Rapport, R. – Grischuk, A.

2698 2017 · Black wins (resignation, time or agreement)

In 2017, Rapport (2698) opened 1.b3, the Nimzo-Larsen Attack, against Grischuk (2750). Queens came off early and the rook endgame became the real battleground. White was already worse when 30.Rd7 pushed the evaluation from −1.1 to −3.0. Grischuk eased off slightly with 35...Rxb2, from +4.8 to +3.1 from White’s side, yet stayed in full control; 56.Ra8 then made things worse for White, from −4.9 to −6.4. Accuracy ran 89% for White and 98% for Black, and Black won 0-1. The takeaway: in a rook endgame, one badly chosen square costs more than any opening inaccuracy.