The above position comes from Ding Liren vs. Daniil Dubov, Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge Semifinal. Black to play - do you see Black's winning combination?

I'll reveal the solution at the end of the post.

I've observed that the English Opening (1.c4) can be a frustrating opening for many players.

Perhaps it's because it is a very solid and strategically flexible system, where it is very hard to get real attacking chances as Black without White making a mistake.

Also, the 1.c4 move order avoids a lot of 1.d4 openings. Depending on our defence to 1.d4, we may have to learn a completely new defence (such as 1.c4 e5 or 1.c4 c5) to avoid getting move ordered out of our opening repertoire.

I had a lot of success with the English Opening in my White games for these two reasons, but today, we will learn how to deal with this opening!

Let's go through the Ding Liren-Dubov game, breaking down Dubov's winning method into smaller steps that we can remember and follow as appropriate. 

Step 1: Build The Light-Squared Pawn Chain

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 d5 (diagram)



We can see that Black has built a light-squared pawn chain from b7 to d5 to blunt the fianchettoed g2-bishop, which would otherwise have a very open diagonal. This is known as the 'Slav' setup by Black and it works even if White doesn't play g3/Bg2 (and goes for e3-based setups, e.g. 1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Nf6).

Step 2: Take the Pawn and Defend It With Pieces

4.Nf3 dxc4 5.0-0 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Nb6 7.Na3 Be6 (diagram)


 
You may well be wondering - why didn't Black defend the c4-pawn with ...b5 instead, ensuring that Black would stay a pawn up?

The reason is that, once ...b5 is played, it opens up the long diagonal for the g2-bishop. White would then be able to undermine Black's queenside with moves like a4 or b3, obtaining strong positional compensation.

With Dubov's approach, he may have to give back the pawn eventually, but he keeps the b7/c6 defence against the g2-bishop's pressure, while giving himself time for step 3 while White spends time regaining the pawn.

Step 3: Charge the h-pawn 'AlphaZero' style to start a kingside attack.

The game continued 8.Ne5 h5 9.Naxc4 Nxc4 10.Nxc4 h4 (diagram), when Black had used the 'hook' on g3 to open the h-file and start an attack on White's king. 



This h-pawn advance is a very thematic way to attack the Bg2/0-0 position, and it tends to work best when White either doesn't have a knight on f3 to cover h4, or when Black has another piece (or a pawn on g5) supporting the ...h4 break. It doesn't work in every single position, but it's a staple attacking method of every Grandmaster.

Incidentally, White could have avoided this attack with 9.h4, but then 9...Qd4 comes in a better version than before, with 10.Nf3 Qe4 11.Qd1 Bg4 12.b3 cxb3 13.axb3 g6 giving White full compensation for the pawn (but not more) according to theory. But this is for the advanced players to study closely in their preparation.

Let's return to the game. 

Step 4: Trade the defending fianchettoed bishop around the king.

Play from the previous diagram went 11.Ne5 hxg3 12.hxg3 Qc8, and I think you know Black's idea by now!



We can't realistically hope to mate White's king while the bishop defends on g2. However, if the bishop is traded with ...Bh3xg2, our queen quickly comes to h3 and suddenly the h-file attack strikes gold!

Of course, White saw this coming, and he anticipated the attack with 13.Rd1 Bh3 14.Bf3 (so that the rook isn't en prise on f1). The initial wave of the attack has been parried, so Dubov went on with Step 5.

Step 5: Bring the remaining pieces into play before launching the 'second wave' of attack.

Technically speaking, this was not the most precise way to play the position - Black should have continued making threats with 14...Nd7! 15.d4 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Bg4!, trading off White's defending minor pieces to strengthen the attack on White's king with the major pieces (a standard attacking principle). 

However, this principle of 'bringing all the pieces into play' or 'bringing all the pieces into the attack' does hold true in the majority of cases and it did play an integral role in the ensuing combination!

Black played 14...g6 15.b4 Bg7 16.Bb2 Kf8 (diagram), completing his kingside development. With the rook already active on the h-file, the king can slide to f8, performing the same role of safeguarding the king as castling normally would. However, this play is also a bit slow and Ding missed a chance to take control of the game:



Ding should have played directly and opened the queenside to his advantage with 17.b5!. The point is that 17...cxb5 18.Qb3 regains the pawn by forking f7 and b5, and when White does take back on b5, the long diagonal will be reopened for the g2-bishop and the pressure against b7 (not to mention the newly opened c-file) will give White a very real initiative.

This is the risk with playing so aggressively from the opening, as Dubov likes to do - if your attack doesn't keep up its initial steam, the opponent can use the time you spent on your attack to coordinate his forces for a much stronger counterattack and initiative. 

However, Ding continued to play slow, strategic chess (typical for the English Opening) - and it cost him.

Step 6: Eliminate the key defenders of the king. 

The game went 17.a4 Nh7! (diagram) A great manoeuvre by Black, both preparing ...Ng5 to go after White's fianchettoed bishop, and also involving the g7-bishop in the attack by hitting a key defender in the e5-knight.

The position above is a tough defensive puzzle for White - Ding didn't find the best move, but for the titled players reading, I would recommend sitting with this position until you find White's only move to take an advantage.



(don't peek!)




Well, the key move is 18.Qc5!, a prophylaxis against ...Ng5 (as White would have the Nxg6 tactic in reply). Congratulations if you found it!

Instead, Ding lost his sense of danger and played 18.b5 Ng5 19.bxc6??, reaching the first position we saw in our mini-lesson today. Here it is again to remind you, in case you didn't solve the exercise the first time. Black to play and win:



The answer is that Dubov ended the game with 19...Bxe5! 20.Bxe5 Nxf3 21.exf3 and now for Step 7:

Step 7: Finish off the attack with the queen (backed up by the other pieces).

21...Bg2!!, and White resigned, since he has no good defence to ...Qh3 and ...Qh1 mate (or ...Rh1 Kxg2 Qh3 mate), whether White takes the bishop, rook or pawn (or tries some desperate defence). 

Therefore, Ding resigned after 21...Bg2. 

Quite an amazing game, don't you think?

If it was a bit hard for you to follow all the moves in your head, or you want to revise the full game, click this link here to enjoy my notes. 

Or study them below:

Now it's your turn.

Do you remember the 7 steps Dubov followed to win with a direct attack as Black in just 21 moves?

Here is the Attacking Blueprint for this game:

Step 1: Build The Light-Squared Pawn Chain
Step 2: Take the Pawn and Defend It With Pieces
Step 3: Charge the h-pawn 'AlphaZero' style to start a kingside attack.
Step 4: Trade the defending fianchettoed bishop around the king.
Step 5: Bring the remaining pieces into play before launching the 'second wave' of attack.
Step 6: Eliminate the key defenders of the king. 
Step 7: Finish off the attack with the queen (backed up by the other pieces.

Obviously, winning the game will require mistakes from the opponent, but nonetheless, this blueprint can be adapted for different situations to initiate and execute an attack on the king with the maximum chances for success. 

This was more than a GM 'mini-lesson' - it was a full lesson from Dubov's game! Congratulations, chess student, on making it to the end of our lesson!

Share your feedback - do you love this format for studying games? 

What would you love to learn about in the next mini-lessons?

See you in the next post!

Your Coach,

GM Max

PS This post comes from an email I sent my email list two days ago. Click here to join my email list and access more FREE daily Grandmaster mini-lessons!