Giri, A. – Carlsen, M.

2752 2018 · Draw

Billed as a London System, the game actually heads into French Winawer territory: 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5, then 5...Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5, with the usual grab 7.Qg4 cxd4 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7. Giri (2752) and Carlsen (2834) pick a sharp road where White’s king goes queenside with 14.O-O-O while Black plants pieces on c2 and e3. The engine flags no turning point at all: 97% at-least-good moves for White, 87% for Black, in a position where one slip would be expensive. After the liquidations on c2 and g2, 31.Qb2 seals the repetition and the split point. The takeaway: in a forcing line like this, accuracy alone holds the balance.