Hikaru sticks true to his openings, starting off by trading all pawns in the center early. This time around, Erigaisi seems to have gained a clear edge, as his knight activity in addition to control over the open file creates clear issues for Hikaru's pieces.
Despite the material being completely equal, Hikaru is struggling heavily to deal with Erigaisi's knights. As a result, Erigaisi will be able to pacify Hikaru's position while at the same time grabbing space on the queenside.
This has gone very wrong for Hikaru, who now has to fight hard to regain control over the position.
Erigaisi seemingly leaves his knight hanging with this move, but his rook is indirectly covering it. Erigaisi's knights are wrecking havoc against Hikaru's pawn on the queenside, and there's no good defense!
Hikaru maintains all his material for now, but his pieces are now stuck on the 8th rank. It's only a matter of time before Erigaisi breaks through!
After spending a long time improving his pieces, Erigaisi finally decides to break through. Impeccable timing from Erigaisi, who maintains his domination over the board and now will be up material.
Hikaru desperately tries to muster counterplay against Erigaisi's bishop, but the tactics don't work out in his favor.
Erigaisi sacrifices his bishop to get his pawns moving! While Erigaisi is material down, the pawns will now become unstoppable threats!
This opening was nothing short of a disaster for Hikaru, who ended up in an incredibly passive position from the start. Erigaisi grabbed the opportunity to harass Hikaru's pieces, eventually leading to a win of a pawn on the queenside. Erigaisi's pawns eventually won him the game in convincing fashion.
An unusually poor game from Hikaru, who needs to reset heading into game two!