I just started playing the Caro-Kann recently and have seen a variety of moves on white's third move. Are there any good "all-in-one" resources to examine the different variations? I consider the opening to be the weakest part of my game and want to strengthen is as much as I can.
5 Answers
The Caro-Kann: Move by Move is a good resource for the Caro-Kann. The repertoire covered has winning chances but is very solid. (Just make sure your rating is at least 1500; below that, learning opening is not ideal.)
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Cyrus Lakdawala is a very good author. I like this book, and his book on the Slav too!– user1108Aug 5, 2015 at 13:03
I'm rated about 2000 USCF and have been a Caro Kann player for 10ish years. I really loved both Peter Wells 'Grandmaster Secrets: The Caro Kann' and Joe Gallagher's 'Starting Out: The Caro Kann'. Both provide really superior explanation along with the moves. I don't think that you want to dive into Schandorff as a first time Caro Kann player.
Here is another high-level book - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Play-Caro-Kann-Complete-Repertoire-Everyman/dp/1857444345
Jovanka Houska's new book "Opening Repertoire: the Caro-Kann" is also very good, but like Schandorff's book, Houska's book is mainly aimed at a fairly high level (2000+ elo).
For an introduction to the Caro-Kann, it's hard to beat Lakdawala book recommended above, "The Caro-Kann Move by Move." It's got enough theory to get up and running, and it's in a complete game format which is a very good way to start learning an opening.
If you are looking for a high-level book, then the "Grandmaster Repertoire" series can be recommended. There is one about the Caro-Kann, written by GM Schandorff in 2010.
It should added that, for the same series, in 2014 GM Negi wrote a book on a 1.e4 repertoire for white, covering the Caro-Kann.
