Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: A Grandmaster Miniature with the London System

by Robert Ris
11/22/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris shows how the young Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi used the London System to win in only 19 moves against Sam Shankland at the Tata Steel India Tournament in Kolkata. | "Fast and Furious" is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.
By playing the London System, with 1.d4 followed by 2.Nf3 and 3.Bf4, White can avoid a theoretical discussion and instead use natural ability plus a knowledge of plans. The weight of the struggle tends to shift towards the middlegame, but White can also pull off devastatingly quick wins should Black be unaware of the dangers.

The rapid section of the Tata Steel Tournament in Kolkata was impressively won by Arjun Erigaisi. The 18-year old rising star has made some impressive rating progress over the last year, and in his debut elite tournament he played some fascinating chess to clinch tournament.

Particularly impressive was his 19-move victory with the London System against former US Champion Sam Shankland. A sort of miniature one would normally see at the local chess club, but apparently even 2700+ players are struggling to deal with White's aggressive opening play!

Exercise: Can you, like Arjun Erigaisi, finish off the game in a convincing way?

 
A. Erigaisi - S. Shankland, Tata Steel India, Kolkata 2021
White to move

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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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