Karjakin, Sergey – Kamsky, Gata

2775 2012 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Karjakin (2775) against Kamsky (2762), 2012: an Alekhine Defense in which Black holds on for a long time, before the endgame goes wrong for both sides. Everything hinges on move 46. White plays 46.fxe3 and lets a position rated −3.0 slide back to 0.0 — the missed chance belongs to Black, who was holding the advantage. Then 46...Bxg3 hands it all straight back, from 0.0 to +4.8, and Karjakin never loosens his grip on the way to 1-0. Accuracy: 84% for White, 78% for Black. The lesson is a familiar one: in a sharp endgame, two consecutive moves can flip the result twice.