Vachier Lagrave, Maxime – Peralta, Fernando

2770 2020 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Sicilian Alapin, 2020: Vachier Lagrave (2770) against Peralta (2574), with the h-file opening early after 11.h4 h5. Black held on for a long while, castling long with 19...O-O-O and pushing rooks forward as far as 23...Rh1, but the position stayed uncomfortable once the queens came off with 25...Qxd6 26.exd6. The turning point is 27...Kd7: the evaluation slides from -1.1 to -2.7, a mistake that turns a difficult position into a lost one. White gave nothing back — 28.b5, 29.Rc7+ and it ended 1-0. Accuracy was 90% for White, 89% for Black: one king move made the difference. The lesson: in an already unpleasant endgame, a careless king step costs more than a string of small inaccuracies.