Alekseenko, K. – Lagarde, Max

2699 2021 · Black wins (resignation, time or agreement)

French Defence, 2021: Alekseenko (2699) pushes on the kingside against Lagarde (2648), who plays 92% good-or-better moves to White’s 73%. After 3.e5 c5, Black wins back the central pawn with 8...Nxd4 and 9...Qxd4, while White seeks play with h4-h5 and Qg4-f4. The game turns on 29.Be2: the evaluation swings from +0.4 to +1.9 for Black. Lagarde answers 29...Rg6 and 30...Rxg3+, and White resigns. The takeaway for club players: a defensible position can collapse in a single misplaced piece move, especially against an opponent this consistent.