Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: A queen sacrifice in the Alapin

by Robert Ris
9/8/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris examines a spectacular queen sacrifice in a line of the Alapin. This sacrifice was tested in the first round of the Grand Swiss in Samarkand — and it passed the test with flying colours. | Fast & Furious is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.
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.

Robert Ris: "I take a look at the spectacular queen sacrifice from the 1st-round game Suleymanli–Karthikeyan at the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand.

White came very well prepared in one of the main lines of the Sicilian Alapin Variation, while his opponent clearly neither knew nor expected this particular line. White obtained fantastic compensation for the queen, although with precise play Black should still have been fine. One big mistake (18…Bg6??) and it was game over! In the diagram below, we see the first moment in the game when White actually had to spend some time thinking."

Exercise: White to play and win!

Feel free to move the pieces on the live diagram!

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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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