[Event "2026 SGVCC Club Championship"] [Site "?"] [Date "2025.11.03"] [Round "?"] [White "Prasad, Manu"] [Black "Muller, Axel"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "John Wright"] [ECO "A04"] [PlyCount "71"] [GameId "2243471090716684"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] {[%evp 0,71,19,29,55,12,10,-9,25,16,10,1,35,30,20,-8,0,-18,-2,7,18,-10,5,-7,-2,-22,-11,0,-35,-39,70,38,66,122,163,171,242,82,2,12,0,-19,-23,-47,-27,-49,79,39,59,0,161,161,361,136,143,114,130,182,186,186,178,178,174,189,657,657,876,679,1978,1475,1649,1887,2015,1678]} 1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 {Manu's had a lot of success of late with this flexible approach} g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. e4 e5 6. d3 Nge7 7. Nbd2 O-O {Black adopts a Botvinik set up} 8. a4 d6 9. Nc4 h6 10. c3 Be6 11. Ne3 a6 (11... d5 {immediately seems better. ? (-0.41/35) Stockfish 17}) 12. Nh4 d5 13. f4 exf4 14. gxf4 d4 15. f5 {Neither side is backing down!} gxf5 {Risky as the White f-pawn will later cause Black a lot of trouble. The engine prefers} (15... dxe3 16. fxe6 fxe6 {with a small plus for White}) 16. exf5 Nd5 {The computer now gives White a winning advantage. But it's a complicated position and not easy to find all the engine's best moves.} 17. Nxd5 Bxd5 18. Qg4 {Logical. White protects his N and threatens f6} (18. f6 $18 {(5.38/34) Stockfish 17} Bxf6 19. Bxd5 Bxh4 20. Qh5 Bg5 21. Rf5 Bxc1 {White is clearly winning--Stockfish 17.}) 18... Ne5 19. Qg3 Kh7 20. Bxh6 {Stripping Black's King bereft of pawns, but f6 was stronger. The position is now rated equal but good luck trying to find your way with the clock ticking} Bxh6 21. Qxe5 Qxh4 22. Bxd5 {A mistake, Qxd5 was necessary} Rg8+ {Black misses his moment.} (22... Rae8 $19 {(-5.17/32) Stockfish 17} 23. Qd6 dxc3 24. bxc3 Re2 {and now it's the White King feeling the heat}) 23. Kh1 $11 {(0.00) Stockfish 17} Rae8 24. Qd6 Rd8 (24... Re2 {is still the way. Activity is everything with Rooks.}) 25. Qc7 Bf8 26. Rf4 Qg5 27. Be4 (27. Rf2 $18 {(2.99/36) Stockfish 17}) 27... Bd6 {Threat and counter threat. The game resembles two Medieval combatants hacking away with broad swords} 28. Qxf7+ Kh8 29. Rf2 Rg7 30. Qe6 Rdg8 31. Rg2 Qf4 {A great looking move as it protects the h6 square from a White Q check and creats a nasty looking battery with the Q and B. But the engine now gives White a winning edge.} (31... Qe7 {was necessary White is still better but Black is not losing.}) 32. f6 {A great move for a number of reasons, the most important one not being so obvious. I was watching this battle live and thought White had blundered.} Rg4 (32... Rxg2 {was the move I had seen but then I realized} 33. Qh3+ {forces Black to give up his Q! So the real beauty of the f6 push was not its forward motion, but rather that it allows the White Q to go back to h3. Backwards moves are a thing of beauty!}) 33. Qd7 R8g6 34. Qe8+ Bf8 35. Qxf8+ Rg8 36. Rxg4 {And Black resigned. A very worthy Best Game winner. The game could have gone either way and both players left it all on the board} 1-0