Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: New discoveries in an old line of the French

by Robert Ris
8/25/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris takes a look at a game by the new French Champion, Marc’Andria Maurizzi, who defeated Christian Bauer in a topical line of the French. | 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 a very interesting game between the French Grandmasters Maurizzi and Bauer. In a French Steinitz Variation, White opted for the very rare 6.dxc5 followed by 7.a3!?.

This setup was actually quite popular back at the end of the 19th century but has never been considered as challenging as the main continuation with 6.Nf3. In the game Black ended up basically with a lost position right out of the opening and Maurizzi had no difficulties converting the advantage."

Exercise: White has built up a nice position. How to continue?

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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