Robert Ris’ Fast and Furious: Beating the London System

by Robert Ris
8/27/2021 – This week, well-known Dutch trainer Robert Ris takes a look at an instructive game in the London System. German GM Alexander Donchenko sacrificed his pawn on b7 to develop a massive initiative. | “Fast and Furious” is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can register a Premium account here.
Pattern recognition is an important tool in modern chess, as it helps you to understand better the characteristics of a position. Particularly when you have been confronted with a surprise opening system played by your opponent, it helps when you can just

The RTU Open in Riga was won by GM Alexander Donchenko. Despite a poor start of 1½/3, the German player bounced back with six straight wins to clinch the title.

His first-round victory with Black against the London System was quite instructive, as he sacrificed his pawn on b7 to develop a massive initiative. The idea has been played in earlier games as well, and fascinatingly, it seems like the white king isn’t able to find a safe place on the board. In this week’s F&F show, you will become acquainted with the thematic attacking motifs of this particular line.

Exercise: To get in the right mood, it’s your turn to strike with Black!

 
S. Ansell - M. Cornette, PRO League Stage (2021)

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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