Caruana, F.. – Vachier Lagrave, M..

2842 2021 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Poisoned Pawn Sicilian: Caruana (2842) against Vachier-Lagrave (2767) in 2021, straight into 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2, the sharpest line in the book. Queens came off early and the game boiled down to a long rook-versus-knight endgame, where accuracy decided things: 82% for White, 76% for Black. The turning point came deep in that endgame: 55...Nh6 swung the evaluation from 0.0 to +1.7, and 62...Ne7 let it drift from +0.1 to +2.3. White gave ground back with 67.Ra3 (from −2.3 to −0.3), but 68...Nh6 pushed the needle from +2.2 to +4.1 and Caruana converted. The lesson: in long endgames, an aimless knight costs more than any opening slip.