Trading¶

fen: r1bqkb1r/pp1ppp1p/2n3p1/1BpnP3/8/2N2N2/PPPP1PPP/R1BQ1RK1 b kq - 0 1
id: roVLRUR1
orientation: black

Does the knight on d5 go forward or back? W has a clear lead in development and more central space, so we need to be careful about our piece activity.

Nxc3 looks super natural messing up W's pawn structure, but actually it helps W a lot! it opens up the LS bishop and queen immediately. Furthermore control over d4 is lost forever after dxc3. Best is Nc7-Ne6 to reinforce control over d4.