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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) Fernandez on the Caro-Kann (Read 21063 times)
brabo
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #20 - 04/24/20 at 08:06:07
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LuckIsMySkill wrote on 10/21/19 at 08:47:20:
brabo wrote on 10/01/19 at 12:56:21:
I played against Fernandez last summer and studied his repertoire against 1.e4 but I never got the impression he is a theoretically well educated player... Maybe this book was a special project or somebody supported him heavily as I can't see the link with his non-standard approach of playing chess.


As they say, "Do as I say, not as I do"...

But seriously, I have a significant record with the Caro, and you'll be even more pleased to know that I'm publishing a Modern book as well.

Nice to see my opponent has annotated our game at chesspub: https://www.chesspublishing.com/content/6/index.htm
Maybe one line which I would've added in the comments is 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 a6 5.Be2 b5 6.Re1 Bb7 7.a4 b4 as I met it already many times online even by some masters. After 8.Nd5 a5 9.Bc4 e6 10.Nf4 however I've crushed many times black by sacrificing on e6 eventually by adding Ng5 into the attack.

I have recently played some interesting new ideas in Cappelle La Grande 2020 against a couple of international masters and grandmasters. I am mainly thinking about 1.b3 f5 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.c4 d5 5.cxd5 Qd5 6.Nc3 and now the home cooked novelty 6...Qf7 which Leela and Stockfish approve. This line was considered as a refutation of the black line before but it isn't see my game against Bulgarian grandmaster Radoslav Dimitrov which I lightly annotated in Dutch here http://www.skdeurne.be/Partijen/HelmutCLG2020P1.php
Maybe as there aren't many new games played now, it would be nice to see them also covered.
  
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Konstriktor
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #19 - 11/04/19 at 19:03:01
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LuckIsMySkill wrote on 10/21/19 at 08:47:20:
brabo wrote on 10/01/19 at 12:56:21:
I played against Fernandez last summer and studied his repertoire against 1.e4 but I never got the impression he is a theoretically well educated player... Maybe this book was a special project or somebody supported him heavily as I can't see the link with his non-standard approach of playing chess.


As they say, "Do as I say, not as I do"...

But seriously, I have a significant record with the Caro, and you'll be even more pleased to know that I'm publishing a Modern book as well.


That's good news! Will it be called "The Classicalized Modern"?
  
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brabo
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #18 - 10/21/19 at 08:59:28
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LuckIsMySkill wrote on 10/21/19 at 08:47:20:
brabo wrote on 10/01/19 at 12:56:21:
I played against Fernandez last summer and studied his repertoire against 1.e4 but I never got the impression he is a theoretically well educated player... Maybe this book was a special project or somebody supported him heavily as I can't see the link with his non-standard approach of playing chess.


As they say, "Do as I say, not as I do"...

But seriously, I have a significant record with the Caro, and you'll be even more pleased to know that I'm publishing a Modern book as well.


Don't forget to check the recommendation about the Modern made in https://www.chesspub.com/cgi-bin/chess/YaBB.pl?num=1571397688

Also I have quite some original analysis from 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 a6 5.Be2 b5 ( I was hoping to see that in our game) see e.g. http://chess-brabo.blogspot.com/2018/02/the-non-sense-of-blitz.html
  
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LuckIsMySkill
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #17 - 10/21/19 at 08:47:20
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brabo wrote on 10/01/19 at 12:56:21:
I played against Fernandez last summer and studied his repertoire against 1.e4 but I never got the impression he is a theoretically well educated player... Maybe this book was a special project or somebody supported him heavily as I can't see the link with his non-standard approach of playing chess.


As they say, "Do as I say, not as I do"...

But seriously, I have a significant record with the Caro, and you'll be even more pleased to know that I'm publishing a Modern book as well.
  

It’s funny, when I was a little boy, and told people I was going to be a comedian, everyone laughed at me. Well, no one’s laughing now.
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brabo
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #16 - 10/01/19 at 12:56:21
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I played against Fernandez last summer and studied his repertoire against 1.e4 but I never got the impression he is a theoretically well educated player. To me it seems he just plays intuitively going as quick as possible for fresh positions often taking huge risks.
http://chess-brabo.blogspot.com/2019/09/to-study-openings-part-3.html
Maybe this book was a special project or somebody supported him heavily as I can't see the link with his non-standard approach of playing chess.
  
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #15 - 09/26/19 at 08:52:09
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What I am missing is why Fernandez chooses 4...Nd7 over 4...Bf5, why 3...Nf6 over 3...Bg4 in the Two Knights, etc. I am also missing some minor lines like 2.Nc3 d5 3.f4. Overall I think it's a very original and good book, but you have to be at a certain level to get the most out of it.
  
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #14 - 07/29/18 at 21:29:57
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As a life long Sicilian player I always had a soft spot for the Caro-Kann as a backup, especially for the Karpov-Smyslov line with 4. ...Nd7, but this line seemed to be in a crisis for quite some time and wasn't covered by GMs lately.
At first I was a bit disappointed, due to the lack of a detailed table of contents, but the author uses chapter guides and it worked quite well, if you know, what you were searching, which leads to the audience for this book: this book starts, where other books end and can only be compared with Bologan's tomb. 
I wasn't aware, that Caro Kann can nowadays be as complicated as the Botvinnik Slav: on page 390 in the Ding variation (4. ...Nd7 /14. ...Rd8), Fernandez writes: "34. ...Rh6 with counterplay - both sides have finally completed development and a very tense late-middlegame phase will now follow."
Of course, I've to double check some lines and get a feeling for the modernized Caro-Kann, but this is one of the best opening books I've ever read: I like the structure, the introduction and conclusion in every chapter, well chosen surprise lines as bonus, chapters about (buried) variations, which Karpov and Anand played 20 years ago and most important, objectivity, in spite of Fernandez' slight favour for Black, as it is his main defence.
 
It's not a repertoire book, it's a ride from past, to present and future development - well done!
  

The older, the better - over 2200 and still rising.
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #13 - 06/12/18 at 18:52:09
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I still think that the most original would be to continue down the hot line with 4...Af5/7...e6 (without any ...Cd7). Any case I agree that I prefer the book by Fernandez more. 

About Two Knights, I would not play 3...Ag4 because it is against what White prepares. 3...Cf6 annoys White more, and the position is not as static with a two bishop advantage like White hopes.

I would have preferred that either cover the Advance line with the ...g5 line, sometimes where Black does a 0-0-0. Much more enterprising.
  
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califax
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #12 - 06/12/18 at 12:21:17
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califax wrote on 06/12/18 at 12:02:34:
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 Wink It feels a bit lacking and old-fashioned - compared to his 1.e4 e5 efforts.
  
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #11 - 06/12/18 at 12:02:34
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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).
  
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #10 - 06/06/18 at 19:28:08
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Can anybody comment on what Fernandez recommends in the Advance line with 5...Ne7? Is it the same line that Bologan recommends with 6...c5?
  
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #9 - 06/03/18 at 22:30:04
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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.


It would take me a whilst to go through the 4...Cd7 lines, as I usually play 4...Af5 I need to beef op those lines. I also need to update the entire Advance with both Fernandez and Bologan books--the last time the 3...Af5 in Advance was covered in a major repertoire for Black book was Schandorff eight years ago.

Regards to 4...Cd7, the main main line as you can see from the excerpt is some 14...Td8 by Ding Li-Ren. I am very unfamiliar with any of these lines, but I can see flipping through pages that there is a lot of theory and strange looking positions where Black sometimes gets a rook on h5 or a5 via d5 (and the rook on h8 is still there  Cheesy

Basically the main line is very sharp and it looks complicated. But if Ding plays it, I am guessing he thinks that it is an okay line.
  
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #8 - 06/03/18 at 20:08:25
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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.
  
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #7 - 06/01/18 at 21:34:17
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I have just received my copia, and I like the book a lot. It is a fairly big, at a little over 400 pages, and has some interesting touches on the Advance. 

I do not play 4...Cd7. Last time I played 4...Cd7 was in one game 15 years ago where I got obliterated in less than 25 moves. Maybe time to look at this line again? Around 150 or so pages of 4...Cd7 in the book  Cheesy
  
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Re: Fernandez on the Caro-Kann
Reply #6 - 05/24/18 at 11:34:44
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califax wrote on 05/23/18 at 14:30:47:
The preface is an interesting read, don't miss it.


Link to website

https://www.schachversand.de/de/buecher-medien/eroeffnungen/caro-kann/the-modern...

Index of Chapters

Quote:


005 Key to Symbols used

006 Introduction by the author

007 Aims of this book

013 Bibliography

PART I – Less common or critical attempts

1.e4 c6 2.--

017 Chapter 1 – Early minor lines

047 Chapter 2 – Two Knights main line

073 Chapter 3 – King’s Indian Attack and Fantasy

091 Chapter 4 – Pseudo-Panov (2.c4)

109 Chapter 5 – Exchange and Panov-Botvinnik variations

PART II – Advance Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5

147 Chapter 1 – Various White systems against 3 ... Bf5 (4.--)

175 Chapter 2 – Short system recommendation 1 (5 ... Ne7)

197 Chapter 3 – Short system recommendation 2 (5 ... c5)

223 Chapter 4 – 3 ... c5: The Arkell-Khenkin Variation

241 Chapter 5 – Annotated games for thematic structures in the Advance Caro

PART III – 4 ... Nd7 sidelines

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7

259 Chapter 1 – The 5.Bc4 system

285 Chapter 2 – Minor 5th moves

305 Chapter 3 – More challenging lines after 5.c3

319 Chapter 4 – Surprise weapons for Black after 5.Ng5

PART IV – 4 ... Nd7 main line

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.Ngf3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7

345 Chapter 1 – An interesting White attempt: 11.a4!?

357 Chapter 2 – Main line with 14 ... .Nf6 (and a reason for rejecting it)

379 Chapter 3 – Main line with Ding’s improvement 14 ... Rd8!

399 Chapter 4 – Sightseeing along the Yellow Brick Road

  
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