The Good, the Bad, and the Dubovious

Dubovious (Du-bo-vi-ous)
adjective
Relating to the opening preparations employed by Russian chess grandmaster Daniil Dubov, known for having an unorthodox, creative, and oftentimes dubious nature.

Example: "Aw man, I knew I was better but just couldn't find a way to refute my opponent's Dubovious opening over the board."

The peak era of Dubov's opening creativity was 2019-2020, when he introduced the Dubov Tarrasch, played 8.a4 d5!? in the Anti-Marshall, and won this game against Karjakin that was widely considered to be the game of the year. In one interview, Dubov mentioned that he is constantly thinking about chess, such as while taking a taxi, he comes up with opening ideas to analyze later and a few of these are good enough to use in tournaments.

The first game shows an original and dangerous idea in the Catalan that is quite difficult for Black to defend against.

Our second game is a much clearer example of the Dubovious approach. The unusual 6...Re8 in the King's Indian Defence is a recent specialty of Dubov in fast time controls. I analyzed it for a bit with my engine and concluded it was both confusing and highly dubious, so I was about to move on, but then realized it fits the exact criteria for this article.

I'd like to end this post with a discussion question for my readers to think about. Feel free to comment in the forum below or use it as a conversation starter with your friends.

Q: How does Dubov's creative approach to the King's Indian compare to Shankland's approach, and which one resonates more with your own opening play?

~Hurburt