Hivechess Lecture: Activity can be more important than a piece

Welcome to a new Hivechess lecture and we will be looking at a new lesson that talks about activity being more important than a piece. The game we will be using in today's lesson is from the Baku Open between Daniel Dubov, a grandmaster and Aarav Sinha, a Fide Master. I watched this game because I was interested by the rating difference, a difference of about 300 elo rating. Dubov is rated 2654 while Sinha is rated 2315. That speaks to a huge difference in their rating so it was an interesting game to watch.

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. Bf4 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 Bb7 6. a3 Be7 7. e3 Nh5 8. Qc2 Nxf4

The opening played was the Queen's Indian Defense: Miles Variation, which I found it weird that Dubov allowed a capture of his bishop on f4.

Although it does not mean much after white went for the Qc2 variation, which after the exchange of the knight for the bishop, there could be possible play on the b1 to h7 diagonal. I just find it weird because in such position, bishop to g3 is quite logical, and after there is an exchange of the knight for the bishop, white gets the open h-file for his rook. These minor advantages can come in handy when the game gets to the middlegame stage. Computer's top recommendation in this position are Qd3, Bd3 or Bg3, which is why i said it's weird as well that Bg3 was not played.

9. exf4 O-O 10. Bd3 h6 11. O-O-O d5 12. h4 Bd6 13. f5 exf5 14. Bxf5 Nd7 15. c5 bxc5 16. Bxd7 Qxd7 17. dxc5 Bf4 18. g3 Bxd2+ 19. Rxd2 d4

The crucial moment for this lesson came in on move 19 with black's move d4, where he sacrificed a pawn in exchange for activity on the queenside.

After white grabbed the pawn, it was not enough to get a strong edge. This is because black has Qb5 and a long range diagonal attack on white knight that so happens to be connected to the rook on h1. This brought about the activity which makes the game balance despite being a piece down.

Even after trying to complicate the position, it was still hard to get any initiative when it was black calling the shots with his attacks and white had to defend. This sacrifice of a piece give a 2300 rated player to force a draw against a super grandmaster. Do not undervalue the power of activity for this is what makes it possible to sac in chess.

Here is the game link:

https://lichess.org/broadcast/baku-open-2026/round-1/yjKuc0DL/oQPfGuQl

And here is the PGN game:

[Event "Round 1: Dubov, Daniil - Aarav Sinha"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/broadcast/baku-open-2026/round-1/yjKuc0DL/oQPfGuQl"]
[Date "2026.04.26"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Dubov, Daniil"]
[Black "Aarav Sinha"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2654"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[WhiteFideId "24126055"]
[BlackElo "2315"]
[BlackTitle "FM"]
[BlackFideId "25674064"]
[TimeControl "90+30"]
[WhiteCountry "FID"]
[BlackCountry "IND"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "E12"]
[Opening "Queen's Indian Defense: Miles Variation"]
[UTCDate "2026.04.26"]
[UTCTime "20:06:28"]
[BroadcastName "Baku Open 2026"]
[BroadcastURL "https://lichess.org/broadcast/baku-open-2026/round-1/yjKuc0DL"]
[GameURL "https://lichess.org/broadcast/baku-open-2026/round-1/yjKuc0DL/oQPfGuQl"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. Bf4 Bb4+ 5. Nbd2 Bb7 6. a3 Be7 7. e3 Nh5 8. Qc2 Nxf4 9. exf4 O-O 10. Bd3 h6 11. O-O-O d5 12. h4 Bd6 13. f5 exf5 14. Bxf5 Nd7 15. c5 bxc5 16. Bxd7 Qxd7 17. dxc5 Bf4 18. g3 Bxd2+ 19. Rxd2 d4 20. Rxd4 Qb5 21. Rb4 Qc6 22. Rf4 Rad8 23. Re1 Rd5 24. b4 Rfd8 25. Rfe4 Ba6 26. R4e3 Bb5 27. Ne5 Qa6 28. c6 Ba4 29. Qe2 Qb6 30. Rc3 Rd1+ 31. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 32. Kb2 Qd4 33. Nd3 Rb1+ 34. Kxb1 Qxc3 35. Qe8+ Kh7 36. Qe4+ Kg8 37. Nc5 Qxa3 38. g4 a5 39. Qe8+ Kh7 40. Qe4+ Kg8 41. Nxa4 Qxa4 42. Qe8+ Kh7 43. bxa5 Qd1+ 44. Kb2 Qd2+ 45. Kb3 Qd3+ 1/2-1/2

See you in the next lecture.

_{I am @samostically, a chess player and writer. I love to share the experience I have gained from different battles over the 64 squares and the knowledgeable insights from books I have read. But most importantly, I am a Midnight Owl and I founded the community Midnight Letters.}

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