Korobov, A. – Rapport, R.

2671 2022 · Black wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Korobov (2671) against Rapport (2776), 2022: a classical King’s Indian where White grabs space with 8.d5 and plays on the queenside. Queens come off on move 34 and a long rook-and-bishop endgame begins, the engine still pointing one way — until 53.Rg3, a mistake that swings the evaluation from +0.9 to +2.6 (White’s point of view), the reading that Rapport turns into a win. Two missed chances follow: 72.Re2 (+7.0 to +9.7) and 74.Kh1 (+7.2 to +9.4). Accuracy was 91% for White and 87% for Black, yet the score was 0-1. The lesson: in a long endgame, one badly chosen rook square outweighs thirty sound moves.