"... [1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6] Almost everybody plays [3 d4]. But isn't this a positional error? I am not joking. I like my center pawns, and I like a [d-pawn] better than a [c-pawn]! I know that sometimes White sacrifices a Knight on [d5] or [e6] and smashes Black before he can castle, but in those games where this has been done, haven't improvements always been found for Black afterwards? Well then, isn't [3 d4] something like a cheap trap? I know it can be combined with purely strategical ideas, but I find it easier to discuss strategy when I have an extra center pawn! I cannot explain where I first got this idea, but I had it before I was Danish Champion and regularly playing [3 Bb5+]. ..." - GM Bent Larsen (1974)
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