Vachier Lagrave, M. – Dominguez Perez, L.

2779 2018 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Alekhine Defense, 2018: Vachier Lagrave (2779) against Dominguez Perez (2739). Black chased the bishop with 15...h6 and 16...g5, then opened the h-file with 23...h5 and 24...h4, king sitting on f8. The turning point is unmistakable: 31...Rg8 swings the evaluation from 0.0 to +2.1 for White, and the chance is gone. White briefly hands it back with 33.Kh2 (from -3.0 to +0.9), but 33...Kg8 (from -0.8 to +1.7) and then 34...b5 (from +1.8 to +4.5) settle matters. Accuracy: 78% to 69%, and 1-0. The lesson: when the evaluation is unstable, a single king or rook move decides everything.