Durarbayli ensures that his opponent cannot activate his queen with 58.h6+ and Qh5 next. Even though he is down two pawns, his position is winning because all white pieces other than the rook are completely tied down. How in the world did White win this $2 Let's see.
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  22. b1c1  22... e6c5 An interesting choice. 23. f3d4  23... g7g6  24. d1f3 A correct decision $1 White would like to exchange the queens since most endgames are slightly in his favor. 24... f6e7 Naturally, Black does not oblige. He will look for his chances in the middlegame. 25. g2f1  25... e4g5  26. f3d1  26... e7f6  27. d1g4  27... g5e4  28. g4f4 This move gives Karpov vibes. White doesn't mind compromising his pawn structure to reach the endgame. 28... f6e7  29. h2h4 A nice move. The g6-pawn provides a hook for the advance of the h-pawn. Overall, it feels like White has been improving his position over the last few moves, whereas Black hasn't. While the position remains complex, White can claim a slight edge thanks to a broader array of good options. 29... b7a6  30. h4h5  30... a6b5 Durarbayli's decision to swap his \"bad\" bishop seems sensible. On the flip side, his isolated pawn will become weaker now. 31. a4b5 This is a thematic recapture with the idea to secure the c6-outpost for the knight. 31... c8e8  32. c1d1  32... e7d7  33. f1g2 A somewhat abstract move. However, both players were down to their final five minutes before reaching the time control after move 40. This explains mutual inaccuracies and mistakes in the next stage of the game. 33... f7f5 Durarbayli takes advantage of Pragg's hesitation to launch his counterplay. 34. f4f3  34... g6g5  35. c2b2 Praggnanandhaa completely loses the thread of the game in the time pressure. This is a wrong way to prepare the b4-break. 35... g8h8  36. b3b4 Continuing with the wrong plan. This move could have been refuted. 36... a5b4  37. b2b4  37... e4c3  38. d1d2  38... c3e4  39. d2d1  39... e4c3 It is natural to repeat the position to get closer to the time control. 40. d1d2  40... c5e4 The notorious 40th move $1 Durarbayli does not want to repeat the position again with 40...N3e4 to avoid the three-fold repetition. However, this way, his knights get tangled up. 41. d2c2  41... e8a8  42. b4b3  42... a8a1  43. g2f1 Black's problem is that his knight is rather loose on c3, so he needs to spend two tempi retreating it to its natural square, c5. Meanwhile, White will be in time to consolidate. 43... c3a4  44. b3d3  44... a1e1 It is difficult to explain this move. 45. d3a3  45... a4c5  46. c2a2 Now it's White who takes control over the a-file and the initiative. Probably realizing the extent of his mistake on move 44, the Azerbaijani grandmaster decides to go all-in with 46... f5f4  47. e3f4  47... g5g4 The best practical chance. White's queen is pushed back, and the g4-pawn can potentially play a role in the kingside attack. 48. f3h1 This is an awkward square for the queen, but strangely enough, it is more active here than on g2 as it can also join the game via h4 or h5 (after h5-h6). 48... c5e6 The tension in the match is rising, and it doesn't help that the position is getting more complicated while the time is slipping away with each move. Right around this point, the players entered the second time trouble. Durarbayli made this move with less than four minutes on the clock, while Praggnanandhaa responded with less than three minutes. However, his reply 49. a3a8 is quite impractical. It is a well-established guideline that when converting an advantage, it is better to avoid misbalancing the game as this favors the defender. However, Pragg does just that, and, as a result, we get a complete mess on the board. 49... e6d4  50. a8f8  50... h8g7  51. f8a8 A crazy position. Who is better $2 Which king is more vulnerable $2 Will White be able to coordinate his rooks or Black his knights $2 Will the white queen ever see the light of the day again $2 I am sure both players were stressed trying to figure all this out. 51... d4f3 This natural check is supposed to be losing. 52. g1g2  52... g7h6  53. a2c2 Pragg wanted to continue the attack with Rc6+, but this idea is not the best. 53... d7e7  54. c2c6  54... e4f6 Black is holding on, but not only that. He clears the e-file for his queen, so White has to watch for 55...Qe4. With only three seconds remaining on the clock, the Indian star makes a shocking move 55. a8a3 This looks like an outright blunder. I doubt he missed that his rook is hanging on a3 and prefer to believe that he left it en prise to lure the black queen away from e4. 55... e7a3  56. c6f6  56... h6g7  57. f6b6 