Caro-Kann Study

Hi how is everyone doing,

I would like to learn the Caro-Kann but I find it hard to watch all these youtube videos and actually land up learning something, i need a good video explanation.

Also what is the best book to get for the Caro-Kann, how do you learn from these types of books

and is The Modernized Caro-Kann By Daniel Fernandez a good place to start (i just randomly found this book, just wanted to know if its good etc)

and opening repertoire the Caro-Kann Jovanka Houska

thanks.

The "Modernized" series is usually quite detailed and aimed at advanced players. Houska's book is good and more introductory. I'd start with that instead. I'm sure there are other good books too.

also what about the book by Lars Schandorff GM repertoire The Caro-Kann?

whats the best book for wanting to learn all about the caro-kann if ive never played it before

That's going to be like the Modernized book -- very heavy on detailed lines in prefence to explanation. These books can be a great resource if you're working on deep prep (or playing correspondence chess), but they're probably not what you're looking for for learning the idead of the opening. Houska will be better suited to that. It's possible there are briefer books that are also worth considering (say, in the Everyman series), though I don't know anything specific about them.

thanks for the help

also it seems that Houska has 3 different books on the caro kann, which is the correct one?

I always recommend this dumb little video for a crash course, at 1200 level this is enough to jump in and start playing. You need to learn it by playing it, you are not going to be able to get a complete understanding of it before sitting down to play. The Caro is a solid opening and you are not going to get blown off the board if you don't know the theory. I can explain the basic idea of the Caro to you in one sentence: you plan to undermine White's center and prove that the d4 pawn is weak. There is nothing to say beyond that which applies to all the different variations. The Advance and the Panov and the Fantasy, say, are all very different to each other.

When you're ready to learn more detail, I would recommend Keep it Simple for Black, which won opening course of the year a few years back. I think his line selections in the Caro are very good and as a bonus you'll get a repertoire against everything else as well, if you want it.

I think they may simply be different editions of the same book. I have the recent one, but I’m sure even the earlier ones are good for the purposes of learning the basic ideas of the opening.

1) If you are going to choose a Jovanka Houska book, choose the Red book published in 2015. That is the most current book published.

2)Another book that I'd suggest is Win with the Caro-Kann by Sverre Johnsen and Torbjorn Ringdan Hansen.

Hi!

Do you already know which main variation of the Caro-Kann you prefer? While some books might focus on the classical 4…Bf5, others might cover 4…Nf6 or even 4…Nd7.

For instance, if you have already decided on the classical 4…Bf5, then a great - but old - book by Kasparov is an excellent choice. You should also check a fresh source for the latest trends, like the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings Vol B (which includes everything but lacks plain English explanations - their language is just symbols!).

If you are not sure about the variation you like, then I would advise you to get a comprehensive book that includes all the variations but does not go too deep into them.

Good luck!