Shirov, Alexei – Kasparov, Garry

2751 2000 · Draw

Sicilian Defense, 2000: Shirov (2751) against Kasparov (2851), a Najdorf where Black rushes the knight to g4 and harasses White’s bishop. Queens come off with 14...Qxf3, White recaptures gxf3 and lives with a broken pawn front, yet neither side ever loses the thread. The engine flags no turning point at all: no blunder that swings the evaluation, no missed chance. Both players score 94% of moves rated at least "good", with a single inaccuracy each, and the game stops with the rooks doubled on h5, ½-½. The lesson: in a position this sharp, a draw isn’t timidity — it’s two long stretches of accurate play meeting head-on.