Bologan’s Caro-Kann

The Caro-Kann is one of the most important and popular responses to 1.e4. World champions Botvinnik, Petrosian, Karpov and Anand have played this reliable chess opening in many of their games. Present-day elite players such as Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana are proving that the ‘drawish’ reputation of the Caro-Kann no longer holds in modern chess.

Victor Bologan presents a complete Caro-Kann repertoire for Black that is much more than just a lucidly explained and highly playable set of responses. In many lines Bologan provides – as he has done in his other recent major chess opening books for New In Chess – two options to handle the Black position.

Bologan’s explanations are accessible for a wide range of players and he provides the reader with a thorough grounding in the strategic and tactical motifs. During his research, Bologan has found many new ideas and resources. After reading and studying this book you are bound win many exciting games with Bologan’s Caro-Kann!

Reviews

Stjepan Tomić (chessreads.com)
“Bologan’s Caro-Kann came out in 2018. It’s, in my opinion, the best single resource for Caro-Kann players. The lines are modern, engine tested, and none of them are outdated (as of January 2026 and as far as I know). Victor Bologan has been a Caro-Kann player for 20 years, and he plays it regularly along with e5, c5, and the Modern. He is famous for his work on the King’s Indian, Spanish, and the Catalan too, and all of his opening books go into great depth and aren’t suited for anyone below 2000 FIDE level. They are meant for serious tournament players. His Caro-Kann is no exception.”
(full review)

Praise for Victor Bologan

GM Glenn Flear, Yearbook 120, on Bologan’s Ruy Lopez
“Nobody has previously offered up so many practical ways of playing for Black. Throughout the work, I found that the author had found a happy balance in informing the reader without going overboard on unnecessary and often confusing detail.”

Sean Marsh, CHESS Magazine, on Bologan’s King’s Indian
“A very accessible and useful guide to this ever-popular defence.”

IM John Donaldson, ChessToday, on Bologan’s Black Weapons in the Open Games
"There is a huge amount of theory in this book, but Bologan presents it in a lively manner and explains things simply and well. I give this book a strong recommendation for players of a wide range of playing strengths."