Kramnik, Vladimir – Salov, Valery

2790 1998 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

An offbeat Scotch, 1998, Kramnik (2790) against Salov (2680): after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 d6, the game leaves familiar ground quickly with 5.d4. The engine flags no turning point at all — no clear blunder, no missed chance. White played 100% at least good moves, Black 75%, with a single inaccuracy on the sheet. The run 9.d5 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Bxc3 11.dxc6 Ba5 12.cxb7 Rb8 leads into queen checks with 13.Qa4+ and 14.Qxc6+, driving the black king to e7. After 18.b3 Black resigned: 1-0. The lesson: you don’t need a spectacular mistake from the opponent — steady, error-free play is enough.