Hikaru with his typical opening setups. He loves the fianchettoed bishop on the left hand side.
Looking to make something happen on the queenside.
Vitiugov in some trouble here. His knight forced to go passive...
The weeakening of some of the queenside squares seems minor for now, but could be telling long-term.
Vitiugov hanging in there well. He's looking to bring his knight to a strong square next.
Hikaru has pushed Vitiugov's knight back to a passive square, again reclaiming a large edge.
Hikaru's got this one. Vitiugov can't even take the pawn in the center because of the check-block, forcing the queens off.