Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: An opening surprise in an important game

by Robert Ris
7/28/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris takes a look at the first game of the Women's World Cup final. Divya Deshmukh, the eventual winner of the World Cup, surprised her opponent Humpy Koneru with a new move in a well-known line. | 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 have a look at Game 1 of the Women World Cup final between Deshmukh Divya and Humpy Koneru. The two Indian top players tested each others theoretical knowledge in one of the sharpest lines of the Queen's Gambit Accepted.

In CBM 213 I had extensively covered the position after 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Nxe5 b5!? which was back in 2023 still quite relatively unknown. Since then a lot of new games have been played, but Divya's 7.Be2!? has only been seen in two earlier games and therefore probably came as a surprise for her opponent.

The ensuing positions are incredibly sharp and Black had to be very careful. White missed some very good chances to decide the game in her favor. After the missed opportunities the heavy major pieces endgame inevitably led to a draw."

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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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