Light It Up

Daniil Dimitriyevich Dubov – Daniil Aleksandrovich Yuffa
69th All-Russian Higher League; Kolomna, June 27, 2016
Alekhine Defence B02

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Nc3 c6 4. d4 d6 5. f4 Bf5 6. Bd3. For 6. Nxd5 cxd5 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 g6 10. 0-0 Bg7 11. Bd2 Qd7 12. Rae1 see I. A. Zaitsev – Vesterinen, Moscow 1982. 6. ... Qd7. Also 6. ... Nxc3 7. bxc3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 e6 9. Nf3 d5 10. f5 seems to give White a very powerful attack, Glinert – McLaren, 76th Canadian Chess Championship, Richmond 2002. 7. a3 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 Qg4

10. Nh3! Dubov is a very creative player and you can be sure that he is always ready to invent something dangerous. Here he sacrifices a Pawn for a powerful initiative. 10. ... Qxg2 11. Rg1 Qd5. Not 11. ... Qxh2? 12. Bd2! followed by long castling, with very sad consequences for Black. 12. c4 Qa5+ 13. Bd2 Qc7 14. Ng5 e6 15. f5 h6 16. exd6! There were many interesting possibilities, but Dubov chooses the soundest and probably the best one. 16. ... Qxd6? Probably 16. ... Bxd6 was a little better, although after 17. Ne4 Nd7 (17. ... Bxh2 18. Rxg7 is decidedly bad, while after 17. ... exf5 18. Nxd6+ Qxd6 19. 0-0-0 White totally dominates the board, in spite of his two Pawns minus) 18. 0-0-0 White still has powerful compensation for the Pawn. 17. Ne4 Qxh2 18. 0-0-0 Nd7 19. fxe6 fxe6 20. Rh1. Now White easily demolishes any resistance. 20. ... Qc7 21. Ng5 0-0-0 22. Nxe6 Qd6 23. Nxd8 Qxa3+ 24. Qxa3 Bxa3+ 25. Kb1 Rxd8 26. c5. That’s the point! The Black Bishop is in trouble. 26. ... b5 27. Ba5 Re8 28. Rhe1 Nf6 29. Rxe8+ Nxe8 30. Ka2 1 : 0. For if 30. ... b4 then 31. c3.

Daniil Dimitriyevich Dubov. Photo: chesspro.ru.

Easy As Life

Magnus Carlsen – Daniil Aleksandrovich Yuffa
2nd Qatar Masters Open; Doha, December 22, 2015
King’s Indian Defence E62

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 0-0 5. 0-0 d6 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. d4 Bf5 8. Bg5 Ne4 9. Nxe4 Bxe4 10. d5 Bxf3 11. exf3 Nd4 12. Re1 Re8 13. Re4. Instead of 13. Be3 Nf5 as in P. H. Nielsen – Ivanchuk, 1st SportAccord World Mind Games; Blindfold Event; 北京 (Beijīng) 2011. 13. ... c5 14. dxc6 Nxc6 15. h4! Very brilliant! 15. ... Qb6 16. Rb1 a5 17. Be3 Qc7 18. h5 e5 19. Qd2 Nd4 20. h6 f5

21. Rxd4! Another brilliant solution! The diagonal a1-h8 suddenly becomes the Road to Death for Black’s King. 21. ... exd4 22. Bxd4 Bf8? This is tantamount to resignation. The lesser evil was 22. ... Bxd4, although after 23. Qxd4 White retains a manifest advantage. 23. Bc3! Qxc4 24. f4. With the trivial threat of Bg2-d5+. 24. ... Re4!? Sheer desperation! 25. b3! Qc5 26. Ba1! d5. Or 26. ... Bxh6 27. Bxe4 fxe4 28. Rc1 and wins. 27. Rc1 1 : 0. A superb display of skill.

Carlsen vs. Yuffa. Photo: Katerina Savina.

Footfalls

Daniil Aleksandrovich Yuffa – Francesco Rambaldi
54th World Junior Chess Championship; Khanty-Mansiysk, September 5, 2015
English Opening A29

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2 Nb6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. d3 0-0 9. Be3 Re8 10. Rc1 Bf8 11. Ne4 Nd4 12. Nc5 Bxc5 13. Rxc5 Bg4 14. Bxd4 exd4 15. Qc1 c6 16. Qf4 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Re6 18. Rf5 Re7 19. Rc1 Rd7 20. Re5

20. ... Qb8! A very timely rassemblement by Rambaldi. 21. Qe4 Rd8! 22. Rh5 h6! Also playable is 22. ... g6 and if 23. Rh4 (23. Qg4 is answered by 23. ... Nd7 followed by ... Nd7-f8) then 23. ... Rd7 with a fundamentally quite sound position. 23. Re5 Nd7 24. Rf5 Qd6 25. Qf4 Qxf4 26. Rxf4 Nb6 27. Rf5 a5 28. Kf1 g6 29. Rfc5 Na4 30. R5c2 Ra6! A “Rook lift” just to increase pressure against White’s Queenside. 31. Rd1 Rb6 32. Rdd2. White has almost imperceptibly got into a somewhat passive position and Francesco can already think of playing to win. 32. ... Rb5 33. e4 f5 34. h4 Kg7 35. exf5 gxf5 36. Bd1 Kf6 37. Re2 Nc5 38. Rcd2 Nd7 39. Re1 Re5 40. Bh5 Rxe1+ 41. Kxe1 Nc5 42. Kd1 f4! 43. Bf3 Rg8 44. g4 Re8 45. Re2 Rxe2 46. Kxe2. Not 46. Bxe2? on account of 46. ... f3! with decisive effect. 46. ... Nd7. We wonder why Rambaldi didn’t play 46. ... Na4 winning a clear Pawn. Now Yuffa manages to save the day. 47. Be4 Ne5 48. f3 b5 ½ : ½.

Yuffa vs. Rambaldi. Photo: Vladimir Barsky.