Dubov: Is He Good or Is He Really Good?
"I sincerely want to fill chess with unexpected ideas."
- Dubov, Daniil
Article Structure: The current article is composed of (i) a short biography of GM Daniil Dubov, and (ii) a game analysis by BKB99 with interactive exercises for practicing and improving attacking skills and calculation.
Knowing The Master
Born April 18, 1996, currently 24 years old, Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (“Dubov”), @Duhless here on chess.com, became a Grandmaster 10 years ago when he was only 14. He distinguished himself at chess since his childhood in a country where competition is really hard: Russia!
With great creativeness and high calculation skills, Dubov doesn´t fear anyone, he only enjoys playing chess. And this is something he does really, really well. If you want to get delighted and/or impressed with chess, go through Dubov's best games. I had a pleasant experience doing it.
His talent was recognized even by the World Champion, Magnus Carlsen @MagnusCarlsen, who hired him as a second in his match against Vishy Anand @TheVish, in 2018.
Actually, Dubov is a top 30 player in the world (#29 to be precise), with a rating of 2710. Let´s see some of this young gun´s accomplishments:
- Second place at one of the world´s strongest Open Tournaments, Aeroflot Open in 2015, held in Moscow, Russia.
- Third place at the World Blitz Chess Championship 2016, held in Doha, Qatar.
- First place at the Russian Higher League in 2017.
- First place at the World Rapid Championship 2018, held in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
- First place at the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge in 2020, held online.
Well, for this small part of his curriculum, we can contemplate that he has amazing blitz and rapid skills.
Below, you can see him demonstrating his skills against one of the most recognized blitz specialists, Alireza Firouzja @Firouzja2003, in a very disputed game, with ups and downs:
The confidence with which he conducted the final part of the game was impressive.
BKB Analysis
Now it´s game time. As I said previously, I went through some of Dubov´s games, and, besides his masterpiece win against Karjakin at the 2020 Russian Superfinal, which was elected by many as the game of the year, I found other astonishing games as well.
I decided on a game played by Dubov in 2019, against the strong German Grandmaster Ramus Svane @rasmussvane.
About his mentioned game against Karjakin, I strongly recommend you watch the chess.com video, with NM James Canty @GMCanty analysis about it - the link for his video analysis about Dubov vs Karjakin will be at the end of this blog.
The game we are going to see was played during the 2019 European Team Championship, held in Batumi in Georgia. The Russian team, led by Dmitry Andrekin @FairChess_on_Youtube on board 1, was, then, leading the tournament. Dubov was performing well, with 4 points out of 5. Then, they clashed with the German team.
The game will be divided into parts, with diagrams and exercises for you. I advise you to try to expend from 5 to 15 minutes at each position, then compare your thoughts with the game continuation and explanations. The answers are right after the questions. You can check the whole game without notations at the end of the blog.
1st Test Position
We reached our first test position. We are fighting for the initiative here and our dark-squared bishop is under attack, what will you do about it?
Answer:
15.Bg2!.
Simply developing the bishop to a good diagonal, while attacking Black´s c6-knight and connecting the rooks.
2nd Test Position
After some trades, we can see that the position is dynamic, with both sides trying to attack and/or counterattack each other. It´s White to move, how would you continue?
Answer:
17. Kb1!
A calm movement during the storm. This movement reminds me of some of Kasparov's games, where he was conducting an aggressive attack, with opposite castling, and then, decides to make a prophylactic useful move - Kb1.
Dubov´s idea resides that Black will not take with a check on e3 in some possible variations that could arrive on the game.
3rd Test Position
Black intends to contest the open h-file with ...Rh8. White should react, and quickly to it. Your move.
Answer:
20. Nd5!
White suddenly initiates an attack. It´s interesting to note how the position explodes from this point on.
4th Test Position
White has successfully avoided his opponent's plan of contesting the h-file. How would you continue the attack here?
Answer:
22. Rxf7!.
Sacrificing a whole rook to gets a queen infiltration. Now it´s very difficult to defend with Black. But White also has to take care! He has to conduct his attack with precision, otherwise Black will manage to escape and consolidate his material advantage. Every move from now on is crucial.
5th Test Position
After some sacrifices by White and a king walk by Black, we have reached our 5th Test Position. Black´s is up material, if he manages to put his king into safety the game will be all his. Can we maintain the attack?
Answer:
31. Bxc4+!.
Keeps the king running. The bishop is untouchable as the following variations will show.
6th Test Position
Your turn again. We should keep the momentum. How can White keeps the attacking going?
Answer:
34.Qg2!.
The queen swings again, this time to apply a mortal check on c2.
Answer:
36.Qc6!.
At chess, we always have to make readjustments. Here, the intended 35.Qc2 would be a mistake, as Black´s monarch would be able to escape to the a5-square. But Dubov is aware of it.
8th Test Position
Finally, this is our last test position. Black´s king has made a long journey. The question is if he will manage to stay alive after it, or not. White to move, think carefully this position is not easy as it looks.
Answer:
36.Bb3!!.
Sensational! Black is in a checkmating pattern now involving king and queen, that White explores pretty well.
It´s instructive to notice that the natural 36.Re2? even loses to the unexpected 36...Bd2!!, as analysis shows off. We should never relax, a moment of distraction and our opponent can escape.
The game finished soon.
Just brutal. What a marvelous game from the Russian sensation.
Full game without notation:
Thank you for reading till here, hope you have enjoyed it.
More Interesting Material and References
Chess.com video with NM James Candy @GMCanty analysis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Anu4qhK42uY&t=494s
Interview with Daniil Dubov, translated in a post by Alexey Zakharov @Spektrowski: https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/daniil-dubov-i-sincerely-want-to-fill-chess-with-unexpected-ideas
GM Daniel King @DanielKing analysis on the game Dubov vs Svane, European Team Championship 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBQuZEc2AMA
BKB99
