Automatism

Maybe the strongest reflex in chess is the impulse to immediately recapture a piece the opponent has just taken - you know that from countless blitz games. In the diagram position Black played 29...Bxg2.
What should White do?
A) recapture, what else?
B) take his time to think about an alternative
Solution
1.d4 Nf6 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Nc3 Nc6 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Qb3 Na5 13.Qc2 Bg4 14.Nf5 Rc8 15.Bd4 Bc5 16.Bxc5 Rxc5 17.Ne3 Be6 18.Rad1 Qc8 19.Qa4 Rd8 20.Rd3 a6 21.Rfd1 Nc4 22.Nxc4 Rxc4 23.Qa5 Rc5 24.Qb6 Rd7 25.Rd4 Qc7 26.Qxc7 Rdxc7 27.h3 h5 28.a3 g6 29.e3 Kg7 30.Kh2 Rc4 31.Bf3 b5 32.Kg2 R7c5 33.Rxc4 Rxc4 34.Rd4 Kf8 35.Be2 Rxd4 36.exd4 Ke7 37.Na2 Bc8 38.Nb4 Kd6 39.f3 Ng8 40.h4 Nh6 41.Kf2 Nf5 42.Nc2 f6 43.Bd3 g5 44.Bxf5 Bxf5 45.Ne3 Bb1 46.b4 gxh4? 47.Ng2‼ hxg3+ 48.Kxg3 Ke6 49.Nf4+ Kf5 50.Nxh5 Ke6 51.Nf4+ Kd6 52.Kg4 Bc2 53.Kh5 Bd1 54.Kg6 Ke7 55.Nxd5+ Ke6 56.Nc7+ Kd7 57.Nxa6 Bxf3 58.Kxf6 Kd6 59.Kf5 Kd5 60.Kf4 Bh1 61.Ke3 Kc4 62.Nc5 Bc6 63.Nd3 Bg2 64.Ne5+ Kc3 65.Ng6 Kc4 66.Ne7 Bb7 67.Nf5 Bg2 68.Nd6+ Kb3 69.Nxb5 Ka4 70.Nd6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.g3 Nbd7 9.Bg2 Nb6 10.0-0 a5 11.Qc2 g6 12.a4 Bf5 13.Qd1 Qd7 14.Nf4 Bb4 15.Nce2 Rfe8 16.b3 h5 17.f3 Qc6 18.Ra2 Nbd7 19.h3 g5 20.Nd3 Qe6 21.g4 hxg4 22.hxg4 Bg6 23.Nxb4 axb4 24.Qe1 Qe7 25.Qg3 Rac8 26.e4 dxe4 27.Bxg5 e3 28.f4 Be4 29.Qh4 Bxg2 30.Ng3‼ 30.Kxg2?! Qe4+ 31.Kg1 Re6 32.Ng3 Qh7! 30...e2 30...Bxf1 31.Rh2! 30...Be4 31.Rh2! Bh7 32.Bxf6 Nxf6 33.Nf5! Qe6 33...Qf8 34.Qg5+ Bg6 35.Qxf6 34.Qg5+ Bg6 35.Rh8+ Kxh8 36.Qh6+ Kg8 37.Qg7# 31.Rxe2 Qxe2 31...Qf8 32.Rxg2 32.Nxe2 Bxf1 33.Bxf6 Nxf6 34.Qg5+ Kf8 35.Ng3! 35.Kxf1 Ne4 35...Bd3 35...Nxg4 36.Qxg4 Bd3 37.f5! 36.Qxf6+- Re1+ 37.Kf2 Ree8 38.f5 Rcd8 39.Qh6+ Ke7 40.Qe3+ 1–0
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Sturua,Z | 2536 | Bellia,F | 2419 | 1–0 |
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Oliver Reeh in ChessBase Magazine
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ChessBase Magazine #165 (April/May)

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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