Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: Wei Yi's fascinating idea in a sharp Italian

by Robert Ris
7/11/2025 – In his new Fast & Furious show, Robert Ris analyses a spectacular victory obtained by Wei Yi over Levon Aronian out of a sharp variation in the Italian opening. One inaccurate move by Black was all the Chinese grandmaster needed to demonstrate his impressive attacking skills. | 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.

My favourite game this week is a spectacular victory by Wei Yi against Levon Aronian. In a sharp Italian Opening with an early ...d7-d5 the Chinese top GM managed to surprise his opponent with a relatively new idea.

Although the position was still quite balanced, it was White who dictated the course of the game and soon started to dominate the open centre with his major pieces.

One bad move by Black and Wei Yi powerfully demonstrated his attacking skills.

Exercise: White to move. Can you see Wei Yi's idea?

Wei Yi - Levon Aronian, Yancheng 2025 (3)
White to play

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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