Marc'Andria Maurizzi is dominating - The Underdog

by Arne Kaehler
2/27/2025 – Recently, Marc Andria Maurizzi was performing like a super GM at the Djerba Open, with 7.5 points out of 9 games. His performance was close to 2900! It was also a meeting of the two youngest GM's in French history - the youngest is Maurizzi, against the second-youngest Etienne Bacrot. The higher rated Bacrot didn't stand a chance against the underdog. Robert Ris analysed this crazy game.
Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

The Underdog!

with IM Robert Ris

We all love stories where a vastly underrated player surprises everyone by beating a much stronger player. Fortunately, we are all human.

But how do these things happen? What are the moves that lead to success? And what can we learn from these examples for the times when we face a stronger opponent?

Dutch IM Robert Ris presents us with real-life examples of such encounters from the past month. Together with his co-host Arne Kaehler, they look at the tactics and strategies that led to the upset victory.

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Ne2 8.Qd2 8...Qb6 9.Qc1 Be7 10.c3 0-0 11.h4 11.g3 f6 12.Bg2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Qa5+ 14.Nc3 Nb6 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.b3 Bd7 17.0-0 Rac8 18.Qd2 Be7 19.Ne2 Qxd2 20.Bxd2 Rc7 21.Rac1 Rfc8 22.f5 Ba3 23.Rce1 Bb4 24.Bxb4 Nxb4 25.fxe6 Bxe6 26.Nf4 Bf5 27.Ne5 g6 28.g4 Be4 29.Bxe4 dxe4 30.a3 N4d5 31.Rxe4 Rc3 32.Nd7 Rxb3 33.Nxd5 Nxd5 34.Re5 Nc3 35.Nf6+ 1-0 (35) Caruana,F (2764)-Carlsen, M (2853) Stavanger 2023 11...f6 12.h5 h6 13.a3!? 13.Rh3 1/2-1/2 (26) Van Foreest,J (2699)-Bacrot,E (2660) Linares 2023 13...Na5 13...a5 14.Rh3 1-0 (37) Grover,S (2513)-Aveskulov,V (2506) Budapest 2023 14.Rb1 Qc7 14...Nc4 15.Nh4 cxd4 16.cxd4 Rf7 17.Ng6 Bd8 18.Bf2 Nf8 19.b3 Na5 20.g4 Bd7 1/2-1/2 (27) Elyoseph,H (2432)-Ohtake,S (2445) ICCF email 2022 15.b3 15.b4 cxb4 16.cxb4 Nc4 15...fxe5 15...Nc6 15...cxd4 16.cxd4 Qxc1+ 17.Bxc1± 16.dxe5 16.fxe5 16...b5 17.g3 Bb7 18.Bg2! 18.Bh3? d4!-+ 18...Rac8 18...Nxe5 19.Nxe5 19.fxe5 d4 20.0-0 dxe3 21.Qxe3 Bxf3 22.Bxf3 Bg5 23.Nf4 Rad8 24.Bg4 19...d4 20.Bh3! 20.Bxb7 Qxb7 20...Rf6 20...Bxh1?? 21.Bxe6+ Kh8 21...Kh7 22.Qc2+ 22.Ng6+ Kh7 23.Qc2 21.0-0 dxe3 22.Qxe3 19.0-0 Nb6 19...d4 20.cxd4+- 19...c4 20.b4 Nb3 21.Qc2+- 19...b4 20.axb4 cxb4 21.Nfd4+- 19...Rfd8± 20.Qc2 20.Bh3!? Qc6 20...Qd7 21.Qg6 Rc6 21...d4 22.Bh3 Bd5 23.cxd4 cxd4 24.Nfxd4+- 21...Qe8 22.Qxe6+ 22.Ng5! 22.Bh3 22.Ng5! hxg5 22...Bxg5 23.fxg5 23.h6 Bd8 24.fxg5 d4 24...Rf7 25.h7+ Kh8 26.Rxf7 24...Rf5 25.g4 Rxe5 26.h7+ Kh8 27.Rf8# 25.h7+ Kh8 26.Rxf8# 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Maurizzi,M2581Bacrot,E26401–02025C11Djerba Masters 20256.5

Robert Ris has authored plenty of FritzTrainers for ChessBase — these are his newest, and perfect for every "Underdog"

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

Mastering these tactical motifs is essential to deepen your understanding of the game and become a better player. After all, you neither want to overlook the given chances by your opponent, nor blunder yourself!

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Arne Kaehler, a creative mind who is passionate about board games in general, was born in Hamburg and learned to play chess at a young age. By teaching chess to youth teams and creating chess-related videos on YouTube, Arne was able to expand this passion and has even created an online course for anyone who wants to learn how to play chess. Arne writes for the English and German news sites, but focuses mainly on content for the ChessBase media channels.
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