Caro-Kann

Caro-Kann - Introduction

The Caro-Kann, though mentioned in Polerio's manuscript in 1590, was not thoroughly analysed until 1886 by Horatio Caro and Marcus Kann, from whom it derives its name. The Caro Kann did not gain mainstream popularity until the 20th century, when modern masters such as Capablanca and Nimzowitsch began using it. In the Caro-Kann black responds to whites E4 pawn push with C6, this takes control of the D5 square where black aims to push their queen's pawn to with the aim of challenging white's central control.The Caro-Kann is a common defence against the king's pawn opening. It's classified as a Semi-Open Game, similar to the Sicilian or French defences, although it is thought to be more positional and less dynamic than either. It often results in advantageous endgames for black, who generally maintains a superior pawn structure throughout the game and it allows black to circumvent heavy E4 theory in openings such as the Ruy Lopez, Scotch or Italian games.

Horatio Caro and Marcus Kann, were first to thoroughly analyse black's C6 pawn push in response to white's king's pawn opening, this is why the opening bares their name today.

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Caro-Kann - Classical variation

The Classical Variation of the Caro-Kann is historically the most common, however as of late it has been surpassed by the advanced variation in popularity. The classical variation is often referred to as the Capablanca variation in honour of the Cuban grandmaster José Raúl Capablanca. Much of the Caro–Kann's reputation as a solid defence stems from this variation. Black makes very few concessions in their pawn structure resulting in a favourable endgame. Black generally castles kingside leading to very slow positional games resulting in a reputation as a solid but boring defence. In recent times variations in which Black castles queenside or even leaves their king in the centre have grown in popularity, these variations are often very sharp and dynamic.

The Caro-Kann's reputation as a positional yet slow opening comes from the main line, it was a favourite of Capablanca, and is often referred to as the Capablanca variation.

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Caro-Kann - Hillbilly attack

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Caro-Kann - Short variation

The short variation is named after Nigel Short, an english grandmaster who pioneered its use in the 1990's, the short variation is a slow and methodical response to black's C6 pawn push. Before Nigel, most advanced variations countered black's slow positionally strategy with an aggressive response, looking for an early or middle game victory. Nigel short rather than countering black's slow style of play, instead leaned into it. In the short variation, white aims to control more central space, castle kingside and slowly strangle black's position. In 1993, Nigel along with Garry Kasparov due to a dispute with the president of FIDE defected to form the Professional Chess Association or PCA for short. The PCA existed until 2006 when it reunified with FIDE.

The short variation is named after Nigel Short, an english grandmaster who pioneered its use in the 1990's, the short variation is a slow and methodical response to black's C6 pawn push.

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Introduction to the Caro-Kann defense

Caro-Kann - Introduction

Caro-Kann - Classical variation

Caro-Kann - Hillbilly attack

Caro-Kann - Short variation