Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: The Anti-Meran Explained: Carlsen vs Artemiev

by Robert Ris
1/8/2026 – First of all, I'd like to wish the viewers all the best for the New Year 2026 with a lot of exciting Fast & Furious episodes! In the last week of 2025 Magnus Carlsen managed to add two more World Championships to his CV by winning both the Rapid and Blitz section. I have a look at his black game against Artemiev from the Rapid event, in which he chose one of his favorite lines in the Anti-Meran which had served the Norwegian pretty well on previous occasions. In the current game, things were less fun for Black due to a grave error on move 15 after which White was completely winning. Come and watch if you are interested in learning more about this specific variation!
This video course offers you a complete, clear repertoire for Black against the moves 1.Nf3 and 1.c4. The recommended variations are easy to learn and not difficult to remember, but also pose White serious challenges.

First of all, I'd like to wish the viewers all the best for the New Year 2026 with a lot of exciting Fast & Furious episodes! In the last week of 2025 Magnus Carlsen managed to add two more World Championships to his CV by winning both the Rapid and Blitz section. I have a look at his black game against Artemiev from the Rapid event, in which he chose one of his favorite lines in the Anti-Meran which had served the Norwegian pretty well on previous occasions. In the current game, things were less fun for Black due to a grave error on move 15 after which White was completely winning. Come and watch if you are interested in learning more about this specific variation!

In this DVD, Erwin l'Ami guides you through the fascinating Benko Gambit. As early as move three Black starts a fight for the initiative, a strategy that has proved to be successful in countless amateur and master level games.

Exercise: Black's last move is 15...Qc7, but what did he miss? White to move!

Feel free to move the pieces on the live diagram!

This week's show

Watch previous shows

Recent shows

Many more Fast and Furious episodes are available in ChessBase Videos

Links

<< The first FIDE Freestyle World Championship in Germany
FIDE introduces updated Circuit format for 2026-2027 >>
Topics: Fast and Furious
Robert is an International Master who mostly spends his time training and coaching talented youngsters. On the PlayChess server The Fast and the Furious is a popular show where he explains sharp opening lines for a wider audience. He is also a well-known ChessBase author who produced numerous DVDs and regularly contributes to ChessBase Magazine as well. Since 2015 he is the organizer of the Dutch Rapid Championships in his home town Amstelveen. He has started a YouTube channel with chess analysis as well.
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

See also

Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be3 Ng4

12/22/2025 – Twenty years after Topalov’s legendary knight sacrifice in San Luis, history echoed on the same stage. Ivan Cheparinov revisited the famous Najdorf line against Alexey Shirov — and after a 65-minute think on move 21, “Fire on the Board” struck back with a brilliant finish. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can <a href="https://account.chessbase.com/en/create-account" target="_blank">register a Premium account here</a>.
More...
 2

See also

Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: Benko Gambit with 5...e6

12/16/2025 – This week we are having a look at a spectacular miniature played in the Greek Championships. The game Nikolaidis-Alexakis featured the Benko gambit in which Black opted for the modern treatment with 5...e6. Black even got the chance of sacrificing a knight on move 10, how often do you see that happening still in grandmaster play?? | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can <a href="https://account.chessbase.com/en/create-account" target="_blank">register a Premium account here</a>.
More...
 1

Video

60m The Two Knights

This entry into the 60 minutes series concentrates on the Modern variation of the Italian game where White opens the centre early : 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 e5!. This line can be reached by various move orders, most frequently from the Scotch 3 d4 exd4 4 Bc4. It's a sharp variation and Grandmasters such as Evgeny Sveshnikov have used it frequently,with very good results. It's a perfect line for club players to adopt which is relatively easy to learn and which contains many traps. All the main responses are covered here, including 5...d5, 5...Ng4 and 5...Ne4 and the conclusion is that is is difficult for Black to equalize in a straightforward way. Problems are being posed, which over the board might prove tough to solve.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register