Vachier Lagrave, M. – Caruana, F.

2789 2018 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

In 2018, Vachier-Lagrave (2789) met Caruana (2822) with 1.b3, the Nimzo-Larsen Attack. Queens came off early, but the rook-and-minor-piece ending stayed sharp: Black held the edge, White’s rook landed on b7, and Black’s bishop dropped back to d1. The turning point was 30...Re2, where the evaluation slid from -2.4 to -4.7 from White’s side — a missed chance for Caruana. From there it ran on rails: 31.e6 fxe6, then the knight checks on f6, h7 and d7, and 36.Rxd1 settled matters. Accuracy: 94% for White, 83% for Black. The lesson: in a winning position, the natural move isn’t always the one that keeps the margin.