Nepomniachtchi, I.. – Radjabov, T..

2792 2021 · Black wins (resignation, time or agreement)

London System, 2021: Nepomniachtchi (2792) against Radjabov (2765). After 3.Bf4 White castles queenside on move seven and lets Black’s queen collect the g2 pawn. Radjabov handles the rest calmly — 88% of his moves at least good, against 73% for White — advancing g5 and planting a knight on f4. White’s position was already bad when the decisive slip came: 29.Nf3 drops the evaluation from −2.4 to −4.0. What follows is mechanical, with the exchanges on b3, d7 and c1 clearing the board, and White resigns after 33...cxd5. The takeaway: when you are already worse, one loose move turns a difficult defence into a lost game.