with chesspub/NIC yearbooks you can start to notice some differences in opinions. It is these occasional moments where it may seem Khalifman annotates "by result", quoting long game references, which is not a completely healthy sign. 

As I come from the black side, I look at this book as a huge skeptic! But since this is a White repertoire book afterall, a little optimism from Khalifman is probably justified.  Khalifman has pointed out the critical continuations, while providing many strong novelties, and good explanations, this is top-notch stuff, and indispensable for the WHite player 

But one should have realistic expectations. You cannot bust a major opening like a caro-kann in one book! Black is very much alive, at least after 4... Bf5 and 7... Nd7 (hardly any spectacular novelties here). 

Okay this has been a long post, I have some more books/cd and will post my opinions on them later.

 
Two new Caro-Kann books by Anatoly Karpov on Batsford, 27 April 2006! 

From amazon.co.uk:
Karpov's Caro Kann: Closed System 
Karpov's Caro Kann: Panov's Attack   
"The Caro Kann defense is, without a doubt, a very solid opening choice. Black usually has a good counterplay and no pawn weaknesses. It has been a favoured openig for many top players, including Mikhail Bolvinnik, Garry Kasparov (in his younger years) and Anatoly Karpov. It is the latter in particular who championed the opening and it has become closely associated with the former World Champion. In two volumes, only available at the moment in Russian, Karpov gives the ultimate reference on the Caro Kann Defense, covering his own and many other games."

Presumably the Closed System volume is on the Advance variation. I hope Karpov gets around to writing one on 3. Nc3 too. 

I would say its probably more important that Black Caro players get this book than White.

Though it is written from white's point of view the educational content is so rich that both sides cannot help but benefit greatly. Besides you will need this book to prepare for the coming storm.

Remember...to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

This book is a must have.

Regards

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Hiya Inn  

The Caro certainly is not refuted, but after khaliman's book his task is certainly more daunting. I too was a bit dissapointed at first when Jobava - Bareev did not feature in the book, as this was a wonderful piece of prep by Jobava, but this has been anaslyed well in other sources and besides a solution has been found, namely hold off on c5 for a move or two not allowing the d5 pawn sac.

Ironically this d5 pawn sac with the idea of gaining the f5 square for the white knight features heavily in the Khalifman book, apparenty it is a theme that crops up often in the Bf5 lines where black Castles Kingside.

What can I say a lot of unaswered questions about the Caro-Kann I had over the years were answered in this book and then some. After reading it I felt I was 100 elo points stronger and that my understanding of chess had deepened significantly.   

Like a kid in a candy store I am still working through the book, I mean everything I thought I knew about the Caro I had to rethink. Maybe I am overstaing the case but for me this is hands down the most Brilliant Opening book in the last 30 years. 

John Watson's play the french series used to top my list, but the bar has now been raised significantly. 

I can hardly wait to face the Caro in my next tournament game, and it wasn't so long ago that I dreaded facing this Opening like a visit to the dentist  

Regards

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At Last!!  

Finally you boring Caro-Kann types can no longer rest easy at night. I have been working through Khalifman's latest work 'Opening Rep for White according to Anand Volume 3' for a couple of weeks now, and all I can say about the analysis is that it is breathtakingly good.

It seems this series is getting better and better, and going through the Caro section I kinda felt like how Neo must have done after choosing the blue pill. I could gush and gush here but rather than do that I would simply state than on a scale from 1 to 10 the Caro portion of this book is an 11.

Caro-Kann players be afraid...... be very very afraid, your only hope now as far as I can tell is that White forgets some analysis at the board.   

Regarding the Scandanavian portion of the book, it would seem that this part was rushed together to meet a publishers deadline or something. Nevertheless this section though comparitively small, is also fantastic, especially for 2300+ players. I say 2300+ plus because there are certain subtleties and move order tricks that were not explained well enough for the average player that only the well informed will grasp.

I will attempt to give an e.g. , for instance the move order where Black delays Nf6 is simply not covered properly and among Scandanavian specialist this is an important finesse. Khalifman's book gives the line: 1e4 d5 2exd5 Qxd5 3.Nxc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 and concludes that black has nothing better than to transpose with Nf6, but I strongly disagree. In general it is much more promising to defer Nf3 until Black plays Nf6, the reason being that if black fails to do so white can launch a very dangerous attack begining with g4 etc. for e.g.  1e4 d5 2exd5 Qxd5 3.Nxc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Bc4! Bf5 6.Bd2! This is White's strongest and most accurate continuation, now I think Black should play 6....Nf6 when 7.Nf3 transposes play back to the mainline. However the reason why black chose to delay an early Nf6 in the first place, is that at the moment White's chances are excellent there and he has been scoring very well. 

What Scandanavian experts have been doing lately to avoid the critical position outlined in lovely detail in Khalifman's Book, is as follows: 1e4 d5 2exd5 Qxd5 3.Nxc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Bc4! Bf5 6.Bd2! e6  now white is at a Cross Roads his best options are 7.g4 [This is the reason why white deferred Nf3] or 7.d5!?, I tried the former recently and crushed an IM and Scandanavian expert in under 30 moves, but the post mortem threw up some improvements that may allow Black to hang on, however I think 7.d5!? offers a risk free solid edge for those with a weak heart. 

So to conclude Scandanavian Defence players need to be very afraid too. 

On a scale from 1 - 10 I give Khalifman's latest work an 8. I would have given it a perfect 10 except as I have explained above some important finesse play was not explained or included in the Scandanavian portion of the book, perhaps they ran out of pages.  

I hope this post proved enlightening.

Regards

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Postscript: I just remembered that this is not a Scandanavian thread but a Caro-Kann one. Perhaps I should delete that part of the post        

It's middle of the road Schiller (not much of a ringing endorsement, I suppose).  In fact, not much of an improvement on the Podgaets book (which doesn't exist), really, if you already know your Caro.  When I was playing the Caro in correspondence chess, I based my repertoire on the Smyslov system, and followed Gufeld and Stetsko's little book, which I quite liked (having just lambasted their efforts on the Classical French, I guess this is a bit of a turnaround...), and Aagaard's Panov-Botvinnik Attack.

I don't for a second dispute the need for a good monograph on the Caro, which is well overdue, and you have to imagine it would sell rather well.  I'd be very interested to see Podgaets's work see the light of day, as he'd likely have some interesting material.