Yes, heuristics are a very good guideline and I am grateful to have learned those at a very early age (that's how you were introduced to chess in the GDR). I t

Yes, heuristics are a very good guideline and I am grateful to have learned those at a very early age (that's how you were introduced to chess in the GDR). I too apply them but my point is, in mid-game I'm much more free to ignore them than in openings or end-games in which I usually let my forearm do the thinking.