Adams, Michael – Nakamura, Hikaru

2722 2012 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

A classical Caro-Kann from 2012: Adams (2722) against Nakamura (2783). White develops with 3.Nd2, recaptures on e4, then pushes the bishop around with 6.h4 and 8.h5 before castling queenside on move 12. The engine flags no turning point at all: both sides played 100 % at least "good" moves, which says plenty about the quality here. The result came from accumulation instead — 25.Rd7, the rook trade on d8, then 30.Rd7 and the capture 35.Rxb7 left White owning the file, and Black resigned after 36.Kb2. The lesson: when your opponent doesn’t blunder, open files and active rooks are what decide the game.