Don't rush to recapture....lessons from training games

Training games against chess coach NCM Vas are bound to produce some lessons. In this blog I feature two positions from my training games against a bright 7-year-old who is doing really well in grade 2.

Key lesson: don't rush your recaptures. There might be something better. For example, you delay the recapture with a forcing move or you can ignore it completely. 

White to play.​

47. hxg5 f5! 48. Rg3 e4# mate 0-1. 
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White to play.

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41. e4! (There's no rush to recapture. First comes a forcing move.) Be6 42. d5 Bc8 43. Bh5 Kd7? 44. Bg4+ +- and White won the endgame easily thanks to his extra pawns. 


Remember: don't recapture​ automatically, there might be something better available.