Eljanov, P. – Topalov, V.

2765 2016 · Draw

Eljanov (2765) faced Topalov (2754) in 2016 in a textbook Queen’s Gambit Declined: 5.Bg5, the exchange on d5, and a balanced structure where neither side reached for anything speculative. The engine flags no turning point at all — White at 100 % of at least good moves, Black at 97 % with a single inaccuracy recorded. The heavy pieces disappear down the c-file, the queens follow with 25.Qc6 Qxc6, and the resulting knight-and-bishop ending is traded down to pawns. The kings shuffle between e2, e3, e6 and e7 until the repetition ends it. The club lesson: a game played this cleanly usually has no winner, and that is a technical success rather than a missed chance.