1. d2d4  1... g8f6  2. c2c4  2... e7e6  3. b1c3  3... f8b4  4. d1c2 Still the main choice against the Nimzo-Indian Defense. 4... e8g8  5. a2a3  5... b4c3  6. c2c3  6... d7d5  7. c1g5  7... c7c5  8. d4c5  8... d5d4  9. c3g3 Rapport has an opinion of his own. The move 9.Qf3 gained popularity, thanks to the efforts by the world champion. 9... b8d7  10. g1f3  10... e6e5  11. a1d1 A risky move. White postpones castling, thus putting his king in serious danger. On the other hand, in an over-the-board game, this is a novelty. It happened in an email game though. 11... f8e8  12. b2b4  12... a7a5 All is correct—the white king can be attacked from any open file. 13. f3d2  13... a5b4  14. a3b4  14... g8f8 Only this, technically speaking, is a novelty, played after more than 20 minutes on the clock. Praggnanandhaa prepares the swap of the opponent's dark-squared bishop. 15. g3b3 Rapport also hesitates. And he keeps neglecting the development of the kingside. 15... h7h6  16. g5h4  16... e5e4 A very logical follow-up, e4-e3 is a huge threat. Therefore 17. e2e3 Is forced, and now, unfortunately for him, Praggnanandhaa closed the position with 17... d4d3  18. h2h3 Finally preparing the kingside development with g2-g4 and a fianchetto. 18... g7g5 Black prevents this plan. 19. h4g3  19... d7e5 But it also commits a serious inaccuracy at once. 20. b3b2 Now Rapport makes the best out of his dark-squared supremacy to force massive trades. 20... d8e7  21. d1a1 Safeguards the king from the left. 21... a8a1  22. b2a1  22... c8f5  23. g3e5  23... e7e5  24. a1e5  24... e8e5  25. g2g4 Both the white extra pawn and the iffy king survived the middlegame, and now it is Black's turn to suffer. 25... f5g6  26. f1g2 White's plan is obvious: bring the king out, ideally to c3 or even d4, and then get the open file for the rook. Since Rapport owns all the long-term trumps, Praggnanandhaa needs to find counterplay as soon as possible. 26... e5e8  27. d2b1 Looks like the fastest way to achieve the desired setup. 27... f6d7 Black is wasting a precious tempo. 28. e1d2  28... e8a8  29. d2c3 Now White is almost in time. 29... a8a2  30. h1d1  30... a2f2  31. d1d2  31... f2f6 There is simply no time for this. After this, Black's central pawn pair cannot survive. 32. c3d4  32... f6e6  33. b1c3  33... d7f6  34. b4b5 Black has too many things to worry about as the a-file becomes another weakness. 34... f8g7  35. d2a2  35... h6h5  36. g4h5  36... g6f5  37. a2b2  37... g7h6  38. b2f2  38... f5h7  39. c3d5 Rapport does not want to rush in the time trouble.