Ian Nepomniatchi has won the 2020 Russian Championship...
... but Daniil Dubov had already absconded with the hearts and minds of the spectators.
Top level chess has a long history in Russia, and the Russian championship is one of the few events exclusively staged by a national federation that is perennially considered a “Super-Tournament,” relevant on the global stage for all top level professionals. The British championships and the U.S. Championship seem to pale in comparison. But then, the average ELO rating of the top 12(!) Russian players is nearly 2700. Amongst the favorites at this year’s Russian Superfinal? Ian Nepomniatchi (rated 2784, and currently tied with MVL for the lead of the 2020 World Championship Candidates’ tournament, at the halfway point), and Sergey Karjakin (rated 2752, who challenged Magnus Carlsen in a match for the world championship in 2016 - at one point in that match, Karjakin even took a 1 game lead…).
The tournament is so strong that Karjakin, who has qualified for and played in a match for the World Championship, has not yet won it in his entire chess career. Nepomniatchi edged him out after a rapid tiebreak for the 2010 title, which neither player has been able to replicate, though Karjakin did tie for the lead and achieve a rapid playoff again in 2012, where Dmitry Andreikin came out on top. In my mid-week email I mentioned, in passing, that Carlsen’s main rivals were rounding into form. Well, here’s one of them: Ian Nepomniatchi won the 2020 Russian Championship outright, after scoring 7.5/11 (+5, =5, -1).
But you won’t hear much about that because the talk of the tournament is none other than 24 year-old Daniil Dubov, who finished tied for 3rd place with a score of 6.5/11, but achieved the unique distinction of defeating both Ian Nepomniatchi and Sergey Karjakin (who finished first, and second) in their individual matchups. His game with Nepo was the latter player’s only loss, and his victory over Karjakin in the final round decided the tournament, which Nepo won by only a half point. Karjakin’s only other loss was to Nepomniatchi himself…
Dubov is hardly an interloper or newcomer on the chess scene, though he’s not yet seriously inserted himself into the world championship conversation, as a contender. In 2018, he was rather famously hired by Magnus Carlsen to assist with the champion’s preparations for his 2018 match with Fabiano Caruana, and subsequently Carlsen has credited Dubov with “some of [Carlsen’s] more daring opening ideas.” The work seemed to pay off for Dubov, as well. That same year, he won the 2018 World Rapid Championship.
In his game with Nepo, Dubov showed off an excellent piece of his well regarded opening preparation - playing quickly for well over a dozen moves in a rare line of the Grunfeld that Nepo had played only once before, Dubov achieved an excellent position which required very accurate (and rather unintuitive) defense from Nepomniatchi. Nepo made more intuitive moves, while Dubov made Stockfish-approved moves, and he won an excellent game. Against Karjakin a few rounds later, however, he uncorked something truly special - a blistering attack, an unclear queen sacrifice in a complicated position, and then - a final round victory over one of Russia’s top players and a former challenger for the World title. As I alluded to in the title… twitter was, well, twitter-pated:
After the game, when asked about his stunning sacrifice, Dubov said, “well, first I noticed that I was not worse, and then I thought, why not make myself and the spectators a gift?”
A gift it was, and a candidate for Game of the Year. Enjoy:
Game of the Week #15:
Daniil Dubov vs. Sergey Karjakin (2020 Russian Superfinal, Moscow, Rd. 11)
e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. b4!? (diagram)
Already this is a provocative move, but it has been played before. We saw 6. e5!? from Carissa Yip in her game vs. Lisa Ordaz Valdes at the FIDE Online Olympiad, and that line has become something of the “modern main line” for the Italian game. 6. b4 is an inferior try, but the resulting positions are extremely complicated, and it will become obvious rather quickly that Dubov has analyzed this variation deeply:
… Bb6 7. e5 Ne4!?
Here, Karjakin makes a choice that’s consistent with his solid style. 7. … d5! is possible, indeed it’s probably the critical move. But Dubov has obviously prepared this line, and the position after 7. … d5! 8. exf6 dxc4 9. Qe2+ Be6 10. b5 Na5 11. fxg7 Rg8 looks a mess. There’s nothing wrong with 7. … Ne4, which aims for a slight opening advantage, but a more sedate character of play. Here the style of Dubov’s preparation begins to emerge.
Bd5!? (diagram)
Bd5!? is an excellent practical move, if it’s not the computer’s top choice. Stockfish likes both 8. 0-0 and 8. b5 better than 8. Bd5, but after both of those moves, black has a number of options that lead to an advantageous position. The move 8. … d5 can be considered, for example.
After 8. Bd5!?, black should come out ahead - white will not get enough compensation for the sacrificed material, but only with perfect play. Dubov has led Karjakin onto a narrow path, and for the next several moves, Karjakin simply must play the engine’s top line, or he will stand worse.
… Nxc3 9. Nxc3 dxc3 10. Bg5!?
According to my database, this position had been reached twice before. Both times white tried 10. 0-0, but 10. Bg5 appears to be an improvement. The point is that, after 10. 0-0 h6, Bg5 is prevented, and after 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Bg5, 11. … Qe8 is possible. In the game, 10. … Ne7 is forced, and white keeps a little initiative. It’s difficult for Karjakin to unravel the knot his pieces are in.
… Ne7 11. 0-0 h6 12. Bh4 (diagram)
Already on move 12, Karjakin is presented with difficult decisions. Black would like to castle, he’d like to alleviate the pin on the e7 knight, and he’d like to develop his queenside. With that in mind, there are a few rather obvious candidate moves in this position - 12. … 0-0 feels natural. 12. … g5!? looks like a radical, committal decision, but it does un-pin the knight. and 12. … a5!? seeks to activate the a8 rook in non-traditional fashion, while prodding the b-pawn. Nothing can be done, yet, about the c8 bishop, because 12. … d6 simply allows white to open the e-file. After each of the other candidates, black should have a comfortable position, but which is best? Are any clearly better? How could a natural move like short-castles be wrong?
… 0-0 was played.
And it’s not “wrong,” but it’s telling. Dubov has led Karjakin into a line that he’s prepared more deeply, and Karjakin is trying to find the most comfortable, natural solutions to the problems. He’s not necessarily looking for the most ambitious refutation to White’s play. But credit Dubov - he was well prepared for this. And at every turn, he simply refuses to make Karjakin’s job easy, or allow any simplification in the position.
Re1 Qe8 (unpinning) 14. Bb3 (diagram)
With the pin on the knight resolved, the bishop must retreat. Dubov chooses to keep the bishop on the a2-g8 diagonal with obvious, aggressive intent. It’s a constant motif in such positions that black has weakened the g6 square by playing … h6, and while the f7 pawn is pinned, white can often infiltrate the black king’s castled position via Qc2(d3)-g6.
… a5 (again, … d6 would simply allow an opening of the e-file, so Karjakin attempts to activate his rook on the a-file.)
Bf6! (diagram)
First things first, the bishop cannot be taken immediately because of 15. … gxf6 16. exf6 d5 17. fxe7, when the e7 knight is again pinned to the queen, and this time, doomed along with the f8 rook. But what can black actually play? 15. … d5 straight away is also bad, because of 16. exd6 gxf6 17. dxe7, and again, the f8 rook is dead. Ignoring everything with 15. … axb4 leads to 16. Nh4, when white will play Qg4 or Qh5, depending on how black responds, and the white attack is simply too strong on the kingside. Black will be compelled to sacrifice material in order to fend it off. By process of elimination, one might arrive at the move 15. … Nf5, which attempts to resolve the situation along the e-file. But after 16. g4!? gxf6 17. gxf5 we get a wild position where white will play Kh1 and hope to attack along the open g-file which leads directly to the black king. 15. … Nf5 might be best, despite the complications. But Karjakin spied another idea. He attempts to defend by sacrificing the d- and c-pawns in order to free up his position and complete development. But first, the tension between the a5 pawn and its counterpart on b4 must be resolved. In the following line, the a8 rook is needed to look after the d8 square, and can no longer defend the a-pawn.
… a4 16. Bc4
Here, the bishop maintains the pin on the f7 pawn. 16. Bc2 was also possible, but Dubov probably had some variation of the game continuation in mind. At least he knew what was about to happen was possible.
… Ng6 17. Qd3
Now the g6 knight is threatened, obviously, because of the pin on the f7 point. A drastic solution is necessary, but Karjakin has one available:
… d5!? 18. exd6 Be6!? (diagram)
Here, we see why 15. … a4 was played. If Karjakin had gone for 15. … Ng6, directly, then 16. bxa5 Rxa5 17. Qd3 d5 18. exd6 Be6 19. Rxe6! and the d-pawn would promote, because the a8 rook no longer looks after the d8 square. And if 16. … Bxa5, white could respond to 18. … Be6 with 19. Nd4, with unbearable pressure on the pinned e6-bishop, since the dark squared bishop has been deflected away from the surveillance of the central d4 square. To be clear - this is the genius of Dubov’s opening preparation. This position is one he’s already familiar with, and Karjakin is figuring everything out over the board. There are little subtleties in 3 different 5 move variations that must be calculated in order to defend this position.
And here, if white plays in straightforward fashion: 19. Bxe6 Nf4! 20. Qxc3 fxe6 black has solved the problems. 21. Bxg7 loses to 21. … Qg6, and after 21. Be5 cxd6 white can probably get his pawns back, but no more.
Dubov was not content with playing in straightforward fashion. As he would say later, he spied an opportunity to give a gift to the fans (and himself. Treat yo’self, ya know?)
Qxg6!! (diagram)
And for this, Dubov’s effort is being considered for game of the year:
Daniil snaps off the knight and threatens mate on g7, but the queen is en pris!
… fxg6 20. Rxe6 (diagram)
Something has to be said about this position, because Karjakin has his own role to play in the ultimate “brilliancy” of this game. It takes two to make a chess struggle into a brilliancy, and here, Karjakin was not done fighting:
Discovered check is threatened. Black can try 20. … Qc6 with the following forcing variation: 20. … Qc6 21. Re7+ Qxc4 22. Rxg7+ Kh8 23. Rxc7+ Rxf6 24. Rxc4 Rxd6 25. Rxc3, after which, Karjakin is defending an endgame, down a pawn. He has a tough road to hoe, but he has drawing chances. But Karjakin didn’t want to try to hold a draw, down a pawn, he was either still playing for a win, or he felt that the upcoming complications were less clear. He went in for 20. … Qf7:
… Qf7 21. Bxc3 Kh8 22. Re4 Qf5 23. Re7 (diagram)
Dubov has a bishop and knight for the queen, but the coordination of his pieces in their assault on the black king’s castled position makes a strong impression.
Karjakin starts giving material back:
… Rg8 24. Bxg8 Rxg8 25. dxc7 Qc2 26. Be5 Bxf2+ 27. Kh1 (diagram)
And now - white has a rook and a knight for the queen, but the c7 pawn is menacing…
… Bb6 28. h3 Kh7 29. Re1 a3 30. Kh2 g5 31. Nd4 Qc4?
Karjakin cannot be offered advice, any longer. His position is completely lost. But this knight should be exchanged, rather than allowed into f5.
Nf5 Qxb4 33. Rc1 Kg6 34. Rxg7+ Kxf5 35. Rxg8 Bxc7 36. Bxc7 Qb2 37. Rc5+ Ke4 38. Rd8 (diagram)
And with 39. Re5+ coming, Karjakin resigned.
A game for the ages, truly. Dubov should be proud. The world has surely noticed.
Puzzle of the Week #17:
But first, a solution to last week’s puzzle:
Ra6! is a rather elegant, and direct, solution to the 10-year old Morphy’s composition. If the bishop moves, then 2. Rxa7# follows, or 1. … bxa6 2. b7#, but the key is to prevent 1. … a6, if you’d like to mate in two, that is.
This week’s position is from the game Goganov - Nepomniatchi in Round 6 of the Russian Superfinal. A nice win for Nepomniatchi en route to his second Russian championship. Here, Ian had made excellent progress by dominating the light squares in the center of the board. White chose to offer an exchange of light squared bishops with 21. Bd3 - but Nepomniatchi can force a win of material. How? Black to play and win:
I’ll publish the solution next week, but if you’ve found it, or you have questions in the meantime, send me an email: JensenUVA@gmail.com or DM on twitter @JensenUVA
Until next time, ARGH! SHAKHMATY!!