Caruana, F. – Carlsen, M.

2802 2015 · Black wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Caruana (2802) against Carlsen (2863), 2015, in a Leningrad Dutch where Black settles the centre early with 5...d5. The engine flags no turning point at all: nobody swings the evaluation with a single move, the game is decided by accumulation. The numbers tell it: 93% of Black’s moves were at least good, against 86% for White. After the queens come off with 20...Qxb3 21.Qxb3 Nxb3, a long rook ending follows in which Carlsen pushes the c-pawn all the way to c2 and converts, 0-1. The takeaway is unglamorous but real: with no clear blunder on the board, it is fifty moves of consistency that decide, not one tactical flash.