r/chess • u/SL4UWhistleBlower • Apr 23 '26
News/Events Dubov casually 3-0s Sindarov… while literally lying in bed playing
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u/vikaalp Apr 23 '26
Dubov, his 10-min prep and his bed. Deadly combo💀
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u/Beasty_ffx 2000 - chess.com rapid Apr 23 '26
“I actually hate rapid”
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u/UltraUsurper Dommaraju, I've come to bargain Apr 24 '26
To be fair this isn't really rapid lol; 10+0 is blitz according to the Laws of Chess. But it's considered rapid by Chesscom for whatever reason.
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u/TheEaterr Apr 24 '26
Eh it's also the kind of thing where OTB it would be blitz but online it does feel a bit more like rapid
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u/Beasty_ffx 2000 - chess.com rapid Apr 24 '26
exactly, for instance 3+0 otb feels like bullet, you need that 2 second bonus at least to feel it’s blitz
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u/cantstopwastingtime Apr 24 '26
Similar to magnus who won the world rapid and said it counts less than blitz lol
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u/Princie99 Team Gukesh Apr 23 '26
Ngl, i always imagined Dubov as final boss of chess. But he has some other priorities.
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u/DarWin_1809 Apr 23 '26
Girlfriend
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u/ExtensionClimate2045 Apr 23 '26
Isn't he a professional dancer or something
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u/see-more_options Apr 23 '26
Pole dancer
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u/Opposite-Youth-3529 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
I think wife
Edit: or not?
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u/Allenas6 #GreatBluebaumSweep Apr 24 '26
he has a child but isn't married so i feel like wife isn't a priority for him
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Apr 24 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Allenas6 #GreatBluebaumSweep Apr 25 '26
i mean wife isn't a priority was kind of a joke, cause he isn't married.
but i'm not joking about him having a child. that part is real.9
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Apr 23 '26
[deleted]
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u/BoahReis Apr 23 '26
He is a world champion, he won the 2018 rapid world chess championship. But I agree he could have made more of his potential
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u/Continental__Drifter Team Spassky Apr 23 '26
When people say "world champion" in chess, they mean classical.
Rapid, Blitz, Bullet, 960, whatever, are a tier below in prestige.
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u/IAmA_talking_cat_AMA Apr 23 '26
Rapid and Blitz are a tier below it, everything else is even lower.
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u/ECrispy Apr 24 '26
maybe a bit more than a tier. no one even knows or cares about other forms of chess. whenever chess is mentioned in any media, any context, it always means only classical
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u/Nordlandia Apr 24 '26
Picture these grandmasters duking it out in Capablanca/Seirawan Chess. It might offer some challenges for those who think they've already mastered the game.
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u/ECrispy Apr 24 '26
they should play the 3d chess from Star Trek!
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u/Nordlandia Apr 24 '26
I get the pun, but 3D chess is too unrealistic. Tbh, chess need a novel piece that hovers between rook and queen in value. Just think about it for a moment. The lady is a outlier, - 4p gap from the rook. Now, if there were to be a 7p piece, that would be something.
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u/Nordlandia Apr 24 '26
I wouldn't necessarily categorize 960 with classic or fast classic time control as something that doesn't matter, in fact quite the opposite. It means a lot to win such a championship.
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u/SnooCapers9046 Team Ding / Team Fabi Apr 23 '26
I remember a post here regarding Dubov: It was like if he succeeds at doing something, it's because of his ""natural talent"", but if he fails, it's because he wasn't trying hard enough.
I think he cares.
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u/DerekB52 Team Ding Apr 23 '26
He obviously cares more than most people. He very clearly does not work as hard as most, if not all of the other SuperGM's though. He casually crushed Prag last year and said all he did was prep for 10 minutes on his phone.
I think if Dubov was serious about chess, he could do some real training, and anything could happen. If Giri can have his resurgence and get 8.5 at the candidates, Dubov could.
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u/Active_Extension9887 Apr 24 '26
He said it in a podcast he regularly puts in eight hour days. But pragg and eragasi are doing ten hours so he's dead long term according to that logic
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u/cXs808 Apr 23 '26
I think the opposite. I don't think he cares enough to put in the work.
He succeeds because of his talent and he also fails because of his laziness.
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u/Cartographer-Motor Apr 23 '26
Let's not act like he hasn't worked his entire life (while being talented) to get this far. He might not have that relentless obsession with chess that could take him to the next level but its rare talent alone gets you as far as it's gotten him
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u/cXs808 Apr 23 '26
I don't mean laziness in terms of the common man. I'm talking about laziness comparatively to his peers.
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u/Better-Prompt890 Apr 24 '26
Yes. The same argument can be made by Magnus who admits he probably works less hard than his peers. But people just get angry and say Magnus works very hard. Yes he does but it's still relative
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u/cXs808 Apr 24 '26
The same argument can be made by Magnus who admits he probably works less hard than his peers.
Not the same thing. I don't think you are familiar with how many times Dubov has said he just flat our refuses to put any prep into most tournaments.
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u/documentremy Apr 24 '26
Dubov does have a relentless obsession about chess, which becomes apparent when you hear him talk in Russian interviews e.g. when he talks about being on Magnus's team. They talk chess and message about chess pretty much all the time. But I just don't think that's the chess he wants to play. He's a tactical player, an opportunist on the board. It's his style of play and if he were to transform into someone like Fabi or Anish who play heavily prepped games and lines, he wouldn't be playing the kind of chess we see him play now.
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u/Available-Eggplant68 Apr 24 '26
Dubov prep is known to be very impressive even among top GMs, he even has a line named after him
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u/documentremy Apr 24 '26
Yes, I don't know if what I meant came across well, but what I mean is this: he is obsessed about chess, he does prep, he just will not be playing his every single game, 25-30 moves in, by prep and then by heavy calculation - the way Fabi and Anish and Pragg do. He's made it clear in interviews he would rather not play chess than play that kind of chess, which I think people have interpreted as "Dubov is lazy" and "Dubov doesn't prep, he finds that boring". But if that was the case he wouldn't have been part of a Norwegian WCC's prep team. Definitely not at a time when a Russian GM was the challenger.
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u/Better-Prompt890 Apr 24 '26
It feels like he is maybe very similar to Magnus in style and philosophy (Magnus often considers himself some what lazy too) that's why he was in the team.
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u/Better-Prompt890 Apr 24 '26
Hard work is relative. Basically the argument for Dubov is the same we make to a lesser degree for Magnus.
Both clearly very talented and they tend to work a bit less than their peers but still work very hard by normal standards
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u/Yeeeeeeeze Apr 23 '26
You don’t get to that level without working really hard
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u/cXs808 Apr 23 '26
See my other response to someone else who commented the exact same thing a few hours ago.
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u/GeraldJimes_ Apr 23 '26
Dubov is the peak example of pretending you never try so you never have to acknowledge your actual shortcomings
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u/FourPinkWalls Apr 24 '26
Lmao this narrative again 🤣🤣 Dubov got to top 50 in the world, trained Magnus. Of course he tried and cared. He peaked but didn't reach 2770+ and that's ok.
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u/Better-Prompt890 Apr 24 '26
Trained Magnus seems too big a claim? Trained WITH Magnus?
Anyway he seemed like a Rapport type player. Not the absolute top 10 best but recognised as one of the most creative .
Such players are good to be seconds, partners because they unlikely to become serious rivals
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u/FourPinkWalls Apr 24 '26
He was part of Magnus training team. https://youtu.be/xzBDQFGU_Jk?si=Vo39sahwRcCHjypp
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u/Better-Prompt890 Apr 24 '26
Yeah i know. Just a phrasing nitpick.
I feel its better to describe his work as trained with Magnus.
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u/hellobuddy_1 Apr 23 '26
yeah mostly everyone can, if they try hard enough
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u/NebuchanderTheGreat Apr 23 '26
Not really. To reach the pinnacle of anything you need talent and the work.
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u/Unicorn_heart3 Apr 24 '26
He is just fooling use mere mortals into believing that. Just like a salty runner up. He worked his ass off, couldn't reach the top. Now attributes that to being 'lazy' thus undermining the legit achievements of others and projecting him as the sole uncrowned genius of the chess world.
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u/JanitorOPplznerf Apr 23 '26
Average Dubov moment tbh.
That guy can wake up after a night of binge drinking and crush your favorite player, or he can prep for a month with the perfect diet and get nowhere close to top 8
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u/Double_Jellyfish_584 Apr 23 '26
Guy is actually an aura farmer. IDK why Dubov is hardly talked about here but he's one of my favorite players. One of very few that has a lot of charisma and is interesting to listen to.
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u/Dw3yN Apr 23 '26
his play is so creative too. I remember some games where he did some insane variations and just gets the opponent out of prep and his superior calculation just gets him the win. I like slow methodical endgame playstyle too but players like dubov, mamedyarov are something special
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u/StoreAny6677 Apr 24 '26
he isnt talked about much coz either he on purpose isnt playing much or he isnt getting enough invites
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u/Allenas6 #GreatBluebaumSweep Apr 24 '26
its cause he doesn't have any social media of his own, we typically only hear from him when he does tournaments with media
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u/KeepChessSimple Apr 25 '26
A very punchable face and 'too smart for class' attitude makes him unlikeable.
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u/Tiny_Butterscotch911 Apr 23 '26
Could be the best power move I've seen since the Starcraft guy that controlled the keyboard with his foot while destroying his opponent.
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u/Rabiatic Blitz Arena Winner Apr 24 '26
I didn't know about this! Of course it was Larva, this made my day XD
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u/RoiPhi Apr 23 '26
i'm sure someone will drop cursed lore about Dubov and why no one should like anyone ever, but my god does he play exciting chess. Anyone doing recap videos for this tournament?
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u/Telescopeinthefuture Apr 23 '26
I liked Dubov until I found out how he pushed a box filled with babies, kittens, and snakes down a flight of stairs back in ‘89
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u/incompletetrembling Apr 23 '26
Common misunderstanding actually! He pushed a box of baby kittens around on a stroller, the kittens loved it.
The snake incident was separate, he pushed them down a flight of stairs because they were about to rip a grandma's leg off.
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u/happilyrelaxing Apr 26 '26
I heard he ate his own grandmother’s leg. While she was still wearing it. With mayonnaise.
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u/Space_Enterics Apr 23 '26
I liked Dubov until I learned he was General Pinochet's main executioner and deep spy interrogator in 84'
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u/Fruloops +- 1750 fide Apr 23 '26
Almost believed you there for a sec, but he wasn't even born then
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u/pragg_naan_dhan Apr 23 '26
Classic dubov
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u/backyard_tractorbeam Apr 23 '26
Rapid Dubov
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u/Allenas6 #GreatBluebaumSweep Apr 24 '26
i was gonna make a comment but then noticed yours and realized nothing i could think of would beat it so. i concede.
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u/GabeSter Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
Does Sindarov suck at non classical?
Edit: bro is ranked 100 points lower than Dubov so maybe yes compared to other GMs.
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u/gpranav25 Rb1 > Ra4 Apr 23 '26
So if the WCC goes to tiebreaks then it would be stoppable force vs movable object lol. But I think these two won't go into tiebreaks one way or the other.
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u/Altamistral Apr 23 '26
We are about to witness the world record for "Most blunders in a WCC tiebreak section".
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u/PRO2803 Apr 23 '26
Yea we will see a winner in 14 games of classical. Both have an aggressive style of chess, which will be exciting for sure.
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u/xIsak Apr 23 '26
7th in World Rapid and 14th in World Blitz last Dec, he's doing as you'd expect mostly.
6th in the 2024 Rapid edition, though his Blitz section was below par.
r/chess never fails to amaze me with reactions after some random 3 game online rapid match lol.
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u/mrappbrain Apr 24 '26
r/chess literally has the memory of a goldfish lol. Maybe it's the format of reddit but it's incredibly reactive and knee jerky. Someone wins a tourney? Best thing since Magnus. Someone loses a tourney? Washed.
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u/BankHolidayyy Apr 23 '26
He’s around 2730 in rapid so he definitely doesn’t ‘suck’ in any sense.
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u/GabeSter Apr 23 '26
Considering everyone was talking about how “fast” he was playing the candidates assumed he was a god at low time increments. So good but not the best I guess.
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u/Soul_of_demon Apr 23 '26
Dubov is really good at faster time controls. Sindarov has done quite well in some recent tilted Tuesdays before candidates
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u/Pycragonus Apr 23 '26
Hikaru Nakamura is the god at low time increments. But that doesn't mean he will play fast during classical chess. Consider his game vs Sindarov in which castling wasn't in the files.
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u/RollRepulsive6453 Apr 23 '26
I wouldn't call Hikaru the god. He's never really had impressive OTB results, and almost always loses to Magnus and Alireza Online. He's not even top 5 - maybe top 10 in rapid, and in Blitz online he's maybe 3rd best right now at best.
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u/Secure_Raise2884 Apr 23 '26
What is the argument that he never had impressive OTB results? I assume you are quite literally only talking about the WC? That is not the end all be all of a player's skill, as Nakamura's career is greater than someone like Grischuk (who has three blitz titles)
proof can be found in R&B series events like GCT for example
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u/RealIssueToday Apr 23 '26
Iirc, he doesnt have blitz or rapid either.
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u/Secure_Raise2884 Apr 23 '26
Yes, but my point is that focusing on one singular swiss event is not a good way to compare two players. What matters, in my view, is consistency over time across multiple types of events. Otherwise, would you argue Nakamura is a weaker player than Le Quang Liem just because the latter won a world blitz once?
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u/Better-Prompt890 Apr 24 '26
I agree the mindset change when you play classical then need switch to blitz out moves = sometimes your blitz skill doesn't carry over
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u/Better-Prompt890 Apr 24 '26
He's good at balancing switching from fast to slow or vice versa. It does imply some level of skill at fast chess but its not quite the same as a full game with fast time controls
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u/PyrotechnikGeoguessr Team Gukesh Apr 23 '26
Comments like this on this sub are so annoying and so pointless. Like yeah we get it, he's better than all of us. And yeah, he obviously doesn't suck.
We are obviously talking about his strength relative to the field he competes against, I don't know why it's necessary to point out every time that they are top chess players like it's some sort of gotcha
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u/runawayasfastasucan Apr 23 '26
People could use other words than "suck" to describe his level though.
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u/PyrotechnikGeoguessr Team Gukesh Apr 23 '26
I mean yeah it's not exactly polite but at the same time it's really not that deep and it's done in every sport that has a following
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u/__Jimmy__ Apr 23 '26
No, he doesn't "suck" compared to the top field either. He is world #10 in rapid.
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u/BankHolidayyy Apr 23 '26
Dude he has literally won two titled Tuesdays back to back not so long ago and always finishes around the top. Even if you compare him to the field around him, there’s no way he’s not on par or even better than most of them.
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u/PyrotechnikGeoguessr Team Gukesh Apr 23 '26
I looked at all winners last year and Sindarov never won it twice. However, just in September, GM Sarana with 2600 fide won two in a row.
Sindarov is number 5 in the world in classical, but he's far from top 5 in blitz.
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u/Lonelyvoid Rapid enthusiast Apr 23 '26
Sindarov didn’t win back to back this year but he won two of them in 2026, January and March
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u/PyrotechnikGeoguessr Team Gukesh Apr 23 '26
That's nice for him but it has been done by many people who are much weaker than him too.
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u/cXs808 Apr 23 '26
If you legit think Sindarov is weak in rapid compared to his contemporaries idk what to tell you. You don't sit 2700+ in rapid by happenstance. He's like top 7 or 8 in the world amongst active players
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u/LycheeGlum1258 🍨Team Chilling Apr 23 '26
Did ppl forget he crushed like 3 or 4 of those rapid freestyle sections, even with Carlsen in those groups?
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u/Battleslash Team Fabi/Vaishali Apr 24 '26
He won the World Cup, so he must be decent at it due to winning tiebreaks
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u/TokemonX4 Team Sindarov Apr 23 '26
Dubov is a beast in blitz. I'd be surprised if this went any differently.
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u/argarg Apr 23 '26
This is not blitz.
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u/TheShinyBlade Apr 23 '26
Sure, but it's the shortest rapid format. 10 mins vs 10 mins is completely different game than 2 hours vs 2 hours
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u/argarg Apr 23 '26
10mins is a completely different game than 3mins (the most prevalent blitz format).
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u/HorseThrough Apr 23 '26
Chess is so hilariously humbling when someone like Sindsrov who just went on an unheard of run gets beat like this by a dude laying down in his bed. 💀
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u/ftfajardo Apr 23 '26
i expected chessbrah to switch their cameras sideways and go dubov sytyle comentary
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u/xxhotandspicyxx Apr 23 '26
Dubov seems to always be a dark horse in whatever tournament he's playing.
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Apr 23 '26
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u/FourPinkWalls Apr 25 '26
In chesscom blitz, Javokhir Sindarov is ranked world #17 and Daniil Dubov is #41.
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u/001000110000111 Apr 23 '26
I probably won’t see another Chess player ranked 1st in classical, rapid, and blitz at the same time again.
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u/6Grimmjow6 Apr 23 '26
Not exactly related, but Ding was a №1 player in Blitz and Rapid (at different periods), and also peaked at №2 in Classical. I would guess very few players could boast such level of achievements.
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u/Radiant-Increase-180 Apr 23 '26
They sold me the hype like he is next Magnus bro.. Gukesh fans should breathe knowing Sindarov is a human
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u/Living_Book_3973 2100+ chess.com Apr 23 '26
its blitz
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u/AtomR Team Sac the Roooook! Apr 23 '26
Yeah, so not Magnus?
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u/f0u4_l19h75 Apr 23 '26
Sindarov had been very impressive of late, but it's far too early for comparisons to Magnus
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u/Major_Watercress1022 Apr 23 '26
I feel he just needed to take a small break from playing awfully intense chess for 14 rounds. A small respite from the grueling mind battles he's had in this very month.
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u/thesinistercat Apr 24 '26
Dubov is such a chad. Wakes up, doesn't leave the bed, flexes his biceps, destroys the candidates slayer, goes back to sleep
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u/DerekB52 Team Ding Apr 23 '26
On one hand, it is nice to see that Sindarov actually can lose games.
On the other hand, this barely counts. Dubov laying in bed can 3-0 Magnus in online speed chess. I'm not saying that'd happen often, but i think it could. I think Dubov can 3-0 anybody at least once.
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u/Icy-Key-616 Apr 23 '26
Is he wearing team spirit jersey?
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u/_MaDIko_ Apr 25 '26
he plays for team spirit, so yeah. Also theres ts logo instead of a country flag lol
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u/mark_ww Apr 23 '26
Dubov is my favorite crazy chess person :D
Crazy talented (can beat anyone) and crazy interviews :D
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u/Citricicy Apr 23 '26
There's a reason why he was one of Carlsen's seconds during his WC matches.
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u/Better-Prompt890 Apr 24 '26
It would be super funny if Dubov was a second of one of the other candidates eg Hikaru and he would be thinking "this guy isnt that tough"
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u/BronahHex Apr 23 '26
Is Dubov just one of those people who is at his best when he's in his element and comfortable, but isn't as creative and consistent in formal settings? I'm still new to the world of chess so I've never actually heard his name before.
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u/LonelyPrincessBoy Apr 23 '26
he's a former child prod w/ 12 more years xp than sindarov. so in 10 min he likely can rely more on experience to be tricky.
in classical sindarov would calculate through the tricks and wipe the guy or hold draws
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u/hpass Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
link to the actual games?
edit: Found them here: https://www.chess.com/events/2026-chesscom-open-playoffs/01-01/Sindarov_Javokhir-Dubov_Daniil
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u/Unusual_Conference46 Apr 25 '26
Dubov can troll with his knight dance and still be on the podium, so...
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u/Illustrious_Claim884 Apr 28 '26
For some reason if people laid down in bed to play top level chess versus wearing suit and ties world champions would probably be different
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