Fast and Furious: The current state of the Two Knights

by Robert Ris
12/19/2019 – In the last Fast & Furious show of 2019, IM Robert Ris tackles the current theoretical state of the Two Knights defence. Tune into the live show at 18:00 UTC (19:00 CET / 1 PM EST) which is free to watch, and available on-demand for ChessBase Premium account holders (but FREE for a limited time!). To chat, please visit videos.chessbase.com/live or login via Playchess for Windows. In the diagram, it's Black to play!
Pattern recognition is an important tool in modern chess, as it helps you to understand better the characteristics of a position. Particularly when you have been confronted with a surprise opening system played by your opponent, it helps when you can just

An oldie but goodie

A lot of new developments are going on in the Main Line Two Knights, which arises from 1.e4 e5 2.♘f3 ♞c6 3.♗c4 ♞f6 4.♞g5 d5 5.exd5 ♞a5 6.♗b5 c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.♗d3!? Is Black able to generate active play to compensate the minus pawn or will White neutralize Black's temporary initiative? Especially recommended for Black players with 1.e4 e5 repertoire and looking for a sharp variation tackling the Italian Opening. 

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Warming-up exercise: It's your turn: Black to play!

 
Ris vs Jens, Dutch League 2019
Position after 17.Bf1

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Solution to today's problem

 
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17.Bf1
17...fxg3 18.fxg3 Rf2 19.Bg2 Bxg3 20.hxg3 Rxg2+ 21.Kxg2 Qh3+ 22.Kg1 Qxg3+ 23.Kh1 Qh3+ 24.Kg1 Qg3+ 25.Kh1 Nf4 26.Re8+ Kf7 27.Qg1 Qh3+ 28.Qh2 Qf1+ 29.Qg1 Qxg1+ 30.Kxg1 Kxe8 31.b4 Nc4 32.Na3 Ne5 33.Nac2 Ba6 34.Ba3 Kd7 35.Ne3 h5 36.Ng2 Nxg2 37.Kxg2 h4 38.Re1 Re8 39.Nf5 Nf3 40.Rxe8 Kxe8 41.d4 Bd3 42.Ne3 h3+ Coenen, Norbert (2293) 0-1 Buhmann, Rainer (2565) Bundesliga 2019-20
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
-- C58

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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.

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