A middlegame battle in which Praggnanandhaa, R was paired against Aravindh, Chithambaram VR. at Titled Arena Mar 6th 2021 in lichess.org INT in 2021. The game dates from the contemporary engine era.

The game opened with Grunfeld Defense (D79), a fight over the centre with long-term structural themes. Here the struggle frequently turns on the central pawns and the resulting minor-piece play.

Lasting 29 moves, the game was settled in the middlegame. This is the phase where piece activity, pawn breaks and king safety all collide, and replaying it slowly is a good way to train your own middlegame judgement.

Praggnanandhaa, R is one of the grandmasters featured in the RamaChess archive, where you can browse their complete game collection, favourite openings and notable wins. Studying many games by a single strong player is one of the fastest ways to understand practical chess decisions.

Replaying a complete grandmaster game is more valuable than it first appears. You see not just the moves, but the order in which plans are introduced, how both sides react to threats, and where the balance finally tips.

When the dust settled, Aravindh, Chithambaram VR. won with the black pieces. Step through the moves on the interactive board above, flip the board to see it from either side, and try the position trainer to sharpen your own play.