Andrew Martin: The ABC of the Caro Kann

ChessBase Fritztrainer Eröffnung, Englisch, ISBN: 978-3-86681-003-7, 2006.

Niveau: Anfänger, Fortgeschritten

Mentioned by Polerio as early as 1590, it was Horatious Caro of Berlin and Markus Kann of Vienna who introduced 1...c6 into competitive play all the way back in the second half of the nineteenth century. At that time, swashbuckling attacking play usually connected with gambits was very popular and so it was hardly surprising that this defence was regarded as dry and boring. After Steinitz, when defensive principles began to be more fully appreciated, we saw an upsurge of interest in defences such as the Caro-Kann and it was no less a fi gure than Jose-Raul Capablanca who would use our defence as one of the main weapons in his armoury. It suited his outstanding positional style very well. Later adherants included, Flohr, Nimzowitsch, Tartakower, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Petrosian, Karpov, Leko and Kramnik. Here we see a definite trend among fierce competitors of a similar inclination. Solidity above all, but solidity with promise!

The ABC of the Caro Kann describes a repertoire for Black which will stand the test of time and the main ideas and themes of the opening are explained in Andrew Martin's usual friendly, accessible style. The Caro-Kann is a permanent defence to 1 e4! (Video running time: 4 h 13 min)

Andrew Martin, geboren 1957, ist ein englischer Schachspieler mit dem Titel eines Internationalen Meisters. Martin ist Sieger verschiedener internationaler und nationaler Turniere. Er spielt seit Jahren in der Four Nations Chess League, aktuell (Stand: Juli 2009) für Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher, zuvor für den Chamberley Chess Club. Seinen Titel als Internationaler Meister erhielt Martin im Jahre 1984. Seine erste Großmeister-Norm konnte er bei der Britischen Meisterschaft in Brighton im Jahre 1997 erkämpfen. Martin war Kommentator der Schachweltmeisterschaft zwischen Kasparow und Kramnik im Jahre 2000.