A successful detour

Black to move. Which knight move is the start of the successful detour? (W:Kc6,Pa4,f5; B:Ka5, Nf6, Pb6 )
Solution
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qb3 d5 6.cxd5 Qxd5 7.Qd1 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 c5 9.Bg2 cxd4 10.Qa4+ Qd7 11.Qxb4 Nc6 12.Qa3 dxc3 13.bxc3 Rd8 14.Bg5 Na5 15.0-0 Bxe2 16.Rfe1 Nc4 17.Qb3 Bxf3 18.Bxf3 Nd6 19.Rad1 0-0 20.Rd4 Qe7 21.Rf4 Rc8 22.c4 Rc5 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Rd1 Nf5 25.Qd3 Rcc8 26.Qc3 Rfd8 27.Rxd8+ Rxd8 28.Be4 Nd6 29.Rg4+ Kh8 30.Bc2 e5 31.Qf3 Qe6 32.Rh4 f5 33.Rh5 e4 34.Qf4 f6 35.Bb3 Qe7 36.h3 Qg7 37.Kh2 Qg6 38.g4 Kg7 39.Rxf5 Nxf5 40.Qc7+ Qf7 41.Qxd8 Qe7 42.Qxe7+ Nxe7 43.Kg3 Ng6 44.h4 h6 45.h5 Ne5 46.Kf4 Nd3+ 47.Ke3 Ne5 48.Kxe4 Nxg4 49.f3 Ne5 50.f4 Nd7 51.Kd5 Nc5 52.Bc2 Kf7 53.Kd6 Ke8 54.Bg6+ Kf8 55.a3 Na4 56.Kc6 Ke7 57.Bc2 Nc5 58.Kc7 Ne6+ 59.Kb7 Kd6 60.Kxa7 Kc7 61.f5 Ng7 62.Ka6 Kc6 63.Be4+ Kc5 64.Kb7 Nxh5 65.Kc7 Ng3 66.Bc2 h5 67.Bd1 h4 68.Bg4 Ne4 69.Kd7 Ng5 70.Ke7 h3 71.Bxh3 Nxh3 72.Kxf6 Kxc4 73.Ke5 Nf2 74.Kd6 Ng4 75.a4 Kb4 76.Kc6 Ka5 77.Kb7 Nf6 78.Kc6 Ne4? 78...Nh5‼ 79.Kb7 79.Kc7 Ng7 80.f6 Ne8+-+ 79...Ng7 79...Ng3 80.f6 Ne4 81.f7 Nd6+ 80.f6 Ne8 81.f7 Nd6+-+ 78...Ne8?! 79.Kd7 Nf6+ 80.Kc6 Nh5‼-+ 79.Kc7! Nc3 80.Kc6? 80.Kd6‼ Nxa4? 80...Ne4+ 81.Kc6 Nf6 82.Kb7 Ne8 83.Kc6 Ng7 84.f6 Ne6 85.Kd6 85.f7? Nd8+-+ 85...Ng5 86.Kc6 Nf7 87.Kc7 Ne5 88.Kb7 Nd7 89.f7 Nf8 90.Kc6 Ne6 91.Kd6 Nf8 92.Kc7= 81.f6+- 80.Kb7? Nxa4 81.f6 Nc5+ 82.Kc6 Ne6 83.Kd7 Ng5-+ 80...Nxa4 81.f6 Nc5 82.f7 82.Kd6 Ne4+! 83.Ke5 Nxf6 84.Kxf6 b5 85.Ke5 b4 86.Kd4 Ka4 87.Kd3 Ka3 88.Kc2 Ka2-+ 82...Ne6 83.Kd6 Nf8 83...Nf8 84.Ke7 Nh7 85.Ke6 b5 86.Kf5 b4 87.Kg6 Nf8+ 88.Kg7 Nd7 89.Kg6 b3 90.Kf5 b2 91.Ke6 Nf8+ 92.Ke7 Nh7-+ 0–1
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Can,E | 2555 | Volokitin,A | 2646 | 0–1 |
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Introduction by Karsten Müller
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Opening surveys
Sagar Shah: English Opening A20
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 h6

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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.
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Souleidis: Double Fianchetto A50
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 0-0

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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.
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Sumets: Old Indian Defence A54
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 e5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3

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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.
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Ris: Sicilian Defence B35
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 d5

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This comes as a surprise. After all the d5-pawn is simply hanging. But as Robert Ris demonstrates in his article, 9.exd5 Na5 may be obvious, but after it the way to an advantage for White may be possible but, however, it is not easy to find over the board. |
Szabo: Sicilian Defence B90
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 11.g4 b5 12.Rg1

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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.
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Havasi: French Defence C06
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.0-0 Bd6 11.Nf3 0-0 12.Bf4 Bxf4 13.Nxf4 Ne4

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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.
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Marin: French Defence C08
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bb5+ Nc6 6.Qe2+ Be7 7.dxc5 Nf6 8.Nb3 0-0

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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.
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Kuzmin: Slav D11
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.g4 Bg6 7.Ne5

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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.
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Postny: Queen's Gambit D38
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.0-0 cxd4

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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.
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Stohl: Semi-Slav/Catalan E04
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.g3

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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.
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Krasenkow: Bogo Indian Defence E11
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Bxd2 Bb7 7.Bg5 d6 8.e3 Nbd7

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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.
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