I will root for Caruana against Carlsen. I had predicted Aronian would win and was rooting for Kramnik.

That's what I'm talking about, Carlsen hasn't seen America yet!!!

Caruana - Carlsen might be better than Karjakin - Carlsen

Great Endgame stuff by Caruana! Way to go Fabi! American born!

Sorry Vlad didn't do better but glad to have someone from the USA playing, once again, for the WC.

I predict Caruana wins this...is so, it would be nice to see a new challenger to Magnus. But of course the smart money is on Magnus retaining his crown no matter who the challenger is. Caruana is also far weaker in Blitz...so he will have no desire to have a total draw outcome. Hopefully, it will be exciting.

while there is still one more round to go, I think this is over. I can't see Karjakin breaking Ding, nor Shak beating Kramnik with black....but don't put money on it, anything is possible.
If Caruana wins it all, he cemented it with this win for sure.

What a disaster for Aronian???...He was my favorite before the start. OUCH...

oops sorry I meant signal not sing :)

Will Wesley subtly sing Fabi if either Kar or Shak win? Maybe he'll pass him a note :)

In Caruana v Aronian, Aronian's 25... Bh5:Pg4 was a gutsy alternative to the quieter 25... Qe6d7. The engine seems to recommend 25... Nf6:Pg4, but taking White's g4P is the main point. Result was a major imbalance even if the simple count of material remained even. Huge turning point in Caruana's impressive win.

Go Caruana it is your time to make a record in your chess career. Thanks Wesley for hindering Karjakin to level up the score with Caruana.
It seems you help the US flag to make another history in chess world.

31..Nxb5 will be a impossible to guess for Aronyan. It saves the game for him. If he plays it - it will be brilliant.

I also don't agree with any "speed chess" deciding the WCC. I think, in the case of a tie...they continue playing until the next win...someone will eventually err. But, of course money/cost is always the consideration to this.

I have seen where many have said that Karjakin/Magnus would be the worst result, but IMHO if he tops the field he deserves the spot. I was honoured to attend the last WCC in New York...the first for me ever, and left there pleased with what I had seen. Yes, we all want to see fighting chess...but with only a 12 game format, it does not afford a player being a game down, any time to correct his mistakes. This is why I agree that there should be more than 12 games for the WCC Match.

Round 13, with the way Lev is playing, I would imagine Caruana with the white, might think that this is his best shot to win it all...if he has any novelties still in the bag...this is where he has to reveal them.
Same thing, with Shak IMHO...because this is the last time they will each play with the white pieces.

I can't see Karjakin beating So with the black...so I would expect him to play safe, and keep an eye on the Caruana game...with him playing with white in the last game.

...with 2 games left, $100,000 up for grabs, and a date with the best, dangling like a carrot, I think all five...and even Kramnik, have nothing to really loose but to go for it. I predict some very attacking chess still to come.

These Candidates have been the most exciting I have witnessed in a very long time. Clearly the players have worked hard in their preparation, and a lot of fighting chess can only be good for the sport.

In terms of where they stand currently, one would not have seen this say three games back. Karjakin on top with 2 games left? Smart money would have been on Caruana or Shak. Clearly, it shows that this game is one of inches...and one wrong move is just enough to alter the timeline.

To those of you criticizing the pay requirement to watch the official video: they are the organizers, they have the rights, and it is up to them to charge whatever they want for it. If there are problems with the website, then don't buy the pay package. I see nothing wrong with them showing it for free and then charging later, if it was because they wanted to give a preview, or because they changed their mind, is moot.

Regarding the WCC, I posted a link to an analysis in another article that demonstrated that 12 classical games is not enough to distinguish between 2 closely rated players. Either the total number of games must be increased, a variable # of games must be used (which is very possible with insurance), tiebreaks with different time controls, or go to another format like Fischer Random. There is not another solution. But if using tiebreaks, it begs the question: can it be considered a classical world chess championship when there are blitz/rapid games mixed in with the existence of a separate world blitz and world rapid championship? Clearly it is not a classical world championship, but actually an overall championship.

Is Karjakin going for the world championship, while not winning a thing (beside a blitz) in the last decade? Are we all agreeing this a real match :p

Karjakin has the balls of a bull.

bbrodinksy (what a difficult name), you seem to prefer a Blitz World Championship? what's next? Bullet?

Great comeback by Karjakin, but please, the next snooze fest will make the last one seem like a Tal attack. They mite as well go right to the rapids part.

i deleted one of my overreacted comments ...but world championship in chess means just a fun thing...nothing more...the best player is the one on the real ELO list who plays actively (so excluding Kasparov and Fischer)

karjakin e vo psiholoska prednost,ke mu treba barem edna pobeda od dvete preostanati partii i remi mislam deka ke bide dovolno za da bide prv

It is hard to get excited about another "Match World Chess Championship" (MWCChamp) match with Carlsen's challenger being Karjakin.

I'm extremely excited after this 12th round! My favorite Ding - who prove that in his current form can't become world champion - managed to win today, Karjakin also won, making it a field of five competitors for the win!

Karjakin and Caruana (both 7) are far from sure to win with Ding, Grischuk and Mamedyarov (all 6.5) all still in reach of first place. It is likely that the final round will decide the outcome of the tourney, and any of those five players can win, even Ding for whom I didn't give a dime anymore with last round's standings.

That's what they do, the Russian FIDE/World Chess mafia. It's one thing to charge, and one can discuss that. It's another thing to not be transparent whether or not you will be forced to pay, and to change the rules during the tournament without prior announcement, luring people into watching their free broadcast in the first half of the tournament and then pulling them to a paywll in the second, hoping they can make some bucks like cheap pusher. But what to expect, after all it's FIDE. And it's the Russian understanding of free market capitalism. But what I found worst, though, is that ChessBase, a honourable German chess site, is partnering with these thugs. It's a real shame.

and more their site doesn't work, you can not enter after the "paygate" page

Very annoying that as @Stupido commented, they are charging US$20 to watch the official video. As a matter of principle I will not pay this - probably just watch here and wait for the chessbase daily roundup.

And so now without warning the official livestream video costs 20 bucks. Even with the subpar live boards, that is ridiculous.

@AIekhine I did see the 'temper tantrum', I went to that game. And three of the other WC games in NYC.

Karjakin was playing for draws with white. If he had won that match based on his winning one game due to Carlsen's impatience with his nullification, that would have been a great travesty for the game of chess IMO.

And nowadays it seems rapid tiebreaks are the truest reflection of relative strength between two players. Much more than classical games, at the elite level.

We saw the same in the Anand-Gelfand WC match as well. At least 50% of the classical games were non games. Nowadays the weaker player can use computer analysis to steer the game toward drawish channels.

In both the Anand-Gelfand and Carlsen-Karjakin match, the rapid tiebreaks were the best and most interesting games. And in both cases the stronger player (and defending champion) won the tiebreaks.

We need to dispense with the myth that rapid chess is 'random' and favors the weaker player. Nowadays with computer analysis, the weaker player has the best chance in classical games

Nobody should retain a world championship by virtue of rapid tiebreaks.

Koko, he was (actually very) close to beating Carlsen based on the number of points each had earned. And Carlsen didn't look "bored"; he looked rattled. I guess you didn't see the temper tantrum he pulled when he stormed out of the interview area.

@koko48 they both played very standard and drawish. Carlsen is that way as well. He is not a wild positional player by any stretch of the imagination. He is no Tal or Fischer.

My Opinion you ask??

The world chamionship match is a piece of utterly nonsense...in six or eight games you play for a champion and finish it off with a blitz...

In the past a world champion match lasted more then 2 months...more then 12 games...
Catch Carslen off guard (he didn't have a girlfriend, was bit nerdy, was bit weak moment, and you win, and then you claim, i am the best???). Carlsen has dominated chess for the last 4 or 5 years!!!! How come you can claim a week/two week period a significance ??? (a win over Magnus Carlsen in a week, and you claim to be better then his 4 year dominance... My God...are we INstagram/ Facebooking chess nowadays??

We should dedicate this to Caruana:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U

Karjakin was 'close' to beating Carlsen by boring him to death. Playing for draws and nullification, finally getting him to overextend and lose a late game through recklessness.

But in the Rapid tiebreaks, Karjakin was properly dominated. And I thanked the stars for that because nobody should win a World Championship by backing into it with half points. If Karjakin had become World Champion it would have literally set chess back fifty years. To the reign of Petrosian and the "hold draw" school of chess

Samba, did you not notice that Karjakin was extremely close to beating him last year? Carlsen can be defeated by any of the eight.

Carlsen is of course a gigantic genius, but, in my opinion, and I am not alone, he is the most boring of geniuses. The WC in New York was tedious and boring. It’s not only Carlsen, the match is too short. Anyway, Carlsen is psychologically vulnerable. Make him work and work and he will get frustrated when he continues to hit the wall. That was very clear in NY. His arrogance won’t help him controlling his nerves. To me, Carlsen is stronger than any of the contenders. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be a fight. It is far from only about innate ability. Who would have ever thought that, after 8 rounds, Kramnik would be in 5th place and Aronian in 7th?