Vachier Lagrave, M.. – Mamedyarov, S..

2760 2021 · Draw

Billed as an Alekhine Defense, the game actually settles into a classical Four Knights: Vachier Lagrave (2760) and Mamedyarov (2770) trade queens early in the middlegame after 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Qxf6 gxf6. The engine flags no turning point at all — neither side ever tips the evaluation. Black pushes d4 and swings the bishop along the a5-c7 diagonal, White plants the bishop on c4 and lifts the rook to the third rank, and the Rg3+ / Rf3 repetition ends matters at ½-½. Accuracy: 96% for White, 92% for Black. The takeaway is plain: in a queenless, symmetrical structure, equality is held by precision, not by fireworks.