Vachier Lagrave, M. – Yu Yangyi

2774 2019 · Draw

Vachier Lagrave (2774) met Yu Yangyi (2763) in 2019 in a Petroff Defense where Black grabs the e4 pawn early and White, after 6.dxc3, keeps the bishop pair and castles long. Nothing ever slips: the engine flags no turning point, no moment where the evaluation swings. The rooks come off the e-file one pair at a time, the queens follow with 22.Qxe8+, and what remains is a bishop endgame neither side can force. Accuracy of 94% for White, 88% for Black — nobody hands anything over. The takeaway is plain: in these symmetrical structures, a draw isn’t a lack of ambition, it’s the logical result of clean play from both sides.