Customer Reviews

Complete Defense To King Pawn Openings (Cardoza Publishing's Essential Opening Repertoire Series)

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I have never played the Caro-Kann before, but after reading this book I began playing it and winning more than I had been. I was able to understand the ideas in the book and began to build a solid position every time I played the Caro-Kann. I was also able to beat an IM rated 2350 due to the understanding of the Caro-Kann that this book gave me. However, Mr. Schiller doesn't cover much in regard to the Advance Variation, but then again you can't have everything just one book. In my amateur opinion, this is an excellent book if one would like to learn the Caro-Kann.

I am just a club hack that has been playing the Caro-Kann for years. I bought the book because of Schiller's excellent coverage of the Lobron system in the classical Caro-Kann (4...Bf5). Previously I had been playing the Petrosian Smyslov System (4...Nd7). I have not found as thourough a coverage any where else particularly on some of whites more obscure gambit variations. Schiller's reccomendation to avoid alot of theory in the advance variation was tempting (3...Na6). But I am a Caro player because I like a defense that can stand the test of time. I am not sure the "Kavelek?" defense will sustain itself with a forwarned and prepared player. Schiller's line against the Panov-Botvinick attack is not the most secure Karpov-NimzoIndian transposing defense. But then I am no Karpov and it is a bit more exciting of a line. But if I wanted excitment I would be a Sicilian player. In conclusion Eric Schiller is an excellent and entertaining author. He is a gifted teacher. I am glad he wrote the book and glad I purchased it.

I'm a +2000 USCF rated player who fought to keep his head above water with the Dragon. An expereinced chess coach recommended that I try the Caro-Kann. I never respected the opening because I did not understand it. This book is not comprehensive but it is about understanding. BTW by building a solid position first, I've added 50 points to my rating.

Caro-Kann is a solid defense. Against a dangerous attacking player like Tal, Botvinnik used almost exclusively Caro-Kann as black to combat Tal's king pawn opening. Botvinnik almost resorted all to French defense before the two matches with Tal. On the very first game of the first match, Botvinnk lost with his French defense, for the rest of the match he used Caro-Kann against all king pawn opening. The result was not in his favor (1 win, 2 loses and 3 draws), but better than the French. For the second match, in the first half, with Caro-Kann, Botvinnik got the score: 1 win, 2 loses, and 2 draws. He switched to the French and lost at once. Caro-Kann it was for the rest of the match, 1 win and 3 drawns.
I played the Caro-Kann (before learning the statistics above) to avoid the troubled QB in the French, while the Sicilian requires lots of risks and fighting spirit. I got a good record against one player, he then researched and prepared some special line for me. Before I played him again, I played two other opponents whom the first player shared this special line with, they both beat me! The line was: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 Bf5 4 g4 Bg6 5 h4 h6 6 e6! To see the correct reply at moves 4 or 5, please use the chess database to look for games of Bronstein and Petrosian.
When I saw "Complete Defense To King Pawn Openings" and on the very first page of chapter 1, it has the diagram of black reply to white's e4 with c6; I bought the book instantly. It "was" about Caro-Kann and "complete" (???). What else could I ask for more? I was disappointed, it has no mention of 3 ... Bf5. It's not worth the price. The book is just a collection of Caro-Kann games, with some well-thought and some not so well-thought ideas of the author. And your job is to sort them out. 7 USD for the book is reasonable price.
Besides the Cardoza book's content is not high in quality, the format is not so good either. The two column format like Gambit book is much better. The font used in Cardoza book is hard too read, too large. I hope Cardoza will improve the book content and adjust some page format soon.
As a departing gift, my shortest (lost) game in Caro-Kann was 6 moves. I give the first 5 moves, you will find the 6th. ;-)
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7 5 Qe2 Ngf6 (?).
I recalled I saw this trap before, and after the game I checked again and there it was in a beginner textbook! ;-)

The Complete Defense to King Pawn Openings is structured around the Caro-Kann defensive system and goes into great depth to show readers the primary ideas behind this defense. Schiller focuses on all the essentials; ranging from the early move orders to the fundamental pawn structures that ideally evolve from the Caro-Kann in the end game.

With many great books on the Caro-Kann available, it is hard to go wrong with most as once you learn the main lines you will have a good opposition to e4. Understanding why some moves are better than others in this defense is paramount if you want to have a strong middle game with an eye toward the end game. This book covers the full scope and is more than adequate for any chess player up to the expert level.

This is a book about the Caro-Kann defense. A perfectly respectable opening to play, and Schiller presents many variations and practical ideas. All well and good. But why is the book called a "complete defense"? It IS -- if you ONLY play the Caro-Kann. But one might as well play only the Dutch and call it a "complete defense to queen pawn opening", or only 1. Nf3 and claim to have a "complete opening system for White".