1. d2d4  1... g8f6  2. c2c4  2... e7e6  3. g1f3  3... b7b6 Durarbayli decided to defend with the Queen's Indian Defense, a solid and flexible choice for this important match. 4. g2g3  4... c8a6 This is considered to be the main line of the 4.g3 variation. White has many ways to protect the c-pawn, and Pragg goes for the classical one. 5. b2b3  5... f8b4  6. c1d2  6... b4d2 A sideline. 7. d1d2  7... c7c6 Black wants to attack the c4-pawn with ...d7-d5, but first, he wants to ensure that he can meet cxd5 with ...cxd5. 8. f1g2 Praggnanandhaa continues in the classical spirit. 8... d7d5  9. e1g1  9... b8d7  10. f1c1  10... e8g8  11. a2a4 A principled pawn advance. The bishop can become vulnerable on a6 if the a-file opens up. Importantly, Black cannot respond in kind with ...a7-a5. 11... a6b7  12. b1c3 A slightly confusing choice. 12... a8b8 This is as equally inaccurate as White's previous move. It seems like the players did not appreciate the importance of the a5-push. 13. f3e1 I suppose that both players had given up on trying to make a5 ...a5 work. Pragg's move makes sense as it opens the diagonal for the Catalan bishop. 13... c6c5 The Azerbaijani grandmaster wants to take advantage of white knight moving away from the center, so he strikes at the d4-pawn. 14. c4d5  14... c5d4  15. d2d4  15... d7c5 Black activates the knight with a nice little intermezzo. 16. a1b1  16... e6d5 The isolated queen's pawn middlegames are very common on the highest level. The side playing against it has good chances in the endgame. On the other hand, Black's task is to utilize the outposts around the pawn such as e4 to create dynamic counterplay in the middlegame. This following stage of the game is quite interesting from that point of view. 17. e1f3 The knight returns closer to the d4-square in order to block the isolani. It is well-known that the queen is not a good blocker. 17... c5e6  18. d4d1  18... f6e4  19. c3b5 Pragg decides to ignore the e4-knight and establishes an outpost on d4 instead. 19... d8f6  20. c1c2  20... a7a5 A useful positional move, fixing white queenside pawns and securing c5 and b4 outposts for black pieces. 21. e2e3  21... b8c8 