Chess Book Reviews -
by the Duke of Brunswick
Caro-Kann Defence: Panov Attack by Anatoly Karpov and Mikhail Podgaets, B.T. Batsford, London 2006. 284 pages. £15.99
This book is the second of a series dealing with the Caro-Kann opening. The first volume covered the Fantasy and Advance variations and gave the fullest coverage of any book to date on these lines of the Caro-Kann. The second volume is just as comprehensive. It is divided into the following chapters:
1: Panov Attack. 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Nf3. 28 pages
2: Panov Attack. 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Bg5. 25 pages
3: Panov Attack. 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6!?. 30 pages.
4. Panov Attack. 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 Nf3 Nc6. 10 pages.
5. Panov Attack. 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 Nf3 Bb4. 36 pages.
6. Panov Attack. 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 Nf3 Be7. 83 pages.
7. Steiner System. 1 e4 c6 2 c4. 30 pages.
The 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 opening goes back to the 1880s when an amateur called Marcus Kann played it. The Austrian press called it the 'Kann Defence'. The same year, another amateur, Horatio Caro, played it and the German press called it the 'Caro Defence'. A year later they met and published a joint theoretical opening article, agreeing to call it the Caro-Kann Defence. The name has stuck and it's good that an opening line is named after the players who originated it rather than the town or even country where it was first played.
The opening was not particularly popular until after the First World War. In the post war years Capablanca (New York 1927), Alekhine, Nimzovich and Flohr began playing it on occasion. In the 1930s Botvinnik played the line 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 to win some important games and this may have delayed the entry of the Caro-Kann into the first rank of Black defences to the king's pawn. In 1958 Botvinnik took up the opening, this time from the black side, to defeat Smyslov in the return match. If that were not enough, Botvinnik struck again in his 1961 return match when the great combinative gifts of Tal were unable to breach the Caro wall. In 1966 Petrosian also used the Caro to bring Spassky to a halt. By the 1960s, along with the Sicilian, 1 .e5 and the French Defence, the Caro-Kann had entered the mainstream of chess openings against 1 e4. And Bareev's use of the Caro to defeat Polgar in their recent (2007) match in Elista shows that this opening is still relevant at the very top level.
What does this book tell us about the present theoretical status of the Panov-Botvinnik attack?
After 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Nf3 Bg4 7 cd Nxd5 8 Qb3 Bxf3 9 gf the Four Knights line is holding up well for Black. But he should not play 9 . Nb6 when the authors claim that 10 d5 Nd4 11 Bb5+ leads to a white advantage. Rather Black should prefer 9 . e6 10 Qxb7 Nxd4 11 Bb5+ Nxb5 12 Qc6+ Ke7 13 Qb5 Qd7 14 Nxd5 Qxd5 15 Qxd5 ed where the endgame is currently regarded as fine for Black - or more than fine if we believe Adorjan in his Black is OK series.
In the above line, White should go for 6 Bg5 to gain the advantage. Critical is 6 . dc when Black may well be OK after 7 d5 Ne5 8 Qd4 h6!? or even 7 . Na5! as the authors claim. The pawn sacrifice 7 Bxc4 Qxd4 8 Qxd4 Nxd4 9 O-O-O is sharp and unclear. Even the old Miles favourite 6 . Be6 remains stubbornly alive and well.
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6!? remains under a cloud after 6 Qb3 Bg7 7 cd O-O 8 Be2.
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 Nf3 Bb4 can transpose into the Karpov line of the Nimzo-Indian and remains a relatively fresh continuation. The authors maintain this line is fully playable for Black.
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 ed cd 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 Nf3 Be7 has long been the main line against the Panov-Botvinnik, a favourite of Petrosian and Karpov and solid as a rock. The analysis of the authors is very thorough, particularly in this section.
For instance, if we continue the above line with 7 cd Nxd5 8 Bd3 O-O 9 O-O Nc6 10 Re1 Bf6 11 Be4 Nce7 12 Qd3 g6 (the authors favour 12 . h6) 13 Bh6 Bg7 14 Bxg7 Kxg7 15 Rac1 b6 16 Bxd5 Qxd5 17 Nxd5 Qxd5 18 Rc7! we reach a variation given in the book on page 216. Karpov and Podgaets now make it clear that after 18 . Qxa2? 19 Qc3! wins in all variations e.g..
• 19.Kg8 20.Ne5 Qd5 21.Ng4 Qg5 22.h3!
• 19...Qd5 20.Re5 Qd8 21.d5 Kg8 (21...Qf6 22.dxe6 Bxe6 23.Rxe6!) 22.dxe6 fxe6 23.Rxe6)
They recommend 18 . Bd7 19.Ne5 Rad8 20.Rxa7 Bb5 when 21.Qe3 (or 21.Qf3 Qxf3 22.Nxf3 Ra8 23.Rxa8 Rxa8 24.a3 Rc8) 21...Qxd4 22.Qxd4 Rxd4 23.b3 both lead to stable advantages for White.
Quite often the authors' analysis is as deep as this. With this book you will scarcely be out prepared by your opponent. As we remarked about the companion volume on the Advance variation, it is a good guess that this work will not be surpassed for the remainder of this decade.
The overall impression of the book is that, though the Panov remains an aggressive variation, the black position is very solid.
As with the first volume the book has full variation indexes at the end of each chapter. There are a number of illustrative games at the end. The following example features a dazzling move and once again shows the depth of analysis reached by the authors.
Solomynovich v Zelic
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bc4 0-0 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Re1 Nxc3
More reliable is 10...Bf6 followed by ...Nce7.
11.bxc3 b6 12.Bd3 Bb7 13.h4 Bf6
13...Bxh4 14.Nxh4 Qxh4 15.Re3 is an interesting pawn sacrifice.
14.Ng5 g6 15.Qg4 h5 16.Qg3 Ne7 17.Ba3 Qd7 18.Rad1
18.Ne4 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Rac8 20.Re3 Rfe8 21.Qf4 Bg7 is only level.
18...Rfe8 19.d5!!
The pawn can be taken in four different ways, but none of them are good.
a) 19...Qxd5 20.Be4 Qxa2 21.Bxe7 Rxe7 22.Bxb7 Rxb7 23.Qf3 ;
b) 19...Bxd5 20.c4 Bc6 21.Bxg6 ;
c) 19...exd5 20.Nxf7 Kxf7 21.Rxe7+ Bxe7 22.Qxg6+ ;
d) 19...Nxd5 20.c4 Nc3 21.Bxg6 Nxd1 (21...Qxd1 22.Rxd1 Ne2+ 23.Kh2 Nxg3 24.Bxf7+ Kg7 25.Bxe8 ) 22.Bxf7+ Kh8 23.Bxh5 Rg8 24.Rxd1 with a powerful attack.
19...e5 20.Ne4 Bg7 21.Nd6 Rf8 22.Nxb7 Qxb7 23.d6 Nc6 24.Bc4 Rad8 25.Bd5 Qa6 26.c4 Nd4 27.d7 Rxd7 28.Bxf8 Kxf8 29.Rxd4 If 29 ...ed 30 Qb8+. 1-0
To sum up, the abundance of original material means that this book has by far the fullest coverage of the Panov-Botvinnik Attack available in the English language.
Duke of Brunswick