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Caro-Kann Defence Analysis Center. Some people find the Caro-Kann Defence to be yet another reason not to play 1 e4 as White! In the hands of a player
who knows a little theory, the Caro-Kann can be a very solid defence. After 1 e4 c6 White can choose to mix it up with 2 c4 with the idea 2 ... d5 3 cxd5 cxd5 4 exd5 Nf6 (4 ... Qxd5 5 Nc3 Qd6 is okay but does not appeal
to everybody) 5 Bb5+ with immediate complications revolving around how, and whether, Black will recover his pawn. The main lines are 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 (the Advance Variation 3 e5 has gained a lot of
ground in the last few years) dxe4 4 Nxe4 and now:
- 4 ... Bf5, the Classical line, about which a young Kasparov wrote a book
- 4 ... Nf6 is a tricky line accepting doubled pawns
- 4 ... Nd7 adopted by Karpov in a big way
Dzindzi - Khmelnitsky, Eastern Masters May 1992, B10 1 c4 c6 2 e4 d5 3 exd5 cxd5 [Black has the option here of 3 ... Nf6!?, gambitting a pawn after 4 dxc6 Nxc6, or transposing to the Panov-Botvinnik after 4 d4
cxd5. Therefore, if White wants to make sure that he can get in 5 Bb5+ as in the game, then he should play on the third move 3 cxd5.] 4 cxd5 Nf6 5 Bb5+ Bd7 [The main variation is 5 ... Nbd7 6 Nc3 g6,
etc.] 6 Bc4 Bf5 [Borrowing an idea from the Center Counter (1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 Bb5+ Bd7 4 Bc4 Bf5). But in that opening, with the c-pawns still on the board, Black does not have so many worries about the
a4-e8 diagonal. An interesting alternative is 6 ... b5 7 Bb3 Na6. Not to be recommended is 6 ... Qc7 (with the idea 7 Bb3 Nxd5) 7 d3!, etc.] 7 Nc3 Nbd7 8 d3! [This extra support for the bishop allows White
to hold the extra pawn longer.] Nb6 9 Nge2 Rc8 10 Ng3 Bd7 [Not 10 ... Bg6? 11 Qb3 threatening a2-a4-a5 and Bc1-e3.] 11 O-O g6 [Khmelnitsky cannot recover the pawn with 11 ... Nxc4 12 bxc4 Rxc4 13
Qb3.] 12 Nge4 Nxe4 13 Nxe4 Bg7 14 Bg5 [Dzindzi, after having obtained an overwhelming position, tries to land a knock-out punch. A mundane but strong continuation was 14 Qb3 O-O 15 Be3.] f6 15 Bf4
f5! [Suddenly, Black is in the game again, as he will finally recover the pawn, but Dzindzi maintains a strong positional advantage.] 16 Nc3 Nxc4 17 dxc4 Rxc4 18 Qd2 O-O 19 Rfe1 Be8 20 Be5 b5 21 b3 Rc8 22
Bxg7 Kxg7 23 Qd4+ Kg8 24 d6 [Trying to decide the issue by brute force. On the slower 24 Rac1 a6, there is no concrete continuation.] Qxd6 25 Nd5 DIAGRAM [Threatening total destruction, but
Khmelnitsky keeps finding defences!] Rd8 26 Rad1 Rf7 27 Qxa7 Kf8 28 Nc3 [Unable to crash through, Dzindzi trades a pair of rooks and reorganizes the assault.] Qb8 29 Qc5 Rxd1 30 Rxd1 Rf6!
[Another good defensive repositioning.] 31 Nd5 Re6 32 h4 Kf7 33 Qc1 Qe5 34 Qh6 [Testing the waters on the kingside.] Kg8 35 Ne3 Rd6 36 Rc1 Bc6 37 Qg5 Qf6 38 Qf4 h5! [Solid. The White knight can
never get to g5.] 39 a4! [Playing his last trump: the a-pawn makes a run for it.] bxa4 40 bxa4 Kg7 41 a5 e5 42 Qb4 f4 43 Nc4 Re6 44 a6 Bxg2! 45 Kxg2 Qxh4 [The threat is 46 ... f3+.] 46 Rc3
Qg4+ [On 46 ... e4 White has 47 Qb2! Kh6 48 Rh3.] 47 Kh2 Qh4+ 1/2 - 1/2 Wolff - Granda, rd 4, NY Int. 1992, B17 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7 5 Ng5 [This agressive move has replaced 5 Bc4
as the main line. Of course Black cannot reply 5 ... h6? 6 Ne6.] Ngf6 6 Bd3 e6 7 N1f3 h6 [The accepted continuation is 7 ... Bd6, but Granda does not believe in White's coming piece sacrifice.] 8 Nxe6 fxe6 9 Bg6+
Ke7 10 O-O DIAGRAM Qc7 [The beginning of a 14-move process of disentanglement!] 11 Re1 Kd8 12 c4 [Not 12 Rxe6 Bd6 followed by ... Nf8 and ... Bg4.] Bb4 13 Re2 Nf8 14 Ne5? [Looks strong but better
was the calm 14 Bc2! with ideas of Ne5 and Bf4 and Black would not be up enough material to compensate for the misery that he would be about to experience.] Nxg6 15 Nxg6 Re8 16 c5 Ba5 17 Qa4 [Insufficient is 17 a3
Qf7.] Nd5 18 Ne5 Bd7 19 a3 b5 20 Qc2 Qb8 [While Black completes his development, White will gobble up the kingside pawns. But Black's extra piece will tell in the long run.] 21 Qh7 Bc7 22 Qxg7 Bxe5 23 Rxe5 Kc8 24
Bxh6 Qc7 25 Bd2 Kb7 26 a4 a5 27 Qg3 Rg8 28 Qd3 b4 29 Rae1 Rh8 30 Bg5 Rag8 31 h4 Qc8 32 g3 Qf8 33 f4 Qf7 34 Kf2 Ne7 35 Bxe7 Qxe7 36 Qf3 Qf6 37 R1e3 Rg7 38 Rd3 Be8 39 Rde3 Bf7 40 f5 Bh5 41 Rxe6 Qxe6 42 Re6 Bxf3 43 Kxf3
Rhg8 44 f6 Rxg3+ 45 Kf4 R8g4+ Ke5 Rxh4 47 Re7+ Ka6 48 f7 Rf3 49 Re6 Rxf7 50 Rxc6+ Ka7 51 d5 Re7+ 52 Kd6 Reh7 0 - 1
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