Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: A sharp Sicilian battle

by Robert Ris
12/23/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris looks at a sharp and interesting Sicilian that was played in a game of two Indian players at the Sunway Sitges Tournament. | "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 Indian battle between Puranik-Erigaisi from the 9th round of the Sunway Sitges Tournament contained some tactical ideas for both sides. What started off as a popular Sicilian Four Knights soon transposed into sttructures reminiscent from the Scheveningen variation.

Initially Black's attack seemed to be more threatening, but after sacrificing material, Erigaisi's play started to falter and with some precise defensive moves Puranik coordinated his pieces well and won with a beautiful counterattack.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Exercise: What is the key move for Black?

 
A. Puranik vs A. Erigaisi, Sitges 2021
Black to move

You can 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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