MW wrote on 06/03/18 at 20:08:25:
I have Bologan's Caro Kann and was also looking at Fernandez book. My concern being that 4...Nd7 seems pretty risky to me and that white after 5 Ng5 Ngf6 now has both 6 Bc4 and 6 Bd3 and black is just playing for one of two results a draw or a loss.
So I'd be very interested in your comments as to whether you think the author has put new life into these lines.
I've checked both books against Negi and wanted to do some more detailed and substantial post on this when having more time. In short: Both seem to hold against Negi's lines which they really should, given the importance of Negi's book and the fact they've been published a lot later.
Bologan seems to hold with very concrete endgame play a pawn down in a 4...Bf5 line (later a bit of a sideline with ...c5, but overall the usual sharp stuff after 7...Nd7). The play isn't intuitive and you have to prolong the analysis a bit yourself to get the right path I'd say.
With Fernandez it's more complicated as he gives his thoughts on the old 14...Nf6 (not being sure on the final evaluation as seems to be Negi himself) and 14...Td8 by Ding Liren as his main recommendation. The latter seems to be ok - again with very concrete play, but it looks so scary to play with such an open king. I'm not sure about the practical value of this.
Overall, though, Fernandez' book seems to be much more fresh original and non-conservative regarding the chosen lines (3...Nf6 against 2 knights for instance) and has more explications as well. But this is only at first glance. Have to check the analysis. What I like btw is this service given by the authors (Lokander and Ntirlis did this in their 1.e4e5 books as well): Explicitely stating what e.g. Negi gives and explaining the antidote. This is a service both to readers you don't have Negi at hand (to know what he gives and feel certainty it's covered) and to those who do own Negi (to find the crossing points faster). And I've noticed that it makes opening books more enjoyable and motivating to put in effort.
Fernandez is referring explicitely to Negi in his explanations and Bologan is not.
Also note that they both have some books from white's perspective in their bibliography (both contains Dreev's book), but strangely enough Negi is missing in Bologan's bibliography (as is Houska's book if I remember correctly and Vidit!). Instead Bologan has some classics like Konstantinopolski/Weiz and Karpov/Podgaets(!). To be fair: He has listed Kornev, which Fernandez doesn't have (and would be important for the 2 knights with 3...Nf6).
To sum my very first short look up a bit: Fernandez' book looks refreshing and you might find a lot there even without playing 4...Nd7 in the classical.
Bologan gives alternatives as well on occassion (for instance 5...Be6 compared the drawish main line in the Panov), but overall the first look did not inspire me. The book is so conservative, that even the diagrams are from White's perspective
It feels a bit lacking and old-fashioned - compared to his 1.e4 e5 efforts.
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Fernandez on the Caro-Kann (Read 21065 times)
