Karjakin, Sergey – Anand, Viswanathan

2782 2013 · Draw

Karjakin (2782) versus Anand (2786), 2013: a Sicilian Najdorf heading straight into the Poisoned Pawn, 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2, the sharpest road in the book. Both players ride the forcing sequence — 13.Nxd5 exd5, 14.e6 Bxe6, 15.Rxb7 — without either one stepping off the path. The engine flags no turning point anywhere in the game: 96% of moves at least good for White, 96% for Black. Queens come off on move 27, the bishops trade themselves out, and after 35.Rxc1 Bxc1 nothing is left but the draw. The takeaway: in a line this heavily analysed, accuracy doesn’t manufacture an edge — it just keeps you from handing one over.