OTB elite blitz action: Gukesh, Dubov and co. show their skills

by ChessBase India
1/13/2024 – The hyperactive ChessBase India team provides a wealth of content for chess fans all over the world. A couple of weeks ago, the team led by Sagar Shah made it to Samarkand and recorded numerous videos from the World Rapid and Blitz Championship. Want to feel the tension of elite blitz games caught on tape from start to finish? Find here a few examples, featuring Daniil Dubov, Dommaraju Gukesh and Divya Deshmukh.
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Caruana and Dubov set the board ablaze

This game was played in round 17, when Daniil Dubov stood in sole second place a half point behind Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana was still in contention for overall victory a half point further back.

Caruana, playing white, reached a completely winning position (shown below). But first he needed to deal with a mate-in-one threat.

Caruana v. Dubov

Can you find the one move that keeps White’s clear advantage? With 12 seconds on the clock, Caruana failed to find the winning line and went for the (surprisingly playable) 29.Qxh4

Watch the full game below:

Gukesh opts for the attack

While playing in Samarkand, Gukesh was not yet certain that he would get a spot in the 2024 Candidates — Anish Giri and Arjun Erigaisi still had chances to overtake him in the FIDE Circuit Leaderboard. Perhaps the fact that he had already made the most of his chances by winning the Chennai Masters reduced his motivation in the rapid and blitz event, as he finished 38th in the blitz with 12½/21 points.

Once all was said and done, he did get the spot in the Candidates, and despite his somewhat disappointing final result, he managed to obtain a number of remarkable wins. In round 21, the 17-year-old ace went for an attack in his game with black against Manuel Petrosyan.

Petrosyan v. Gukesh

Black had a strategic advantage, which Gukesh could have tried to convert with patient play. However, this is blitz! The youngster went for the kill with 30...Bxh3 — not the engine’s favourite continuation — and went on to win the game with a great-looking combination.

Check it out:

Divya’s smooth finish

In a duel of rising stars, Divya Dsehmukh, who stunned the field at the Tata Steel India rapid tournament, got the better of 2-time U.S. women’s champion Jennifer Yu.

It was a smooth victory in which White exploited her opponent’s weakness on the dark squares around her king.

Divya v. Yu

The winning sequence begins with 24.Nxe6 — at this point, Black surely regretted having pushed her pawn to g6.

A clean victory:

Find many more videos from the World Rapid and Blitz Championship here!

In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.

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