This opening, also known as the Ruy Lopez, has been seen very frequently at the World Cup. It's a top-tier choice, and heavily theoretical.
Shankland drops his bishop back, since trading it for the knight does double the opponent's pawns but offers no advantage as it comes at the cost of the bishop pair.
Fast development, targeting the central pawn.
Shankland invites the 'Open' Spanish
He allows Dubov to take his pawn if he wishes, since then he would bring his rook out to the central file soon after and get his pawn back.
Dubov avoids the capture, instead preferring to take the game into Closed Spanish territory.
Shankland brings his rook to the center, defending the pawn.
Dubov cuts out the threat
Shankland was now threatening to play bishop takes knight next, followed by taking the pawn. Dubov's last move is designed to kill that possibility.
Shankland drops back, an easy decision!
Now that his central pawn is no longer at risk, Dubov can take the time to bring his king to safety.
The slight drawback of Dubov's pawn push on the queenside is that it makes his pawn vulnerable to attack, so Shankland goes for an immediate pawn break.
The pressure between rooks (x-ray) along the left-hand file meant that pawn takes pawn was a threat, so Dubov brings his bishop out to neutralize this.
Shankland opens up the scope of his dark-squared bishop, while stabilizing his central pawn.
Dubov also supports his center.
Shankland adds to the pressure against the central pawn.
Dubov exploits the x-ray
He knows that Shankland cannot take the pawn twice, since knight takes pawn at the end of the line would cost him his rook.
Unknown territory!
It's early into the game, and yet the players have already reached a quite original position. Shankland pressures the left-hand pawn once more, while also increasing his control over the center. The downside to this strategy is that it does leave his dark squares a little weak.
Dubov gambits a pawn!
Enterprising play from the Russian grandmaster, as he goes chasing after Shankland's bishop at the expense of his queenside pawn.
Shankland grabs the material that's on offer, the only real justification of his approach.
If Dubov is going to play a pawn down, then he should win the bishop pair in exchange.
Shankland recaptures.
Dubov wants to make sure that he leaves Shankland with doubled and isolated pawns on the queenside.
An unbalanced position!
It's quite an interesting struggle on the board, with Shankland having the worse structure and Dubov having the bishop pair advantage. But from a computer standpoint, it seems that Sam should be the happier of the two as his extra pawn should offer him a small edge overall.
Risky play!
Dubov decides to go for the most energetic continuation, cracking open the position in the center. But it carries quite a lot of risk, as it allows Shankland to pick up a second pawn now with his knight.
Likely, Dubov figures that when the dust settles he'll be left down a pawn but with an open position. And he'll be hoping that his bishop pair cancels out the slight material deficit.
Shankland picks up a second pawn, with a gain of time against Dubov's queen.
Dubov moves away from the threat, while creating one of his own against Shankland's invading knight.
Shankland gives up most of his advantage with the knight retreat. Best was to keep the piece anchored in the center by pushing his queen's pawn forward. Now the worst seems to be over for Dubov as he can immediately capture in the center while also forcing a trade of queens into what should be a fairly balanced endgame.
Anything else, and Dubov would have been in trouble. But now with the queens about to get traded and him winning one of his pawns back in the center, the Russian grandmaster should be able to guide the position to a comfortable equality over the coming moves.
Shankland's knight and queen were both hanging, so the queen trade was forced. A benefit for him of playing this move is that he gets to inflict some damage to Dubov's kingside pawn chain.
Dubov recaptures, leaving himself with an isolated pawn in the center that Shankland will try to target in the future.
Shankland trades pawns in the center, again largely forced as both his knight and central pawn were under fire.
Dubov reduces the material deficit
He's now down just one pawn, while his active bishops should make it generally straightforward for him to generate enough counterplay to hold the balance.
Shankland completes his minor piece development
I suspect that both players will be reasonably happy with the outcome of the opening. From Dubov's perspective, he will likely recognize that the position should offer him excellent drawing chances. While Shankland will be happy that he's got a pretty risk-free position, up a pawn and with some outside chances at playing for a win should Dubov fail to find the right path forward.
Dubov anchors the bishop
He plants it in the heart of the center, defended by his pawn while at the same time guarding that weakness. Plus, he also clears the file on the left-hand side. That could be useful since he likely intends to target Shankland's advanced queenside pawn next.
Shankland goes after Dubov's weak queenside pawn.
Dubov targets the rook
He moves his bishop into enemy territory, immediately pressuring Shankland's rook. He might have a tactical idea in mind after Sam shifts his rook to the left, as shown by the arrows.
The sequence shown in arrows would allow Dubov to force a trade of knights, while keeping his strong bishop pair.
It's hard to understand Shankland's motivation for giving up the exchange, as now Dubov should run no real risk of losing control over the position.
An easy decision for Dubov to make, as he collects the material on offer.
Two pawns for the exchange
Oftentimes, this material imbalance can favor the side with the two pawns. But in this case, Shankland has doubled and isolated pawns on the queenside. Given this, it's hard to believe that he's going to be able to generate any real winning chances. That said, his advanced queenside pawn makes it improbable that he will lose control at any point.
Dubov seeks out the rook trade
If he can exchange Shankland's only rook, it will make his remaining rook that much more effective against Sam's remaining minor pieces.
We could be headed for a draw!
This move might look aggressive, as Shankland wants to establish a pawn on the seventh rank in the event of a rook trade. But in fact, if Dubov goes for that it should allow him to eventually win this pawn, likely at the cost of his central pawn (after 5 or 6 moves). And when the dust settles we would find ourselves in a dead drawn endgame.
Dubov keeps the tension
Understandably, he doesn't want to trade rooks and leave Shankland with a dangerous-looking passed pawn so far up the board. So he plays it safe and drops his knight back closer to the queenside where the action is taking place.
Dubov with an opportunity to simplify
Shankland brings his knight forward, but now this allows rook takes rook followed by a knight jump. This would allow Dubov to trade down to a simplified endgame where he should be able to make a draw with ease. He will likely be attracted to this, as a draw from the Black side is a result that should suit him well.
Dubov goes for the trade, and is likely to be following up with another forced trade by moving his knight forward once Shankland recaptures here.
Another tempting path for Dubov as he seeks to force the draw quickly, would be to drop his knight back to target the pawn immediately.
Dubov forces more piece trades
Short of either player miscalculating horribly, this one should be nearing the end. Dubov's extra material will allow him to control Shankland's pawns, but no more.
Shankland has taken a quiet approach after the trade of pieces, dropping his knight back due to the weakness of his back rank.
The pawn push makes a lot of sense, cutting out one of the diagonals along which Shankland could defend his advanced pawn. Dubov will soon march his king towards the center, from where it will be within reach of the passed pawn.
Shankland grabs a little space, while also carving out an opening for his king.
Dubov begins the march of his king towards the center.
Now that there is no risk of back rank mate, Shankland's knight is free to re-enter the game.
Dubov allows Shankland to give a fork and win one of his kingside pawns, as that would buy him enough time to pick up the dangerous passer on the queenside.
Shankland pushes his queenside pawn up, but it's not any real danger for Dubov as the light-squared bishop ensures that there's no way for Sam to continue pushing it.
Dubov threatens to capture the advanced pawn.
Shankland moves forward with his bishop, defending his pawn.
Dubov looks for an opportunity to take the knight, fracturing Shankland's structure.
Shankland drops back, avoiding the unfavorable trade. The position remains balanced, but Sam is perhaps the side that runs the least risk so he may keep poking and prodding for some time.
Dubov steps forward with his bishop in order to shut down Shankland's possible knight jumps.
The bishop lands on the ideal square, from where it guards both of Sam's queenside pawns while also being supported.
Dubov drops back with his king, covering the promotion square of Shankland's most advanced pawn.
Shankland begins the slow march of his king towards the center of the board.
Dubov activates his rook, setting up various possible threats along the rank.
Shankland continues the king march.
Dubov prepares for a possible invasion into Shankland's half of the board.
Shankland covers the possible entry points of Dubov's rook.
Shankland has to watch out that he doesn't lose control of this one, and even end the game in defeat. Now Dubov can already invade with his rook, and this last pawn push from Sam makes it easier for the rook to start targeting these pawns.
Dubov might be sensing an opportunity here, invading with the rook at exactly the right moment. It's going to be hard for Shankland to keep all of his pawns!
Shankland connects his pawns
He also wants to kick back the active bishop, but the problem is that soon Dubov will be able to break down the structure by pushing his central pawn forward.
Shankland is fortunate that Dubov moved forward with his bishop rather than dropping it back along the main diagonal. Now it cannot combine so easily in both attack and defense, meaning that Sam may be largely out of danger for now.
Dubov 'burns' a move
He's happy to in effect hand the turn over to Shankland, recognizing that there's no productive options for the American. And this fact could make it very easy for Sam to misstep.
Dubov needs to push his pawn forward soon, in order to break apart Shankland's pawn structure.
He finds the right idea, and things are getting really uncomfortable for Shankland. The computer suggests that the position is drawn, but for a human this is the kind of situation that makes you really sweat. Errors are just very easy to make here from the White side, while for Dubov the position is almost entirely risk free.
This is exactly what Shankland's fans were fearing. It's an understandable impulse to want to keep the pawns well-connected. But now Dubov's central pawn becomes a passer and with best play, that should be enough of an asset to force a win down the line!
Dubov makes a slight error, he needed to push his central pawn forward immediately. But the way for Shankland to take advantage of this is very inhuman, so he will probably get another chance.
Shankland returns the favor, missing the tricky computer point that it was necessary to push his left-hand pawn forward to hit the bishop with his rook. That's not an intuitive move for a human player, as it leaves the bishop undefended. But it would have bought him valuable time by chasing Dubov's rook away from the ideal square.
A huge mistake from the Russian grandmaster, as he seals off the vision of his rook along the file. This is going to allow Shankland to play a simple tactic to bring his offside bishop back into the game!
This time Shankland doesn't miss. He spots the key detail: that Dubov's king is right now tied down to the defense of his back rank, because of the bishop blinding the rook along the file!
The point is that now Shankland will be able to bring his bishop back to life, while also hunting down the enemy pawn on the right hand side. Plus, it's no longer possible for Dubov to push his passed pawn forward either...
Dubov sacrifices his pawn, in order to distract Shankland's bishop while he takes the passed pawn on the left hand side. This one could be whittling down to a draw soon, as Sam must take the pawn now and agree to simplifications.
Shankland takes the pawn, but now almost any reasonable move draws for Dubov. He can take the pawn immediately, or go for a double attack by dropping his rook back one square instead.
Dubov doesn't rush the recapture of the pawn, instead targeting Shankland's other undefended pawns.
Shankland brings his king forward, guarding his pawn.
Dubov finally gets rid of the thorny pawn, as the players find themselves in what is by now a completely drawn endgame.
Shankland is looking to bring his pawn forward and onto a dark square, from where it will be protected by the bishop.
Dubov knows that the left-hand pawn of Shankland's can be covered by the bishop and rook, so he wants to bring his king over towards the center/kingside instead.
We might see this one drawing to a close here, unless one side is still harboring ambitions to play for a win. The reason is that now Shankland could bring his king forward, which would allow Dubov to give a check and invite a repetition of moves.
Shankland is facing a choice, but I imagine that Sam will consider bringing his king forward to be too risky. And if he instead drops back, then that will invite Dubov to go for a repetition of moves by returning his rook to once again pin the bishop.
Shankland plays on!
Well, looks like Sam is not afraid of bringing his king up the board and in front of his pawns. Dubov can kick it back by giving a check now, but perhaps Sam is hoping that that will make Dubov's pawns a little more vulnerable in the long term.
Dubov gives the check, forcing Shankland to retreat with his king since he has to stay guarding the base of his pawn chain.
Shankland drops back, keeping his base pawn defended.
Dubov is happy to keep his bishop on this square, as it restricts Shankland's knight from coming forward. That piece getting active is the only real risk for Dubov.
Dubov sits in wait, while also eyeing up the passed pawn.
Shankland brings his knight forward, but now it allows Dubov to force off one final set of piece exchanges.
Dubov's strong piece placement and the exchange advantage offsets Shankland's extra pawns. This one should be drawn very soon from here, and if anything it may be Sam who has to be the more precise of the two to lock in the draw.
Dubov has nothing better to do than to perhaps shuffle his king around, while Shankland has no way of making use of his extra couple of pawns. So Sam makes a draw offer which Dubov does not take long to accept.
All in all, a hard-fought game with Dubov having the better of the chances. Shankland seemed to be pressing for a bit, but then got a little carried away with his optimism in a position where he was down the exchange in return for a couple of pawns.
Dubov could have punished him by pushing his pawn forward on either move 42 or move 43, but appeared to underestimate the strength of this idea on both occasions. And then a sloppy move of his bishop, temporarily cutting off the vision of his rook along a key file, allowed Shankland to navigate his offside bishop back into the game.
After that, it was a lot of maneuvering but very little progress. Shankland seemed to be the more ambitious of the two, but Dubov showed that he could contain any winning attempts with relative ease.
In the end, both players realized that there were no more reasonable avenues to explore for either side, and a draw was agreed on move 57.
We're back tomorrow for game 2 of round 5, as Dubov will command the White pieces against his American opponent. Will he continue to play for draws from the White side, as he did against Praggnanandhaa in the previous round? Or will he go all-out to try to secure the match without the need to go to tie-breaks?!
See you then!
Two well-balanced players
A very interesting clash today in our second featured game of the day (the other being Erigaisi-Aronian).
Shankland and Dubov were both convincing in yesterday's tiebreaks, with Dubov ousting one of the tournament favorites, Praggnanandhaa. Shankland, for his part, expressed surprise when interviewed on his rapid tiebreaks against Richard Rapport. He said that normally he has struggled and "been clobbered" by the Hungarian, but this time around it was very different, with Sam winning 2-0 and making it look easy!
Let's see how this match shapes up, with both players being very skilled in calculation, but with Sam perhaps being slightly more inclined towards following mainline theory, while Dubov is perhaps the more creative and aggressive of the two!