A lasso for the horse

White does without Nc3, so as to avoid ...Bb4. According to Sagar Shah in 3...h6 Black has a sort of useful waiting move, ...Nc6 is delayed. After 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Nd5 Nxd5 6.cxd5 we can see a difference – Black does not need to move his Nc6.

According to Georgios Souleidis this setup is becoming more and more popular for Black. Above all after 7.Nc3 – the usual move - 7...Ne4 one can safely count on equality. After the stronger 7.d5 Black even has two promising continuations with 7...Ne4 and 7...Na6.

A setup with e3 is not so aggressive, but in return it also offers fewer targets for the opponent to attack. For example, White does not have to protect a pawn on e4. As Andrey Sumets demonstrates, Black does not find it easy to equalise after 6...0-0 7.Be2.

With 12.Rg1 White deviates from the main variation (12.g5). One of the ideas can be seen after 12...b4 13.Nd5 – now Black cannot take on d5 with the knight, because the Be6 does not have access to the f5-square. As Krisztian Szabo shows, however, that is not the only idea behind 12.Rg1.

In this principled variation – there is little occasion to deviate – White may have a slight initiative after 14.Qc1, but according to Gergo Havasi Black can maintain the equilibrium with accurate play.

With the two checks on moves 5 and 6, White is trying to impose on the play a forcing character. But as Mihail Marin’s analyses prove, Black can stand up to the pressure quite well.

The actual idea behind the clear opening plan presented by Alexey Kuzmin has not yet been executed in the diagram: White wants to play Nd2 and then, without having to worry about the c4-pawn, be able to develop his bishop to g2.

The position in the diagram has been seen in several recent games and Evgeny Postny examines the latest trends. His conclusion: the white initiative is only temporary, Black can have high hopes of equalising.

It starts with the Semi-Slav and transposes to the Catalan. For Igor Stohl it is clear that Black should take the c4-pawn, but after that there are still some open questions.

Michal Krasenkow presents his own repertoire against the Bogo-Indian. In the second part he deals with the main variation of this system. It is not easy for Black to achieve complete equality.