Black wins an exchange, but the win is not yet there.
1. e2e4  1... e7e5  2. f1c4 \"Probably the only sensible way to avoid the Petroff.\" (Nepomniachtchi) 2... g8f6  3. d2d3  3... c7c6  4. g1f3  4... d7d5  5. c4b3  5... a7a5  6. a2a4  6... f8b4  7. c2c3  7... b4d6  8. e4d5  8... c6d5  9. c1g5  9... c8e6  10. b1a3  10... b8d7  11. a3b5  11... d6b8  12. d3d4  12... e5e4 You get similar positions more commonly in the Italian but with colors reversed. Black has the strong center, whereas White tries to put strong pressure on it. 13. f3d2  13... e8g8  14. d2f1 \"A nice idea to gain some time. Normally White castles here.\" (Nepomniachtchi) 14... h7h6  15. g5h4  15... b8f4 \"I could not remember any lines; that is why I decided to play by common sense.\" (Nepomniachtchi) 16. h2h3  16... f8e8 In order to transfer the knight to the g6-square. The Russian GM was not certain about this move as the rook can be quite useful on the f8-square too, supporting the f7-f5-f4 advance. 17. g2g3 Firouzja plays very concretely in turn and surrounds the central black pawn. 17... f4b8  18. g3g4  18... d7f8  19. f1e3  19... f8g6  20. h4f6  20... d8f6  21. b3d5  21... e6d5 A moment of hesitation for Black. 22. e3d5  22... f6g5  23. c3c4 Black has obvious compensation for the pawn, especially if he manages to break open the central files and launch an attack against the white king. However, Black's next move slows him down. 23... b8f4  24. d1b3 An obvious move, which controls the third rank. 24... h6h5  25. d5e3  25... g5h4  26. g4h5  26... h4h5 \"A pawn is a pawn, and all the endgames are kind of decent (for White). There is also the threat of Nb5-c7, and I was not sure about the exchange sacrifice.\" (Nepomniachtchi) 27. b3d1  27... h5h6  28. e3f5  28... h6h7  29. d1g4 \"I was short of time, and I did not really like my position.\" (Nepomniachtchi) 29... a8a6  30. e1d1  30... a6f6  31. h1e1  31... g6f8  32. f5e3 Both players were in time trouble but kept the level of the play quite high. 32... f4b8  33. g4e2  33... h7h4  34. e1f1  34... f6f3 Black is, however, having the easier play and slowly outplays his opponent. 35. d1c2  35... f8e6  36. e3d5  36... e6g5  37. a1e1  37... e8e6  38. d5c3  38... e6f6  39. c3d1  39... f3f4  40. e2e3 