Sethuraman, S. – Akhmetov, Ay

2639 2023 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Alekhine Defense, 2023: Sethuraman (2639) against Akhmetov (2435). After 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5, White builds the big centre, plays 9.f4, then 12.dxe6 and 13.exf7+, and the position around Black’s king opens up. The turning point comes on move 23: 23...Bf5 is a missed chance that shifts the evaluation from +2.1 to +4.2 for White. Sethuraman keeps the grip with 24.Nc7, 25.Nd5 and 27.Qe3, and the game ends 1-0. The accuracy numbers tell the same story: 96% of White’s moves were at least good, against 73% for Black. The lesson: in an already bad position, a move that contests nothing costs more than the original error.