Daniil Dmitrievich Dubov (; born 18 April 1996) is a Russian

chess grandmaster Grandmaster (GM) is a title awarded to chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from World Champion, Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain. Once achieved, the title is held for life, though exceptionally the t ...

. He achieved his final

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for the Grandmaster title at the age of 14 years, 11 months, 14 days in 2011. Dubov won the 2018

World Rapid Chess Championship The World Rapid Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under fast chess, rapid time controls. Prior to 2012, FIDE gave such recognition to a limited number of tournaments, with non-FIDE reco ...

held in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

Chess career

2006–2009

Dubov won two medals at the European Youth Chess Championships: a bronze in 2006, in the U-10 division, and a silver in 2008, in the U12. In 2009 he won the Young Stars of the World – Vanya Somov Memorial in Kirishi. In the same year he played for the Russian team that won the gold medal in the World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad. Dubov also won the individual bronze medal on board two. He won the Russian U16 rapid and blitz championships of 2009.

2011–2015

In 2011 Dubov played again in the World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad and won the team gold and the individual bronze on board one. Dubov won the Moscow Rapid Chess Championship of 2011. Dubov shared first place with

Dmitry Andreikin Dmitry Vladimirovich Andreikin (, born 5 February 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster, World Junior Chess Champion in 2010 and two-time Russian Chess Champion (2012 and 2018). He won the Tashkent leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15 and finish ...

and Nikita Vitiugov in the Russian Championship Higher League and qualified for the Superfinal of the Russian championship (2012). In the latter he scored 4/9 points. In January 2013, Dubov took part in the

Tata Steel Tata Steel Limited is an Indian multinational steel-making company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, with its primary operations based in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. Formerly known as Tata Iron and Steel ...

B tournament in

Wijk aan Zee Wijk aan Zee (; ) is a village on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk, the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus chess tournament or the Hoogove ...

, where he scored 7½/13 points (+4-2=7) finishing fifth out of fourteen participants. At the Chess World Cup 2013 he reached the third round and was eliminated by Anton Korobov, after knocking out Sergey Fedorchuk and former

FIDE The International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation, commonly referred to by its French acronym FIDE ( , ), is an international organization based in Switzerland that connects the various national chess federations and acts as the Spor ...

World Champion

Ruslan Ponomariov Ruslan Olehovych Ponomariov (; born 11 October 1983) is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster. He was FIDE World Chess Champion from 2002 to 2004 and is the youngest holder of the title at the age of 18 years and 104 days, though the title was split ...

. In December, he played a friendly six-game match with

Alexei Shirov Alexei Shirov (, ; born 4 July 1972) is a Latvian and Spanish chess player. Shirov was ranked number two in the world in 1994. He won a match against Vladimir Kramnik in 1998 to qualify to play as challenger for the classical world championshi ...

called "Battle of Generations", which was won by the latter. In April 2015, he tied for first with

Ian Nepomniachtchi Ian Alexandrovich Nepomniachtchi ( rus, Ян Алекса́ндрович Непо́мнящий, r=Yan Aleksandrovich Nepomnyashchiy, p=ˈjan ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ nʲɪˈpomnʲɪɕːɪj, a=Ru-Ian Alexandrovich Nepomnyashchij.ogg; born 14 J ...

in the

Aeroflot Open The Aeroflot Open is an annual open chess tournament organised through the joint efforts of the Chess Federation of Russia and the Russian Ministry of Sport with the sponsorship from the Russian flag carrier, Aeroflot. It is played in Moscow, ho ...

, placing second on tiebreak.

2016

Dubov won the bronze medal at the

World Blitz Chess Championship The World Blitz Chess Championship is a chess tournament held to determine the world champion in chess played under blitz time controls. Since 2012, FIDE has held an annual joint rapid and blitz chess tournament and billed it as the World Rapi ...

2016 in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, scoring 14½/21 (+10-2=9).

2017

He won the Russian Higher League in July 2017 in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, edging out Sanan Sjugirov on tiebreak. In the Russian Superfinal, which took place in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

in December, Dubov shared 3rd–4th places with Vladimir Fedoseev, taking the bronze medal on tiebreak.

2018

Dubov served as one of Magnus Carlsen's

seconds The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

for the

World Chess Championship 2018 The World Chess Championship 2018 was a match between the reigning world champion since 2013, Magnus Carlsen, and the challenger Fabiano Caruana to determine the World Chess Championship, World Chess Champion. The 12-game match, organised by FI ...

. In December, Dubov won the

ahead of Carlsen,

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Shahriyar Hamid oglu Mammadyarov (; born 12 April 1985), known internationally as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, is an Azerbaijani chess grandmaster. he is Azerbaijan's highest rated chess player. His personal best rating of 2820 makes him the sixth-h ...

and

Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraFIDE Grand Prix 2019, a stage in qualification for the World Chess Championship 2020. Dubov was enrolled in the Moscow event, the first of four tournaments for the 2019 Grand Prix cycle. The Moscow tournament was a 16-player event, with Dubov being the lowest ranked participant. After an upset victory over the highest ranked player,

Anish Giri Anish Kumar Giri (; ; born 28 June 1994) is a Dutch chess grandmaster. A chess prodigy Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves no hidden information and no elements of chance. It is played on ...

, Dubov was eliminated from the Moscow Grand Prix tournament in the quarter-finals by American grandmaster

Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraHamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. Once again he was the lowest seeded player in the tournament, but after upset wins over

Teimour Radjabov Teimour Boris oghlu Radjabov (also spelled Teymur Rajabov; , ; born 12 March 1987) is an Azerbaijani Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. A former child prodigy, he earned the title of Grandmaster (chess), Grandmaster in March 2001 at age 14, ...

and

Peter Svidler Pyotr Veniaminovich Svidler (; born 17 June 1976), commonly known as Peter Svidler, is a Russian Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster and commentator who is an eight-time Russian Chess Champion. Svidler has competed in three World Championshi ...

, he was in the semifinals facing

Jan-Krzysztof Duda Jan-Krzysztof Duda (; born 26 April 1998) is a Polish Grandmaster (chess), chess grandmaster. A Chess prodigy, prodigy, he achieved the grandmaster title in 2013 at the age of 15 years and . he is ranked No. 1 in Poland and No. 17 in the FIDE w ...

. The two matches in classical time format were drawn and the match proceeded to tie-breakers. Dubov won the first rapid game (25+10) and needed only a draw to advance to the finals. He then lost what seemed to be a completely drawn endgame in the second match to send the match to a second set of tie breakers (10+10). After drawing with the white pieces, Dubov was finally eliminated by Duda.

2020

Dubov won the Lindores Abbey Rapid Challenge on 3 June, beating

Ding Liren Ding Liren ( zh, c=丁立人; born 24October 1992) is a Chinese chess grandmaster who was the 17th World Chess Champion from 2023–24. He is also a three-time Chinese Chess Champion, was a member of the Chinese chess teams that won the Chess ...

in semi-finals and

Hikaru Nakamura Christopher Hikaru NakamuraArmageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

time control. Dubov defeated Magnus Carlsen in the quarter-finals of Airthings Masters with a score of 2½–0½ on 30 December. Dubov also participated in the 2020

Russian Chess Championship The Russian Chess Championship has taken various forms. Winners by year (men) Imperial Russia In 1874, Emanuel Schiffers defeated Andrey Chardin in a match held in St. Petersburg with five wins and four losses. Schiffers was considered the first R ...

, where he scored 6½/11 as well as fourth place in the event.

2021

On 21 February, Dubov conducted a simultaneous game session at Lighthouse Children's Hospice. He again served as a second for Magnus Carlsen in the

World Chess Championship 2021 The World Chess Championship 2021 was a chess match between the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi to determine the World Chess Champion. It was held under the auspices of FIDE and played during Expo 20 ...

against

. This was criticized by

Sergey Karjakin Sergey Alexandrovich Karjakin (born 12 January 1990) is a Russian chess grandmaster (chess), grandmaster and politician. A chess prodigy, he previously held the record for the world's youngest ever grandmaster, having qualified for the title a ...

and

Sergei Shipov Sergei Shipov (born 17 April 1966) is a Russian chess player, trainer, journalist and writer. He was awarded the title Grandmaster by FIDE in 1996. Career Shipov founded the chess website Crestbook where, among other services, he provides onlin ...

, saying that he should not have helped a non-Russian in a match against a fellow Russian, with Shipov saying Dubov should not play for Russia in the future. Dubov responded that he considered it to be a match between two individuals, and counter-argued that working with Carlsen would improve his chess and hence help the Russian team. In December 2021, he was granted a wildcard entry to the

FIDE Grand Prix 2022 The FIDE Grand Prix 2022 was a series of three chess tournaments played between 4 February and 4 April 2022. The top two finishers – Hikaru Nakamura (winner) and Richárd Rapport (runner-up) – qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2022,

. From 29–30 December, Dubov also participated in the

, where he scored 4th place with 14½/21 points.

2022

Dubov competed in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022; however, he was forced to forfeit his final three games due to testing positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. Through February and March 2022, Dubov played in the

. In the first leg, he tied for second with

Vidit Gujrathi Vidit Gujrathi (born 24 October 1994) is an Indian chess grandmaster. Gujrathi attained the title of grandmaster in January 2013, becoming the 30th player from India to do so. He is the fourth Indian player to have crossed the Elo rating of 27 ...

in Pool C with a 3/6 result. In the third leg, he finished last in Pool B with a result of 2/6, finishing 21st in the standings with three points. Together with 43 other Russian elite chess players, Dubov signed an open letter to Russian president

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, protesting against the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

and expressing solidarity with the

Ukrainian people Ukrainians (, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. Their native tongue is Ukrainian, and the majority adhere to Eastern Orthodoxy, forming the second largest ethno-linguistic community. At around 46 million worldwide, Ukr ...

. In September 2022, Dubov won the 75th

after winning an

Armageddon Armageddon ( ; ; ; from ) is the prophesied gathering of armies for a battle during the end times, according to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Armageddon is variously interpreted as either a literal or a ...

playoff against Sanan Sjugirov.

Notable games

*Dubov, D. vs Svane, R. Batumi, Georgia. 2019. 22nd European Team Championship, round 7: Dubov finds mate in 13, in a game where his opponent's black king moves around the entire board, only to be mated on a3. *Dubov, D. vs Karjakin, S. Moscow, Russia. 2020. Russian Championship Superfinal, round 11: Dubov plays a novelty gambit in the opening then later sacrifices his queen to take down a World Champion contender. *Dubov, D. vs Nepomniachtchi, I. Samarkand, Uzbekistan. 2023. World Blitz Championship, round 11: Dubov and his opponent are penalized for match fixing a draw, playing 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.Nd4 Nd5 3.Nb3 Nb6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Ne4 Ne5 6.Ng5 Ng4 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.Ng1 Ng8 9.Nc5 Nc4 10.Na4 Na5 11.Nc3 Nc6 12.Nb1 Nb8 13.Nf3 ½–½. Both players received 0 points for the game rather than 1/2 of a point.

Personal life

Dubov learned chess at the age of 6. His grandfather was Eduard Dubov (1938–2018), an

international arbiter In chess tournaments, an arbiter is an official who oversees matches and ensures that the rules of chess are followed. International Arbiter ''International Arbiter'' is a title awarded by FIDE to individuals deemed capable of acting as arbiter ...

of chess and a mathematician.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubov, Daniil 1996 births Living people Chess Grandmasters 21st-century Russian chess players 21st-century Russian sportsmen Chess players from Moscow