Sigurjonsson, Gudmundur – Balashov, Yuri S

2490 1979 · Draw

Vienna Game, 1979: Sigurjonsson (2490) meets Balashov (2600) and chooses the fianchetto setup early with 3.g3 and 4.Bg2. Black develops quietly, castles, then regroups toward the kingside with the knight manoeuvre to f8 and h7. The engine flags no turning point at all: both sides played 100% at least "good" moves, and the game ended drawn. The central push d5 and the exchanges that followed, capped by ...Be6, never disturbed the balance. The lesson for club players: in these closed structures, patient regrouping and clean move-by-move accuracy are enough to hold — a logical split point.