Kasparov, Garry – Lautier, Joel

2785 1996 · Draw

Kasparov (2785) versus Lautier (2620), 1996, a Queen’s Indian Defense with the 4.g3 fianchetto and the classical 4...Ba6. Both sides leave book after six moves and then play cleanly: White at 100% of moves rated good or better, Black at 96%, with just one inaccuracy logged. The engine flags no turning point at all — the evaluation never swings from one side to the other. Black gives up the centre pawn, White takes on b5, then the trades on g2 and e5 strip the position down, and play stops at 25...Bf6. Draw. The takeaway for a club player: against a well-prepared opponent, accurate defence alone is enough to hold — no brilliancy required.