Ding Liren – Indjic, A.

2734 2025 · Black wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Modern Defense, 2025: Ding Liren (2734) against Indjic (2635). Black brings the bishop to g4, trades it on f3, pushes h5, and lets White close the centre with d5. What follows is slow manoeuvring — kings shuffling between f1, g2 and f2, rooks lining up on the d- and a-files — until 32...Qf2+ triggers the liquidation with 33.Kxf2 Nxe4+. The engine flags no turning point at all: both sides play 91% at least good moves, unusual over a game this long. Yet the rook endgame tilts Black’s way, and Black wins 0-1. The takeaway: games are often decided without a clear blunder, through small endgame decisions that quietly add up.