Battle of Generations: Shirov-Dubov

by Albert Silver
12/3/2013 – As the brainchild of Russian businessman Oleg Skvortsov, a match called the Battle of Generations is being held at the Digital October center between rising junior Daniil Dubov and legendary Alexei Shirov. It is a six-game match with blitz games if any end in a draw, and enjoys high-res video broadcast via ChessTV. The opening ceremony was a party at a chic Moscow restaurant. Great games and pictures.

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Battle of Generations: Shirov-Dubov

The gorgeous Patriach Pond in Moscow

On Sunday in a Moscow restaurant, a stone's throw from the famous Patriarch's Pond, the cozy opening ceremony for a match between grandmasters Alexei Shirov (Latvia) and Daniil Dubov (Russia) took place. This bout between two immensely talented representatives of two different generations was the brainchild of Russian businessman Oleg Skvortsov.

Oleg Skvortsov and his wife Natalia Shevando talk with GM Alexander Volzhin

Daniil Dubov in good company

Alexei Shirov

Daniil Dubov sporting overgrown peach fuzz or undergrown mustache

The drawing of lots was a simple couple of kings hidden in an ice bucket

Alexander Volzhin and Natalia Zhukova

The party in full swing

Chief Editor of "64" Mark Glukhovsky, Alexander Morozevich and Oleg Skvortsov

WGM Anna Burtasova

The two grandmasters will play six games with FIDE time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves and 30 minutes for the rest with a 30-second per move increment, starting from move one. Even if one of the two effectively wins the match before the end, all six games are guaranteed to be played. If on the other hand, no winner is the winner will be determined in advance, will be played all the games. And they are unable to decide a winner then a blitz match will be held to break the tie. The tiebreak is unlimited and they will play sets of two games until a winner emerges. Another interesting idea by Oleg Skvortsov

The world's oldest grandmaster Yuri Averbakh and photographer Boris G. Dolmatovsky

Daniil Dubov, Catherine Sekenova and Mikhail Kobalia

Chief editor Maxim Notkin, ChessPro coach Vasily Gagarin, and Olga Dolgov

Alexander Morozevich shares his secrets

Soon others join to pick his brain

Finally, they organize tag-team blitz games for fun

The match will be held from 2 to 8 December at the "Digital October" center.  ChessTV is broadcasting the games live in their signature high quality video, with commentary (in Russian) by grandmaster Sergey Shipov, Dani Dubov’s coach. Admission at the venue is free for spectators.

Daniil Dubov greets Alexei Shirov in game two

After the first game ended in a draw in a hard fought Anti-Meran, the two faced off in a couple of blitz games, which ended in favor of the younger Dubov. This does not count toward the match score however, and in game two, in an extremely sharp Anti-Meran Gambit, Shirov scored the first win and leads 1.5-0.5

[Event "Battle of the Generations 2013"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2013.12.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Dubov, Daniil"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D45"] [WhiteElo "2695"] [BlackElo "2629"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2013.12.02"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. O-O Rc8 12. e4 b4 13. Na4 c5 14. dxc5 Nxc5 15. Nxc5 Rxc5 16. Qe2 Qb8 17. Bd4 Ra5 18. g3 Nd7 19. Nd2 Be5 20. Qe3 Rd8 21. Rfd1 Bxd4 22. Qxd4 Bc6 23. Be2 Nf6 24. Qe3 h6 25. Rdc1 Bb5 26. Rc2 Bxe2 27. Qxe2 Nd7 28. Nc4 Rc5 29. Rd1 Nb6 30. Rxd8+ Qxd8 31. Rd2 Qc7 32. Nxb6 Qxb6 33. Rd7 Rc7 34. Rxc7 1/2-1/2 [Event "Battle of the Generations Blitz 2013"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2013.12.02"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Dubov, Daniil"] [Black "Shirov, Alexei"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "2629"] [BlackElo "2695"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2013.12.02"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. O-O Nbd7 5. d3 e5 6. h3 Bh5 7. g4 Bg6 8. Nh4 Nxg4 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. hxg4 Qh4 11. Re1 Nf6 12. e3 e4 13. dxe4 dxe4 14. Qe2 Nxg4 15. Bxe4 Nxf2 16. Qxf2 Qxe4 17. Qg2 Qh4 18. Rd1 Rh5 19. e4 Bc5+ 20. Kf1 Ke7 21. Nc3 c6 22. Ke2 Rah8 23. Be3 Bxe3 24. Kxe3 Qf6 25. Rf1 Rh3+ 26. Ke2 Qe5 27. Rf2 Rh2 28. Qg1 Rxf2+ 29. Kxf2 Rh2+ 30. Ke1 Qh5 31. Qg3 Rh1+ 32. Kd2 Rxa1 33. Qc7+ Ke6 34. Qc8+ Ke7 35. Qc7+ Kf6 36. Qd8+ Ke6 1/2-1/2 [Event "Battle of the Generations Blitz 2013"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "2013.12.02"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Shirov, Alexei"] [Black "Dubov, Daniil"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B03"] [WhiteElo "2695"] [BlackElo "2629"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2013.12.02"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. d5 e5 7. Nc3 Be7 8. f4 O-O 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. fxe5 N8d7 11. b3 Bh4+ 12. Kd2 dxe5 13. Be2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Bg5+ 15. Kc2 Bxc1 16. Qxc1 Nc8 17. Ne4 h6 18. Rg1 Kh8 19. Qa3 Ne7 20. Nd6 Qb6 21. Rae1 a5 22. Ne4 Nf5 23. c5 Rfc8 24. Kb1 Nxc5 25. Rc1 Nxe4 26. fxe4 Nd6 27. Bd3 Qd4 28. Rcd1 Nxe4 29. Bxe4 Qxe4+ 30. Ka1 Qb4 31. Qb2 Qd6 32. Qg2 g6 33. Rgf1 Rc7 34. Rf3 a4 35. Qd2 axb3 36. Qxh6+ Kg8 37. Rxb3 Rc2 0-1 [Event "Battle of the Generations 2013"] [Site "Moscow"] [Date "2013.12.03"] [Round "2"] [White "Dubov, Daniil"] [Black "Shirov, Alexei"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D44"] [WhiteElo "2629"] [BlackElo "2695"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Nd5 10. h4 Qa5 11. Rc1 Bb4 12. hxg5 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Bxc3+ 14. Nd2 Nd7 15. Rxh6 Rg8 16. Be2 Bb7 17. Bh5 O-O-O 18. Bxf7 Rxg5 19. Bxe6 Rxg3 20. fxg3 Bxd4 21. Bxd7+ Rxd7 22. e6 Re7 23. Kf1 Qa3 24. Nf3 Qe3 25. Nxd4 Qxh6 26. Nf5 Qf6 27. g4 Rxe6 28. Qd2 c5 29. Kg1 Qd8 30. Qf2 Qd5 31. g5 Kc7 32. a4 Re5 33. Nh4 Rxg5 34. axb5 Rg4 35. Re1 Qd4 0-1

 

Game:
Rtg
01
02
03
04
05
06
Score
Daniil Dubov 2636
½
0
       
0.5
Alexei Shirov 2695
½
1
       
1.5

Pictures by Vladimir Barsky


Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


Born in the US, he grew up in Paris, France, where he completed his Baccalaureat, and after college moved to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He had a peak rating of 2240 FIDE, and was a key designer of Chess Assistant 6. In 2010 he joined the ChessBase family as an editor and writer at ChessBase News. He is also a passionate photographer with work appearing in numerous publications, and the content creator of the YouTube channel, Chess & Tech.

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