The Caro-Kann: The Easy Way
by Thomas Engqvist
Paperback, 288 pages
ISBN: 9781849948166
Also available in ebook format (Glassboxx app required)
November 2023
Published by Batsford
https://www.batsfordbooks.com/book/the-caro-kann-the-easy-way
Review by NM Mike Pastore
Chess players face a perplexing perennial problem: How can we learn our chess openings without getting stuck in the bottomless muck of opening theory?
The answer can be simple. Instead of pouring countless hours into the mere memorization of tree-branching lines, get a book. Not just any book. You need a smart chess book that focuses on understanding the ideas behind the opening you love to play. And if you ever need a dynamic defense against 1. e4, then The Caro-Kann: The Easy Way (by IM Thomas Engqvist) is the book you need.
The book contains nine sections, an Introduction, followed by eight chapters, each one covering the eight main ways White can play against the Caro-Kann. In the valuable introduction, we get quotations, a brief history of the Caro-Kann, and an overview explaining the opening’s goals and ideas. Also here are four introductory games, one by Marcus Kann, one by Horatio Caro, and two by Jose Raul Capablanca.
In the eight chapters that follow, we get forty-four more model games, all interesting, instructive, and all deeply annotated by the author. The games are well-chosen, and include some lesser known masterpieces, along famous Caro-Kann classics — including the titanic battle between Karpov and Kramnik battle at Linares in 1993. For me, learning the openings by studying games is the most efficient way to learn.
One of the happy surprises in this book is the author’s choice of variations for Black. Playing the Caro-Kann almost always gives the black side many options. For example, in the advance variation (1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5) Black can play either 3 … Bf5 or 3 … Nf6. Engqvist has chosen the line most consistent with his theme “the easy way”. This was not the line I had been playing, but after reading this chapter, I now have two weapons instead of one.
Throughout the book, the choice of lines, the commentary before the games, and the annotations about the games, are all consistently excellent. One of my favorite chapters, Chapter Seven, explains how Black handles the Two Knights variation (1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3), which was the favorite choice (from the White side) of world champions Alexander Alekhine and Bobby Fischer. After the next moves (3 … Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 e6), Engqvist explains why is it fine here to give up the Bishop pair: “The fundamental intention of setting up the triangle of pawns on e6, d5 and c6 is to make it more difficult for White’s kingside bishop to influence the game. This is also according to the famous rule by Capablanca that you want to place the pawns on the opposite colour of your own bishop to achieve maximum harmony in the position.”
The Caro-Kann: the Easy Way has been written for all skill levels, for beginners, for club players, and for tournament players. It will give you a complete lifetime repertoire against White’s favorite first move. And it will give you the understanding, the confidence, and the courage, to play for an exciting win with Black.
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Mike Pastore, NM
Founder and President, Ithaca Chess Club
2024 August 27
review URL: https://chesstonight.com/books/the-caro-kann-the-easy-way/