Dubois was born in Rome. His early career coincided with a time when the Italian rules of chess differed from those elsewhere in Europe.
Italian chess rules in the 1800s differed significantly from the international rules that eventually became standard. The most notable differences involved castling rules and the absence of the en passant Pawn capture. Italian rules allowed the King and Rook to be placed on various combinations of squares, provided the King did not pass through check and no pieces were between them.
During the early to mid-1800s there were few tournaments and many players were limited to playing matches which were either staked by themselves or by their patrons.
During that time Dubois took part in many matches against the top players of Europe, and it was rare for him to lose, even when he gave odds of Pawn and move.
In 1846 he played a number of games against Marmaduke Wyvill, and reports claim that Dubois won 55–26 in no odds games, but lost 39–30 when he gave odds of Pawn and move.
His best tournament performance came in London in 1862 where he placed fifth. After the tournament Steinitz challenged Dubois to a match. The future World Champion won 5.5-3.5.
Dubois moved to the Netherlands in 1863, and reputedly stayed for about two years. However, he couldn't get used to the climate and returned to Rome.
In 1964, in several issues of Chess Life, Bobby Fischer annotated all the games of the Steinitz-Dubois match. Fischer’s emphasis seemed to be more on the play of Steinitz than his opponent’s and the following Dubois win was only lightly annotated. While Fischer’s notes were insightful, Stockfish’s were more precise.
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| Fritz 20's evaluation |
[Event "Match, London"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1862.07.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Serafino Dubois"]
[Black "Wilhelm Steinitz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 18/Fischer"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "1862.??.??"]
{] C54: Giuoco
Piano} 1. e4 {Bobby Fischer noted that the players of this era knew
something that modern players did not...that 1.d4 does not lead to anything.}
e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. c3 {This is neither better nor worse
than the more popular 5.Ng5 which has had its theoretical ups and downs since
before this game was played!} Nf6 {Steinitz returns the P and in doing so
avoids the Scotch Gambit.} (5... dxc3 {and white gets the advantage after} 6.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Qd5+ Kf8 8. Qxc5+) 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d5 9. exd5
Nxd5 10. O-O (10. Qb3 {This is the usual move because it forces black to ake
the pressure off the isolated d-Pawn.} Nce7 (10... Na5 {is equally good. After}
11. Qa4+ Nc6 12. Bb5 {with equal chances.}) 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfe1 c6 13. a4 {
with complete equality/}) 10... O-O 11. Re1 Nf4 {My opening book shows black
playing 10 different moves here, but this is mot one of them. Steinitz' move
adds some pizzaz to the game. Normally black would try to pile up pressure on
the d-Pawn, but Steinitz prefers to complicate things.} 12. Ne4 {When
annotating this game Bobby Fischer called this move a "lemon" and recommended
12.Re4. After letting Stockfish run om this position for about 30 minutes its
top choice was 12.Ne4 while Fischer's 12.Re4 was seconf and evaluated only
slightly lower.} Bg4 13. Qd2 {Fischer wrote that this move "looks weak"
because it allows black to shatter white's K-side P formation. Nevertheless he
claimed that it was white's "only chance to break out of the bind and secure
active counterplay." The move gets a ? from Stickfish which now gives black
about a P plus advantage, The emgine wants to sit tight with 13.Rc1 or the
equally acceptable 13.h3. Two more human-like engines (Lc0 and PlentyChess
agree. However, from a practical, human view Fischer is probably correct.} Nh3+
{This looks pretty obvious/} 14. gxh3 Bxf3 15. d5 {This is white's most
aggressive contimuation and it appears that Steinitz was not expecting such
aggression.} Ne5 16. Qf4 {Another fine move...white wants to get rid of the B
which is attacking his light square. Black's best course of action is to first
eliminate the well placed N with 16...Bxe4 then the B with 17...Nxc4 after
which he would have had a slight advantage.} f6 {Hoping to keep botjh both of
his minor pieces where they are.} 17. Bb3 Kh8 18. Re3 {[%mdl 2048] White is
more active.} g5 {Steinitz prefers active play, but simply 18...Bxe4 would
have been safer.} 19. Qf5 {This is hardly badm but there was a sharper and
slightly better move available.} (19. Nxg5 {and black must play accurately to
stay equal.} Rg8 20. Rxe5 fxe5 21. Qxe5+ Rg7 22. Qxg7+ Kxg7 23. Ne6+ Kf6 24.
Nxd8 Rxd8 25. Rc1 Re8 {So that of 26.Rxc7 Re1#} 26. Kf1 Be2+ 27. Ke1 (27. Kg2
Rg8+ 28. Kh1 Bf3#) 27... Bc4+ 28. Kd2 Bxb3 29. axb3 Re5 {and a draw would be a
reasonable outcome.}) 19... Bh5 {Again, missing the best continuation which is,
again, ...Bxe4} 20. Nxf6 {Dubois is on the attack, but at least as good, if
not a bit better, was 20.Nxg5.} Qxf6 21. Qxe5 Kg7 {Although Steinitz' position
is inferior after this catastrophic error it is lost.} (21... a5 22. Rae1 (22.
Qxc7 Qxf2+ 23. Kh1 Qxe3) 22... a4 23. Qxf6+ Rxf6 24. Bc2 Ra5 25. Re7 Rf7 {
and he is still in the game.}) 22. Qxc7+ Rf7 23. Qe5 Raf8 24. Rf1 Rd7 25. Qxf6+
{Dubois is two Ps up and his endgame technique is sufficient to score the
point.} Rxf6 26. Rfe1 Bg6 27. Re7+ Rxe7 28. Rxe7+ Rf7 29. Rxf7+ Kxf7 {[%mdl
4096]} 30. Kg2 Kf6 31. Kg3 Ke5 32. h4 gxh4+ 33. Kxh4 b5 34. Kg3 a5 35. f4+ Kd4
36. d6 Bf5 37. Bd1 {Black resigned. The threat of Bg4 is decisive.} 1-0
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