White has an extra protected passed pawn, but the position is a draw.

Unlike the queen, the knight is an excellent blockader! It fulfils its function of keeping the white king out excellently.

Draw agreed.

White has the advantage, thanks to his extra space. But how great is this advantage? Black’s plan is to strengthen the e5- pawn if necessary with ...f7-f6, bring his Ra8 to the centre (probably with the help of exchanges on the d-file) and include his light-squared bishop in the game via c8. If he succeeds in doing this, White will have few chances of a break on the kingside. By exploiting a tactical motif, White finds a way to change the position in his favour:

This is not about simplifying or conceding the open file. It is just that after this exchange, the black pieces lose coordination.

The pawn that now lands on d4 restricts Black’s bishop, and is excellently blockaded by the knight. Another important thing is that the white e-pawn gets the chance to advance, and he can start piece play on the light squares on the kingside.

This move gives up control of e6, which allows White to carry out an attack.
It made sense to provoke some opening of lines on the queenside with 25...a5, or get the sleeping bishop into play by 25...Bc8 – in both cases, White has a clear advantage, but there is a lot of fight left.

The black rook is now absolutely passive, like his other pieces, which decides the outcome of the game.

The game started as a Grünfeld. White has a passed pawn on c5, but at the moment, its presence is not felt, as it is securely blockaded by the knight. With his last move, White proposed the exchange of bishops, so as to weaken the black king and reduce the pressure on the long diagonal.

The strongest and the main theoretical move.