Mammadov, Zaur Fazahir Oglu – Mamedov, Rauf

2446 2013 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Alekhine Defense, 2013: Zaur Fazahir Oglu Mammadov (2446) had White against Rauf Mamedov (2662), more than two hundred ELO points higher. After 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.c5, Black was pushed around early and the game stayed sharp into a heavy-piece endgame. White finished with 85% of moves at least good, Black 79%, including two mistakes and one blunder. The turning point is unmistakable: 33...Be4 sent the evaluation from +2.4 to +6.5 for White, and 34.Nxe4 ended matters. The takeaway: when you are already worse, the move that stops resisting is the one that turns a bad position into a lost one.