I can remember more than one game in my life when, having let a winning advantage slip, I continued playing for a win by inertia and completely underestimated the fact that I could actually lose the game $1  The same thing happens here to Gukesh, who, for some reason, didn't pull the breaks and called it a draw even though his teammate on board 3 had a winning endgame. After this move, there is no going back.
1. d2d4  1... g8f6  2. c2c4  2... e7e6  3. g1f3  3... d7d5  4. b1c3  4... f8b4  5. d1a4 Gukesh repeats the move that he used successfully in round six against Sargissian. 5... b8c6  6. e2e3  6... e8g8  7. c1d2  7... a7a5 Abdusattorov deviates quite early. This move is not very popular, although it is very reasonable. The idea behind supporting the b4-bishop is to prepare the ...Nc6-e7 maneuver. 8. a2a3  8... b4c3  9. d2c3  9... c6e7  10. a4c2  10... b7b6 Black has given up his dark-square bishop, so his strategy is to fight for the light-square complex. With his last move, he prepares to hit the c4-pawn with ...Ba6. 11. b2b3 A typical prophylactic move that strengthens the c4-pawn. 11... c8a6  12. a3a4 This move is consistent with Gukesh's general strategy to preserve control over the light squares in the center. Its drawback is that Black can exploit the weakening of the b4-square. 12... f6e4  13. c3b2  13... e7c6  14. b2a3 It feels like White has wasted precious time over the last few moves, trying to evade Black's threats. 14... c6b4  15. a3b4  15... a5b4  16. f1d3 This was Gukesh's idea. The knight cannot jump on c3 because the h-pawn is hanging. Or can it $2 16... e4f6 Abdusattorov trusts his opponent. 17. e1g1 The position is balanced now. Uzbekistan's first board decides to play the thematic 17... c7c5 which looks okay, 18. d4c5  18... b6c5  19. e3e4 Gukesh puts pressure on his opponent with this central break. How should Black resolve the central tension $2 19... d5e4 A tempting yet suboptimal choice. The arising structure is superior for White because the c5-pawn is weak, and the protected passer on the a-file is potentially a significant asset in the endgame. On the other hand, Black will find it difficult to make his kingside majority count. 20. d3e4  20... a8a7 Abdusattorov plays this move \"a tempo,\" but he probably regretted not spending more time on it in hindsight. The rook would like to go to d7 and support Bb7, but it will prove completely misplaced after Gukesh's reply. 21. f3e5  21... d8d6  22. f1e1 Gukesh defends the mighty knight most efficiently. On top of that, he threatens to bring his rook to the crucial d-file with a tempo. 22... f6e4  23. c2e4  23... f8d8 Black fights for the d-file with all his might. However, Gukesh's quiet queen retreat 24. e4f3 leaves him defenseless against Rad1. 24... d6c7  25. a1d1  25... a7a8 The young Uzbek has to admit his hasty mistake on move 20 when he misplaced his rook. It's better late than never, but his position is already very suspicious. 26. d1d8 Gukesh wants to exchange all the heavy pieces to eliminate defenders of the c5-pawn. The minor piece endgame is lost for Black since the bishop cannot perform this duty. 26... a8d8  27. e1d1  27... d8c8 This move only postpones the inevitable. Black cannot give White control over the open file. 28. f3g3  28... h7h5 Black needs to give some \"luft\" to his king, and White does the same. 29. h2h3  29... c8d8  30. d1d8  30... c7d8  31. e5d3 This is a much worse version of this endgame compared to 27...Rxd1 since White's pieces coordinate much quicker to capture the c-pawn. 31... h5h4  32. g3e3  32... a6b7 Abdusattorov realized that he could not save the c-pawn. His only chance is to pester his opponent with real or imaginary threats to confuse him and make his conversion job more difficult. 33. f2f3 The idea behind this cautious move is to limit the light-square bishop. The pawn will not run away. 33... d8d6  34. g1f1  34... e6e5  35. d3c5 This is a good moment to take the pawn since the white king is safe in the center. 35... b7c8  36. f1e1 In similar situations, we usually write: \"And the rest is a matter of technique.\" Gukesh has a healthy extra pawn in the endgame, a protected outside passer, and perfect piece coordination. He only needs to make the time control and avoid a couple of tricks, and victory will be at hand. However, as we will see, things are not always that simple in practice. 36... c8f5  37. a4a5 A timely decision. Black is preparing to create counterplay with ...Bc2, so Gukesh uses his trump card to tie the black pieces in defense. 37... d6c7  38. a5a6  38... f5c8  39. c5d3 A good transformation of advantage. White trades his a-pawn for one of the opponent's but, more importantly, improves his piece coordination. 39... c8a6  40. e3e5 This is the right capture. The white queen is dominant in the center of the board, and it seems like capturing one of the b4/ h4 pawns is only a matter of time. 40... c7b6  41. d3c5  41... b6a5  42. e1d1 Perhaps this king run toward the queenside was not necessary, but it's still fine. 42... a5d8  43. d1c2  43... a6c8 White is up a pawn and has everything under his control. At this point, everyone saw Gukesh extending his dream-like Olympiad run. Alas, his nerves took the best of him as he became indecisive and began drifting. 44. c5e4 Not a mistake per se, but a step in the wrong direction. 44... c8e6  45. c2b2 A complete blackout $1 Gukesh lets his opponent back in the game. 45... d8a8 Suddenly, the counterplay on the a-file is real. 46. e4c5  46... a8a3  47. b2b1  47... g7g6 Abdusattorov prepares to activate his bishop on f5, which means that the white knight will have to retreat to e4. 48. b1c2  48... a3a2  49. e5b2  49... e6f5  50. c5e4  50... a2a7 Black's queen can demonstrate its full range of mobility. Due to the pinned knight, 51...Qf2+ is a threat, and White cannot advance the c-pawn. 51. c2d3  51... a7g1  52. b2c2  52... g1c5  53. c2d2  53... c5g1 White's progress has been stalled because of the weak pawns on g2 and b3. What's worse, the black queen is too active. It probably dawned on Gukesh around here that his position is not objectively winning anymore. 54. d3c2  54... g1a1  55. c2d3  55... a1g1  56. d2e2  56... g1a7 