The Caro-Kann

Publisher: Chessbase, 2009, DVD

The Caro-Kann is considered to be one of the safest and most reliable replies to 1.e4. So it comes as no surprise that in the list of top players who have made use of this defence there are no fewer than four world champions, namely Botvinnik, Petrosian, Karpov and Anand. In addition to that, the Caro-Kann is played by such top players as Adams, Dreev and Bareev. The Moldavian top grandmaster Viktor Bologan presents in twenty videos a repertoire for Black which is easy to assimilate and yet playable at the highest of all levels. In his first six videos you will find recommendations for use against side lines (2.d3, 2.Nc3, 3.f3), the Exchange Variation, the Panov system and the e4-c4-system (holding back with d4). Then in seven videos there follows a detailed presentation of the Advance Variation (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5). The second main section (seven videos) is dedicated to the Classical System (1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3/d2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5), which can be countered with an easily comprehensible and standard setup. In his presentation of the various lines, Bologan lays the emphasis on the opening and early middlegame, and where the variations require it he also provides an evaluation of the endgames which arise from them. At the end of each video there is a short summing up of the system being recommended, in which Bologan goes back over those critical moments which the player of the Caro-Kann absolutely must bear in mind.

Video running time: 4 hours 40 min.

System requirements: Pentium-Processor at 300 Mhz or higher, 64 MB RAM, Windows XP, Windows Vista, DVD drive, mouse, soundcard