Horatio Caro

    Horatio Caro (July 5, 1862 – December 15, 1920) was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, but spent most of his chess career in Berlin, Germany, having moved there when he was two years old. 

    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. 

 

 

[Event "Berlin City Championship"] [Site "Berlin GER"] [Date "1904.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Horatio Caro"] [Black "W Kunze"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D05"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "1904.??.??"] [Source "Saturday Westmin"] {D05: Colle System} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Bd3 Bd6 5. Nbd2 O-O 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. Ne5 c5 7. c3 b6 8. Qe2 Bb7 9. O-O Qc8 10. Re1 Ba6 11. f4 {The opening has transposed into a Stonewall. Zupe,M (2246)-Gorodetzky,M (2316) Novi Sad SRB 2019}) (6. c3 Nbd7 7. e4 dxe4 8. Nxe4 Nxe4 9. Bxe4 h6 10. g4 {This should have allowed black to get the advantage after 10...f5!} Nf6 11. Bc2 b6 12. g5 hxg5 13. Bxg5 Be7 14. Qd3 g6 15. Ne5 {White has a winning attack. Aliev,K-Nwedo,K (1356) Nakhchivan AZE 2022}) 6... dxe4 7. Nxe4 Nxe4 8. Bxe4 f5 {This creates aan unnecessary weakenig of his K-side.} (8... c5 9. Bxh7+ Kxh7 10. Ng5+ Kg8 (10... Kg6 {is a must. While 9t mayt look prtecariously places, black's K is able to flee to safety.} 11. h4 Kf6 12. h5 cxd4 13. Qxd4+ Ke7) 11. Qh5 Re8 12. Qxf7+ Kh8 13. Qh5+ Kg8 14. Qh7+ {1-0 It's mate in 2 Gordienko, A-Tripolsky,A Kiev 2004}) (8... h6 {guarding g5 is his best move. After} 9. Be3 Nd7 10. Qe2 Nf6 {the position is fully equal.}) 9. Bd3 Nd7 10. O-O 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. Bc4+ Kh8 12. Ng5 Qe8 {It would have been better to kjeep the center somewhat closed by playing 12...e4} 13. Re1 { 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. Qf3 {This is an elementary tactical mistake! Retreating the N to h3 and then playing Bf4 would assure him of being able to defend himself.} Nf6 {Missinf a golden opportunity.} (14... exf3 15. Rxe8 Bxh2+ 16. Kxh2 Rxe8 {and black has won the exchange.}) 15. Qb3 {Now Nf7+ is a real threat.} Qh5 {A sharp counter-threat.} 16. h3 (16. Nf7+ Rxf7 17. Bxf7 Qxh2+ 18. Kf1 Qh1+ 19. Ke2 Qxg2 20. Be3 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. Nf7+ Rxf7 18. Bxf7 Qh4 19. Be6 Bxe6 20. Qxe6 Re8 {and black has plenty of compensation for the exchange, plus white still has a R and B that are out of play.}) 17. Nf7+ $11 Kh7 {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. Ne5 {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.} Bxe5 (18... Qh4 {is tricky, but it would lead to equality.} 19. Bf7 {Threateming Ng6} (19. Be3 f4 20. Bd2 f3 { Black has what should be a decisive advantage.}) 19... Bxe5 20. dxe5 Nd7 21. e6 Ne5 {is equal.}) 19. dxe5 Nd7 20. Bf4 g5 {Black;s attack has lost its potency and white is now able to defend with ease.} 21. Bh2 (21. e6 {is stronger.. After} Nc5 22. Qa3 Bxe6 23. Qxc5 Bxc4 24. Qxc4 gxf4 25. Qxc7+ Rf7 26. Qxf4 { White is better, but is the extra P going to prove enough to win with all the heavy pieces on the board?}) 21... Nc5 {The N is exposed here so 21...Nb6 was more accurate.} 22. Qb5 (22. Qe3 Ne6 23. g4 fxg4 24. Qxe4+ Qg6 25. hxg4 Qxe4 26. Rxe4 {Technically this is the way white shoukld have played it...he has the better ending.}) 22... Nd7 {[%mdl 8192] The is the wrong square to retreat to.} (22... Ne6 {Back to the same old square, AT least things are equal after, say...} 23. Rad1 Qf7 24. Qb3 Qe7) 23. Rad1 {Not bad, but 23.e6 was a real gut punch!} (23. e6 Nb6 24. Qc5 Qe8 25. Qxc7+ Kg6 26. e7 {and white is winning. If} Rf7 (26... Rf6 27. Rad1 {threatening Rd8}) 27. Bxf7+ Kxf7 28. Rad1 Qxe7 29. Rd8 Qxc7 30. Bxc7 Nd7 31. Rd1 Nf8 32. Bd6 Ng6 33. Rd5 Ke6 34. Rc5 {and the B is lost.}) 23... c6 {[%mdl 8192] Rather pointless.} (23... Qe8 {is more resistant. } 24. e6 Nb6 25. Qe5 Nxc4 26. Qxc7+ Kg6 27. Qxc4 Bxe6 {and it's still a tough fight.}) 24. Rxd7+ {[%mdl 544] An alert finishing touch.} Kh8 (24... Bxd7 25. Qxb7 Rad8 26. e6 e3 27. Rxe3 Qd1+ 28. Bf1 f4 29. Rd3 Qe1 30. Rxd7+ Rxd7 31. exd7 Rd8 32. Qxc6 Qd1 33. Qe4+ Kh8 34. Qe5+ Kg8 35. Qe6+ Kf8 36. Qf6+) 25. e6 { [%mdl 544] Caro finishes the game with precision.} cxb5 (25... Bxd7 26. Be5+ Kh7 27. Qxb7 Rfd8 28. exd7 {with an easy win.}) 26. Be5+ {White mates in 17 moves at mos.} Kg8 27. Rg7+ Kh8 28. e7 Re8 29. Rf7+ Kg8 30. Rf8+ {Black resigned.} (30. Rf8+ Kh7 31. Bg8+ Kg6 32. Bf7+ Kh7 33. Bxh5 Be6 34. Bxe8 Rxe8 35. Rxe8 Kg6 36. Rf8 Bf7 37. Rd1 f4 38. Rd6+ Kh5 39. Rxf7 e3 40. Rf8 exf2+ 41. Kxf2 g4 42. Rf5+ Kh4 43. Rxh6#) 1-0