Karjakin, Sergey – Kramnik, V.

2748 2019 · White wins (resignation, time or agreement)

Karjakin (2748) against Kramnik (2753), 2019: an Alekhine Defense that slid into a queenless middlegame after 13.Qxg4 Nxg4. Karjakin played it straight — 93% of his moves at least good, against 80% for Black — and marched his a- and b-pawns until b7 froze the black position. The turning point was technical: 37...Ba7, a mistake that pushed the evaluation from +2.3 to +3.8. Then came 38.Ne7+, and the white knight simply collected: 40.Nxa7, 41.Nc6, 42.Nb4. The lesson: in an already bad position, a passive move like 37...Ba7 holds nothing back — find rook activity before your opponent gets every piece coordinated.