Najer, Evgeniy – Dervishi, Erald

2465 1994 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Center Game, 1994: Najer (2465) with White against Dervishi (2315). Queens come off early, the rooks follow, and after 33...Rxe3 34.Kxe3 the game boils down to a king-and-pawn ending where every square matters. That’s where it turns: 34...c5 lets the evaluation slide from −1.2 to −4.7, and 35...Kc7 makes it worse, −4.6 to −6.1. White’s king then marches across the board; 38...Ka7 drops things further, −5.4 to −12.2, and 39...Ka6 goes from −13.2 to −15.0. White wasn’t flawless either (38.a4, +8.2 to +5.4), but the win was never in doubt, 1-0. Takeaway: in pawn endings, king activity and opposition outweigh a pawn.