Demchenko, A. – Hovhannisyan, R.

2655 2019 · Draw

Old Benoni, 2019: Demchenko (2655) against Hovhannisyan (2639), a game where Black gives back the exchange early (13...Rb4, 16...Rxd4, 17...Rxe4) for pawns and activity. White keeps the upper hand through the middlegame, but everything turns on move 41. With 41.Qd6+ the evaluation slips from +3.5 to +1.2 — the chance is gone. Black returns the favour at once: 41...Kg5 drops the position from -1.2 to -3.3 from White’s side, and 42.Qg3+ settles the draw by repeated checks. Accuracy: 83% for White, 80% for Black. The takeaway: near the time control, one loose check can erase forty moves of work.