[Event "OnlyRapidTraining's Study: Dubov Sample Line"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/iueIVod8/ybbNhBje"] [Result "*"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C54"] [Opening "Italian Game: Classical Variation, Center Attack"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/OnlyRapidTraining"] [StudyName "OnlyRapidTraining's Study"] [ChapterName "Dubov Sample Line"] [UTCDate "2024.03.01"] [UTCTime "14:08:32"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/iueIVod8/ybbNhBje"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 { Developing the knight to f3, attacking the e5-pawn and influencing the central squares is the most common way of handling the king's pawn opening and will be the recommendation within this repertoire. 2...Nc6 } 2... Nc6 { Developing the knight to c6 and defending the e5-pawn is the most logical and natural move in the position. The alternative2...Nf6, leading to the Petroff Defence, will be considered separately in the later part of the course. } 3. Bc4 { This natural developing bishop move, leading to the so-called Italian Game, will be our main recommendation in this repertoire. I am sure many of us were introduced to this opening when we first started playing chess, given that it follows basic principles (occupy the center, develop the pieces, castle your king), while also eyeing the weakest point in Black's camp - the f7-pawn. For a long time, however, the Italian game has not been considered the most ambitious/critical variation in the 1.e4 e5 complex. Historically speaking, developing the bishop to b5, pressuring the knight on c6 and entering the so-called Spanish - or Ruy Lopez - opening, was considered to be more ambitious and critical way of handling the 1.e4 e5 complex. It is not a coincidence that most World Chess Champions employed it with both colours and that it was featured in a number of World Chess Championship Matches. True, it has always had its proponents and was employed occassionally by top players such as Kramnik, Morozevich, Kamsky, Shirov, Yudasin, Short and even Kasparov, to name a few. But until the 21st century, one can safely say it was secondary in popularity compared to the Ruy Lopez. It all changed somewhere in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Around that time, the notorious Berlin Defence of the Ruy Lopez was at the height of the popularity and top players, frustrated by the constant 'bashing of the head against the wall' started searching for ways of avoiding it. Going back to the Italian was a logical step. And very soon, it was discovered that this 'harmless' opening is much more venomous and deep than initially thought. Its flexibility and abundance of possible move orders, ideas and ways of handling it turned it into a dangerous and common practical weapon. ---Thus, at some point in the 2010s, the Italian become extremely fashionable (so much that the term 'The Italian Renaissance' entered the chess jargon) and became a regular guest at the top level. And consequently, at all levels below. Furthermore, it doesn't seem like it will go away anytime soon. Nowadays, the Italian is at least as popular as Ruy Lopez. For example, in the most recent edition of the Tata Steel Masters tournament, it was seen in more games than the Ruy Lopez. I think this is partly due to the rise of the modern chess engines, which have become more powerful than ever before. Not only did deeper analysis with these engines convince the players that the Italian is a fully viable opening. But it has also made it even more difficult to play the Ruy Lopez, since - apart from the Berlin Defence - a number of sharp and forcing variations re-appeared, which made the move 3.Bb5 even more demanding to play. } 3... Bc5 { Developing the bishop to c5 is one of the two big main options in the Italian - together with3...Nf6 In majority of the games, the moves do transpose to each other - most notably when White decides to go for the so-called 'Slow Italian'. -- However, the moves do have some independence. The reason why people might prefer the text move over 3...Nf6 is the avoidance of the very sharp variation with4.Ng5 - which will be, incidentally, our recommendation in this repertoire, as well. On the other hand, the move 3...Bc5 also allows some independent and sharp options for White. Including the variation we will be providing as the main option within this repertoire. } 4. c3 { This move, intending to play d4 on the very next move, is one of the possibilities available to White against the 3...Bc5 move order, exploiting the fact that our e4-pawn is not under the attack. It will be our main recommendation in this course, although we will be deviating from the main variations very soon. } 4... Nf6 { Developing the knight and attacking the pawn on e4 is by far the most common move in this position. Possible alternatives are considered in the main course, but for the purposes of the Short & Sweet, let's stick to the main line. } 5. d4 { Of course, the whole point of our previous move was to execute this central pawn advance. } 5... exd4 { Again the most common and logical move, taking on d4 and exploiting the fact that the pawn on e4 is still under the attack. Now White has a wide variety of options at their disposal. } 6. b4 { This surprising text move, refraining from the recapture on d4 or advance of the e-pawn and advancing the 'flank' pawn with a gain of tempo, will be our choice in this repertoire. It leads to the so-called Dubov Italian, named after the creative and well-known Russian Grandmaster Daniil Dubov. Even though he is not the inventor of this variation, he was the top player that introduced it into modern practice when he employed it with great effect in a celebrated game against Sergei Karjakin in the Russian Superfinal 2020. If you take a number of games featuring it before 2020 and after 2020, you will notice a big discrepancy, so the name of the variation is fully justified. According to his own notes to this game from the New In Chess Magazine (issue 2021 #1), Dubov mentioned this move could be a cool idea for a blitz game to his coach/second Alexandar Riazantsev. After laughing for 10 minutes, Riazantsev came up with some very deep analysis which convinced Dubov to try it out in a classical game. According to him: 'All in all, the line looks decent for White. I don't see a way for Black to get an advantage, which is quite something for such a sharp position!' What is the point of the early advance of the b-pawn? Well, apart from attacking the bishop and trying to force it away from the ideal square, White has a very specific idea in mind - pushing b5 and hitting the knight on c6 at the appropriate moment. The downside of this idea is that the inclusion of the moves b5 and Na5 will attack the bishop on c4 and will force it to move again. Furthermore, once the bishop moves, all White's pawns on b4, c3 and e4 will be 'under attack', so in many variations White will be forced to sacrifice a pawn. At least. Therefore, going for this advance definitely involves some degree of risk. Fortunately, Jan's analysis confirmed Dubov's verdict - even with best play from both sides, there is no way for Black to achieve an objective advantage. Furthermore, the text move is still much less common compared to some other options - especially below the master/ grandmaster level. By going for it, we are hoping our opponents will not be nearly as knowledgable/well-prepared as us. And that we will be able to obtain the objective advantage in practice. } 6... Bb6 { This is by far the most popular move in the position and is what most people have played against me on the Internet after I started trying out this move in blitz games as we were working on this course. } 7. e5 { Once again, allow us to emphasize that here we can go for this move because with the bishop on b6, Black has less control over the g5-square, which is surprisingly relevant in some variations. Besides, after7.b5 Black can play7...Ne7 and thus avoid having the knight stuck at the edge of the board. Even though it is not at all clear whether it is superior to the standard7...Na5 } 7... d5 { Finally, this advance of the d-pawn is the most common move and constitutes the absolute mainline of the Dubov Italian. The central counter is thematic in a number of 1.e4 e5 openings. Even players who don't necessarily know the theory here might embark on it, especially if they are familiar with the more popular line of the Italian that continues 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5!? } 8. exf6 dxc4 9. Qe2+ { An important move to remember. The point is not so much to get the bishop to e6. But rather to prepare the maneuver Qe4 and potentially Qxh7 in the future. Note that we include this check precisely at the moment where Black is unable to play ...Qe7. } 9... Be6 { The most popular and logical move, played in an overwhelming majority of games that reach this position (95%, or 12000+). } 10. b5 { An important point and one of the reasons why we advanced the b-pawn earlier in the game. We take a moment to kick the knight from the central c6 post before continuing with anything else. Next on our list is taking on g7 and then playing either Qe4, Bg5 or O-O, depending on what Black does. Now Black has a wide choice. } 10... d3 { The text move is the most popular move in the position, played in a whopping 70% of the games that reach this position. Quite understandably - it is hard to resist the temptation to advance the pawn with the gain of the tempo on the queen. However, it might turn out to be not the best approach, because it forces the queen to go to a desirable central outpost on e4 with the gain of time. } 11. Qe4 { We reposition the queen on a nice central square from where it eyes the h7 square. It turns out that the inclusion of the d3-Qe4 moves is in White's favour as Qxh7 will be very important resource later down the road. Now again Black has some options. } 11... Na5 { Finally - this natural knight move is by far the most common move in the position. However, just like11...Nb8, it seems to be more-or-less losing on the spot. It seems that the unexpected11...Nb4 is the only way not to get a bad position with the inclusion of 10...d3. } 12. fxg7 { Hopefully, by this point, this has become automatic. } 12... Rg8 { The immediate 13.Qxh7 is not as powerful as in the line with the knight on b8 due to13...f6 14.O-O Qd7 15.Re1 Black manages to castle with 15...O-O-O White is still better, but the text move leads to a great advantage. } 13. Bg5 Qd5 { The most sensible move, inviting the exchange of the queens.13...Qd6 is also possible, but then either 14.Qxh7 or even the stronger14.Bf6!? are both good for White. } 14. Qxh7 Kd7 { A sensible move, trying to defend the rook on g8. But just like in the lines seen previously, this doesn't really help Black due to the weaknesses on the dark-squares and the imminent Nbd2-Ne4-Nf6. } 15. O-O { Naturally, we are happy to castle and prepare moves such as Re1 and Nbd2. } 15... Rae8 { The most sensible move, trying to get the rook into the game and put the king on c8. Note that the inclusion off the move15...Bf5 doesn't really change much since we simply play16.Qh6 and after16...Rae817.Nbd2 we want Re1 next. } 16. Nbd2 Kc8 17. Rae1 { White is objectively winning here. Re5 and Ne4 are both next on cards, the a5 knight and the bishop on b6 are out of the game and our monster pawn on g7 is very strong. Not to mention we even have an extra pawn to boot. The computer already gives more than +4 for White - and this is precisely the type of outcome we are hoping for when going for the Dubov Italian. } *