Carlsen, Magnus – Nakamura, Hikaru

2863 2020 · Black wins (resignation, time or agreement)

A classical Nimzo-Indian from 2020: Carlsen (2863) against Nakamura (2736), with 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 and the familiar plan of e4 followed by f4. Accuracy was almost level — 89% for White, 90% for Black — yet the game turned on a handful of moments. On move 30, 30.Ra8 let a far stronger option slip: from +0.7 to +3.8. The same thing happened with 33.Kh2, from +0.2 to +2.3, and then 34...Qxf4+ handed nearly everything back, from -2.6 to -0.1. Finally 53.Qd2+, from +4.0 to +15.0, came just before 53...Qf4+ and the 0-1 result. The takeaway: winning positions are lost to natural-looking moves.