Today he is remembered for the Caro-Kann Defense which he analyzed with Marcus Kann and they published their analysis in a German publication in 1886.
What is not known is that for a brief period of time Caro was one of the best players in the world! Chessnetrics estimates his highest ever rating to have been 2676 in 1889 making him the world’s 7th best player.
In match play he defeated Jacques Mieses (1897) and Moritz Lewitt (1905), drew with Curt von Bardeleben (1892 and 1903) and lost to Szymon Winawer (1892). Between 1888 and 1911 he played in many tournaments and usually finished very well, winning tournaments in Berlin events five times.
Caro died in London at the age of 58 where he was confined to a workhouse. In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment.
Here is a good example of the kind of chess Caro played at his best. It was played in the Berlin city championship in 1904. His opponent, is an unknown, but in 1905 he finished last in Barmen Hauptturnier-A Tournament with a score of +0 -15 =0.
Hauptturnier is a German word that is freely translated as "candidates tournament." In the early part of the 20th century, it was necessary for amateur to win prizes in small tournaments before they could progress to a higher level, Winning a Hauptturnier earned one the Master title. That was important because it also meant that one could be invited to international tournaments.
Horatio Caro–W Kunze1–0D05Berlin City ChampionshipBerlin GER1904Stockfish 16
D05: Colle System 1.d4 d5 2.f3 e6 3.e3 f6 4.d3 d6 5.bd2 0-0 6.e4
Although white foes not play c2–c3 this opening is still classified as a
Colle. In the 19230s and 1930s Colle and Koltanowski won several tournaments
and the system gained in popularity. Today the Colle is generally regarded as
innocuous but solid. 6.e5 c5 7.c3 b6 8.e2 b7 9.0-0 c8 10.e1 a6 11.f4 The opening has transposed into a Stonewall. Zupe,M (2246)-Gorodetzky,M
(2316) Novi Sad SRB 2019 6.c3 bd7 7.e4 dxe4 8.xe4 xe4 9.xe4 h6 10.g4 This should have allowed black to get the advantage after 10...f5! f6 11.c2 b6 12.g5 hxg5 13.xg5 e7 14.d3 g6 15.e5 White has a winning attack.
Aliev,K-Nwedo,K (1356) Nakhchivan AZE 2022 6...dxe4 7.xe4 xe4 8.xe4 f5 This creates aan unnecessary weakenig of his K-side. 8...c5 9.xh7+ xh7 10.g5+ g8 10...g6 is a must. While 9t mayt look prtecariously places,
black's K is able to flee to safety. 11.h4 f6 12.h5 cxd4 13.xd4+ e7 11.h5 e8 12.xf7+ h8 13.h5+ g8 14.h7+ 1-0 It's mate in 2 Gordienko,
A-Tripolsky,A Kiev 2004 8...h6 guarding g5 is his best move. After 9.e3 d7 10.e2 f6 the position is fully equal. 9.d3 d7 10.0-0 e5 Either
10...Nf6 or 10...h6 would have been better. As it is white can now open up the
position to his advantage. 11.c4+ h8 12.g5 e8 It would have been
better to kjeep the center somewhat closed by playing 12...e4 13.e1
A slight lapse...black can still ease his defense a bit by playing 13...e4.
For that reason white should have played 13.dxe5 first. e4 White's last
couple of inaccuracies have transformed the position. It is now black who
stands slightly better...his e-Pawn is no longer backward, he has f7 covered
and he has more maneuvering space so he can now think about attacking. 14.f3 This is an elementary tactical mistake! Retreating the N to h3 and then
playing Bf4 would assure him of being able to defend himself. f6 Missinf a
golden opportunity. 14...exf3 15.xe8 xh2+ 16.xh2 xe8 and black has
won the exchange. 15.b3 Now Nf7+ is a real threat. h5 A sharp
counter-threat. 16.h3 16.f7+ xf7 17.xf7 xh2+ 18.f1 h1+ 19.e2 xg2 20.e3 f4 And clearly it's black who is winning. 16...h6 After this
defensive move black;s advantage hgas disappeared. 16...f4 keeps the
attack going. 17.f7+ xf7 18.xf7 h4 19.e6 xe6 20.xe6 e8 and black
has plenty of compensation for the exchange, plus white still has a R and B
that are out of play. 17.f7+= h7 Black would likely have done better
to sacrifice the exchange with 17...Rxf7 which would have enabled him to keep
his valuable B aimed at h3. 18.e5 Not bad, but taking the B then playing
Bf4 would elimiante the potential threat to h3, blockade black;s P and force
black to think about his weak d-Pawn. xe5 18...h4 is tricky, but it
would lead to equality. 19.f7 Threateming Ng6 19.e3 f4 20.d2 f3
Black has what should be a decisive advantage. 19...xe5 20.dxe5 d7 21.e6 e5 is equal. 19.dxe5 d7 20.f4 g5 Black;s attack has lost its potency
and white is now able to defend with ease. 21.h2 21.e6 is stronger..
After c5 22.a3 xe6 23.xc5 xc4 24.xc4 gxf4 25.xc7+ f7 26.xf4
White is better, but is the extra P going to prove enough to win with all the
heavy pieces on the board? 21...c5 The N is exposed here so 21...Nb6 was
more accurate. 22.b5 22.e3 e6 23.g4 fxg4 24.xe4+ g6 25.hxg4 xe4 26.xe4 Technically this is the way white shoukld have played it...he has
the better ending. 22...d7 The is the wrong square to retreat
to. 22...e6 Back to the same old square, AT least things are equal after,
say... 23.ad1 f7 24.b3 e7 23.ad1 Not bad, but 23.e6 was a real gut
punch! 23.e6 b6 24.c5 e8 25.xc7+ g6 26.e7 and white is winning. If f7 26...f6 27.ad1 threatening Rd8 27.xf7+ xf7 28.ad1 xe7 29.d8 xc7 30.xc7 d7 31.d1 f8 32.d6 g6 33.d5 e6 34.c5 and the B is
lost. 23...c6 Rather pointless. 23...e8 is more resistant.
24.e6 b6 25.e5 xc4 26.xc7+ g6 27.xc4 xe6 and it's still a tough
fight. 24.xd7+ An alert finishing touch. h8 24...xd7 25.xb7 ad8 26.e6 e3 27.xe3 d1+ 28.f1 f4 29.d3 e1 30.xd7+ xd7 31.exd7 d8 32.xc6 d1 33.e4+ h8 34.e5+ g8 35.e6+ f8 36.f6+ 25.e6
Caro finishes the game with precision. cxb5 25...xd7 26.e5+ h7 27.xb7 fd8 28.exd7 with an easy win. 26.e5+ White mates in 17
moves at mos. g8 27.g7+ h8 28.e7 e8 29.f7+ g8 30.f8+ Black
resigned. 30.f8+ h7 31.g8+ g6 32.f7+ h7 33.xh5 e6 34.xe8 xe8 35.xe8 g6 36.f8 f7 37.d1 f4 38.d6+ h5 39.xf7 e3 40.f8 exf2+ 41.xf2 g4 42.f5+ h4 43.xh6# 1–0
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