By A.E. Boy Espejo Jr.
Russian GM Daniil Dubov is the surprising leader at the halfway mark of the FIDE Online Steinitz Memorial being played on the chess24.com server.
The competition, held to honor the first undisputed world chess champion Wilhelm Steinitz who ruled from 1886 to 1894, consists of two 10-player formats – one Open and one for Women – where players will play each other twice over 18 rounds of blitz.
Each participant has three minutes and two-second increment after every move.
Besides Dubov, the all-GM Open has five-time world blitz champion Magnus Carlsen, three-time world blitz winner Alexander Grischuk, 2013 world blitz titlist Le Quang Liem, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Peter Svidler, Jeffery Xiong, Anton Korobov, David Anton Guijarro, and Bu Xiangzhi.
After 10 rounds of play, Dubov leads the field, Carlsen is half-a-point behind and Mamedyarov tails Carlsen.
The Open standings after Round 10: 1. Dubov, 8; 2. Carlsen, 7½; 3. Mamedyarov, 7; 4-5. Le, Svidler, 6½; 6. Korobov, 6; 7. Bu, 6; 8. Xiong, 5; 9-10. Grischuk, Anton Guijarro, 4.
Carlsen, M (2863)-Mamedyarov, S (2764) [D00]
chess24.com (3) 2020
1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Nbd2 0-0 6.c3 b6 7.Ne5 c5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.h4 Nc6 10.Qf3 Rc8 11.h5 h6 12.Qg3 Ne8 13.Bxh6 cxd4 14.Bxg7 Nxg7 15.h6 Qf6 16.hxg7 Qxg7 17.Bh7+ Kh8 18.Nxf7+ Rxf7 19.Bg6+ Kg8 20.Bxf7+ Kxf7 21.Qxd6 dxc3 22.bxc3 Ne5 23.0-0 d4 24.f3 dxe3 25.Ne4 e2 26.Rf2 Kg8 27.Qxe6+ Kh8 28.Qh3+ Kg8 29.Rxe2 Rf8 30.Qe6+ Kh8 31.Ng5 Nxf3+ 32.Nxf3 Bxf3 33.Rf2 Qxc3 34.Raf1 1-0
Dubov, D (2699)-Grischuk, A (2777) [B96]
chess24.com (5) 2020
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Nbd7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 b5 10.Bxf6 Nxf6 11.e5 Bb7 12.Qh3 dxe5 13.Ncxb5 Qb6 14.fxe5 Ne4 15.Qb3 Bc5 16.Nd6+ Nxd6 17.Qxb6 Bxb6 18.exd6 0-0 19.c4 Rfd8 20.b4 Rxd6 21.c5 Rc8 22.Bc4 Bxc5 23.bxc5 Rxc5 24.Nc2 Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 g5 26.Bxe6 Bxg2 27.Rd8+ Kg7 28.Rd7 Be4 29.Rxf7+ Kg6 30.Rf2 h5 31.Bf7+ Kh6 32.Bb3 g4 33.Kd2 Kg5 34.Nd4 Kh4 35.Rf4 Bb1 36.Rf1 Be4 37.Rf2 a5 38.Ke3 Bb1 39.Kf4 a4 40.Be6 a3 41.Rd2 Rc1 42.Rf2 Re1 43.Bf5 Bxf5 44.Nxf5+ Kh3 45.Ng3 h4 46.Ne4 Rxe4+ 47.Kxe4 g3 48.hxg3 hxg3 49.Rf3 Kh2 50.Rxa3 g2 51.Ra8 1-0
Le Quang Liem (2709)-Mamedyarov, S (2764) [A28]
chess24.com (5) 2020
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.bxc3 d6 7.d3 0-0 8.Be2 h6 9.0-0 a6 10.Rb1 Rb8 11.a4 a5 12.e4 b6 13.Ne1 Nh7 14.f4 exf4 15.Bxf4 f5 16.exf5 Bxf5 17.Qd2 Ne5 18.Nc2 Qh4 19.Ne3 Be6 20.Bg3 Qg5 21.d4 Ng4 22.Bxg4 Bxg4 23.h4 Qh5 24.Nd5 Rxf1+ 25.Rxf1 Be6 26.Nxc7 Bxc4 27.Re1 Rd8 28.Qb2 Qg4 29.Re3 Nf6 30.Qxb6 Qd1+ 31.Re1 Qd3 32.Nd5 Rf8 33.Ne7+ Kh7 34.Qxd6 Qxc3 35.Qe5 Qd3 36.h5 Ng4 37.Qd6 Rf1+ 0-1
Dubov, D (2699)-Carlsen, M (2863) [E90]
chess24.com (9) 2020
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0-0 6.Bd3 Bg4 7.Be2 Nfd7 8.Be3 e5 9.d5 a5 10.Nd2 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 f5 12.f3 Na6 13.0-0-0 Nac5 14.Kb1 a4 15.a3 Rf7 16.exf5 gxf5 17.g4 Qf6 18.gxf5 Qxf5+ 19.Ka2 Qc2 20.Rc1 Qd3 21.Qxd3 Nxd3 22.Rcg1 N7c5 23.Rg3 Kh8 24.Rhg1 Bf6 25.Nde4 Nxe4 26.Nxe4 Nf4 27.Bxf4 exf4 28.Rg4 Raf8 29.Kb1 b6 30.Kc2 Be7 31.Kd3 Bf6 32.R1g2 h6 33.Rg6 Bg7 34.Re6 Kh7 35.Nc3 Bxc3 36.Kxc3 Rg7 37.Rxg7+ Kxg7 38.Re7+ Kf6 39.Rxc7 Re8 40.Rd7 Re3+ 41.Kd4 Rxf3 42.Rxd6+ Kf5 43.Rxb6 Rf1 44.Rb8 Rd1+ 45.Kc5 f3 46.Rf8+ Ke4 47.d6 Rd2 48.Kc6 Rxh2 49.d7 Rd2 50.d8Q Rxd8 51.Rxd8 h5 52.c5 h4 53.Kb5 f2 54.Rd1 1-0
Svidler, P (2723)-Carlsen, M (2863) [C65]
chess24.com (10) 2020
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 d6 5.0-0 Be7 6.c3 0-0 7.Re1 a6 8.Ba4 Re8 9.Nbd2 b5 10.Bc2 Bf8 11.d4 Bb7 12.a4 Nb8 13.Bd3 c6 14.b3 Nbd7 15.Qc2 Qc7 16.Bb2 Nh5 17.Bf1 Nf4 18.g3 Ne6 19.b4 Nb6 20.axb5 cxb5 21.d5 Nd4 22.Nxd4 exd4 23.c4 Rac8 24.Bxd4 Nxc4 25.Nxc4 bxc4 26.Rac1 f5 27.Bh3 fxe4 28.Bxc8 Rxc8 29.Qxe4 Qf7 30.Qg4 Qxd5 31.Qe6+ Qxe6 32.Rxe6 Kf7 33.Re3 Bd5 34.Bc3 Bc6 35.Ra1 Ra8 36.Rae1 d5 37.Rf3+ Kg8 38.Re6 Rc8 39.Rf4 Bb5 40.h4 Rd8 41.Rb6 Bd6 42.Rg4 Rd7 43.h5 h6 44.Rg6 Bf8 45.Bd4 Bxb4 46.Rb8+ Kh7 47.f4 c3 48.Rxh6+ 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qa5!. Black’s futile options are: 1…Be5 2.Qxe5#; 1…e5 2.Rf4#; 1…Rxa5 2.Sf6#; 1…Rb5 2.Qe1#; 1…Bd5 2.Qxd5#./PN
