Vidit, S. – Gukesh, D.

2716 2023 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Vidit (2716) and Gukesh (2758) met in 2023 in a Réti that settled into a closed structure after 5.Bg5. Both sides held up well: 92% at-least-good moves for White, 94% for Black. White expanded on the kingside with g4, h4 and then f4-f5, and the game turned into a long hunt with queens and a knight against Black’s queen and knight. The one real slip came very late: 68.Ng5 dropped the evaluation from +7.7 to +6.1, without changing the result. The lesson: in queen endings, a stray check costs margin, but a won position stays won as long as the enemy king stays exposed. Vidit wrapped it up 1-0 on move 69.