Carlsen wins tie-break and remains World Champion!

by ChessBase
11/30/2016 – Magnus Carlsen won the World Championship match against Sergey Karjakin. After three tie-break games he led with 2-1 and Karjakin had to win the fourth tie-break game with Black. But in a Sicilian Karjakin soon drifted into a passive position. He desperately tried to create counterplay but this allowed Carlsen to mate Black and finish the game and the match with a scintillating queen sacrifice. Review the showdown in the Newsblog...

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World Chess Championship Carlsen Karjakin, New York - Newsblog 2016-11-30

 
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1.e41,162,86954%2421---
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Notes by David Navara - The match has been very tense. Many people including me expected Magnus to be a clear favourite, but Sergey and his team prepared excellently. The tie-break was eagerly awaited by the chess world. 1.e4 0 e5 2 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 1 3.Bb5 0 a6 2 4.Ba4 0 Nf6 2 5.0-0 0 Be7 2 6.d3 0 b5 2 7.Bb3 1 d6 3 8.a3 2 0-0 3 9.Nc3 1 Nb8 0 On the other hand, the knight retreat has already been played many times. Wesley So adopted it twice. The idea resembles the Breyer line in Classical Ruy Lopez. In both lines Black retreats the knight to enable the advance of his c-pawn. On the other hand, there are some differences as well. In Breyer, Black's knight might be better placed on d7 and its removal from e4 increases the pressure against e4 and forces White to make some concessions like removing his bishop from the a2-g8 diagonal by playing Bb3-c2. Here the knight mostly comes back to c6, preventing the advance d3-d4 and getting space in the centre. This is also often the main idea behind the Nc6-a5 sortie in various anti-Marshall lines. 9...Na5 10.Ba2 Be6 and 9...Be6 in the previous games of the match, both times equalizing without too many problems. 10.Ne2 135 The remarkable game Anand - So saw 10.Ng5 Nc6! 11.Ba2 Nd4 12.Ne2 Nxe2+ 13.Qxe2 h6 14.f4!? hxg5 14...exf4 15.Nf3 g5 16.g3 fxg3 17.h4 Anand 15.fxg5 Ng4 16.g6 1-0 (45) Anand,V (2791)-So,W (2788) Shamkir 2015 CBM 166 [Anand,V] White went on to win, but Black could have equalized in the opening. 10.a4 b4 11.Nd5 also looks logical, but Black should be able to equalize after Nxd5 12.Bxd5 c6 13.Bb3 Nd7 14.d4 14.Be3!? 14...a5 15.dxe5 dxe5 ½-½ (31) Caruana,F (2820)-So,W (2762) Wijk aan Zee 2015 10...c5 13 11.Ng3 15 Nc6 3 12.c3 0 The advance d3-d4 hardly could bring White anything tangible, but this little move is useful anyway. Taking the d4-square under control might enable the manoeuvre Nf3-h4-f5 later on. True, this often fails to Nxe4 and Bxh4, but Black must be ready to meet White's activity on various parts of the board. Rb8 48 Nimzowitsch would probably like this mysterious rook move. Black slightly improves his rook, foreseeing the opening of the b-file. The Rf8 and Bc8 are placed well, protecting f7 and f5 respectively. 12...Be6 was also an option, but 13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.b4 leaves the White's pawn structure somewhat more flexible. 13.h3 46 13.d4 was not a great idea in view of cxd4 14.cxd4 Bg4 . On the other hand, now it becomes a serious option. 13...a5 10 Black would like to play a5-a4, fixing White's queenside pawns. The advance 13...d5?! is hardly recommendable, as it creates too many weaknesses after 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Re1 f6 16.Nh4 g6 17.Bh6 Re8 18.Nf3 . 14.a4 100 The advance 14.d4 a4 15.Ba2 not only generates some pressure in the centre, but also weakens the c4-square. 14...b4 2 Black weakened the c4-square, but White can hardly exploit it. 15.Re1 214 Nimzowitsch would be pleased again. It looked tempting to prepare the f2-f4 advance by means of 15.Nh2 , but this enables bxc3 16.bxc3 d5 White can play 17.Ng4 , but it does not give him an edge. 15.Nh4?! Nxe4 15...Be6 101 16.Bc4 177 The opening has been a moderate success for White, who has more prospects of an active play. Both d3-d4 and Nf3-h4-f5 might be unpleasant for Black later on, though not now. After 16.Bxe6 fxe6 White's pawns structure would remain a bit more flexible, but there is a big question where to play. As the game showed, Black is ready for the d3-d4 advance. On the other hand, White can hardly create an active play on the kingside. 16...h6 128 16...Bxc4?! 17.dxc4 would weaken the f5 and d5 squares. 17.Be3 117 Komodo suggests 17.Bb5 , e.g. Qc7?! 17...Na7 18.c4 18.Nh4 Na7 19.Bc4 with White's edge. The control of the f5-square might indeed be important. The text is simple and good. 17...Qc8 Black keeps an eye on f5 and can occasionally push d6-d5. 18.Qe2 110 The pawn sacrifice 18.Nh4!? Nxe4 19.Bxe6! Qxe6 20.dxe4 Bxh4 21.Nf5 Be7 22.Qd5 Rbc8 would bring White compensation for the pawn, but not more. 18...Rd8 52 19.Bxe6 92 fxe6?! 83 19...Qxe6 was entirely playable, but Magnus prefered to protect the f5-square. 20.d4 2 White could also prepare the pawn advance by means of 20.Rad1 . 20...bxc3 41 21.bxc3 1 cxd4 14 22.cxd4 1 exd4 8 23.Nxd4?! 2 Komodo rightly prefers 23.Bxd4! , when Black could have problems with his exposed pawn structure. He can hardly exchange the minor pieces, as Nxd4?! 24.Nxd4 would leave his pawns on a5 and e6 rather vulnerable. 23...Nxd4 7 24.Bxd4 1 Rb4 3 Now Black gets enough counterplay. 25.Rec1 149 Qd7 26 26.Bc3 9 Rxa4 13 27.Bxa5 11 The position is drawish after the elimination of the queenside pawns. Rxa1 7 28.Rxa1 2 Ra8 0 29.Bc3 23 Rxa1+ 7 30.Bxa1 0 Qc6 7 31.Kh2 38 Kf7 284 32.Bb2 161 Qc5 33 33.f4 44 Bd8 77 34.e5 119 34.Qd1 was a bit more tricky, as Bb6 34...Qb4 is safer 35.Bxf6 Kxf6 allows 36.e5+! Ke7 37.Ne4 Still, Qe3 38.Qxd6+ 38.exd6+ Kd8= 38...Kf7 39.Qd7+ Kf8 gives Black sufficient counterplay. 34...dxe5 49 35.Bxe5 7 Bb6 150 36.Qd1 1 Qd5 26 37.Qxd5 49 Nxd5 2 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karjakin,S2772Carlsen,M2853½–½2016C77AGON FWCM 2016-Tiebreak
Carlsen,M2853Karjakin,S2772½–½2016C54AGON FWCM 2016-Tiebreak
Karjakin,S2772Carlsen,M28530–12016C77AGON FWCM 2016-Tiebreak
Carlsen,M2853Karjakin,S27721–02016B55AGON FWCM 2016-Tiebreak

07.30 Mumbai/ 03.00 Hamburg/ 21.00 New York: IM Sagar Shah brings you detailed coverage of the rapid tiebreaks with game analysis, key positions and pictures in his article entitled "All Hail King Magnus" on the ChessBase India newspage

00.45 / 18.45: With a stunning and brilliant mating combination Magnus Carlsen wins game four of the tie-break - and the match!

Here Carlsen played 50.Qh6+ and Karjakin resigned. After 50...Kxh6 White mates with 51.Rh8# and after 50...gxh6 White mates with 51.Rxf7#

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1.e4 0 c5 1 2.Nf3 0 d6 1 3.d4 0 cxd4 1 4.Nxd4 0 Nf6 1 5.f3 0 e5 25 6.Nb3 6 Be7 40 7.c4 9 a5 18 8.Be3 9 a4 3 9.Nc1 4 0-0 64 10.Nc3 26 Qa5 85 11.Qd2 99 Na6 296 12.Be2 55 Nc5 28 13.0-0 56 Bd7 37 14.Rb1 56 Rfc8 113 15.b4 29 axb3 2 16.axb3 2 Qd8 55 17.Nd3 30 Ne6 19 18.Nb4 4 Bc6 24 19.Rfd1 27 h5 27 20.Bf1 258 h4 3 21.Qf2 12 Nd7 30 22.g3 136 Ra3 286 23.Bh3 58 Rca8 4 24.Nc2 57 R3a6 13 25.Nb4 5 Ra5 6 26.Nc2 53 b6 35 27.Rd2 136 Qc7 383 28.Rbd1 21 Bf8 71 29.gxh4 64 Nf4 47 30.Bxf4 6 exf4 1 31.Bxd7 28 Qxd7 3 32.Nb4 91 Ra3 80 33.Nxc6 239 Qxc6 1 34.Nb5 14 Rxb3 5 35.Nd4 2 Qxc4 1 36.Nxb3 2 Qxb3 1 37.Qe2 25 Be7 28 38.Kg2 50 Qe6 38 39.h5 8 Ra3 6 40.Rd3 49 Ra2 1 41.R3d2 5 Ra3 1 42.Rd3 2 Ra7 12 43.Rd5 7 Rc7 14 44.Qd2 28 Qf6 27 45.Rf5 6 Qh4 1 46.Rc1 21 Ra7 18 47.Qxf4 61 Ra2+ 10 48.Kh1 3 Qf2 7 49.Rc8+ 29 Kh7 2 50.Qh6+ 2 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2853Karjakin,S27721–02016B54AGON FWCM 2016-Tiebreak1.4

00.42 / 18.42: Carlsen neutralizes all attempts by Black and now has a winning position. Carlsen has two minutes, Karjakin only seconds.

00.36 / 18.36: After a tactical sequence Karjakin lands in a position in which Black is an exchange down but might have entertain hopes to create swindling chances against White's king. Karjakin has only seconds on the clock, Carlsen still has three minutes.

00.31 / 18.31: Karjakin now has less than a minute on the clock but there is still no counterplay in sight. If Carlsen does not blunder he should at least draw this game and win the match.

00.26 / 18.26: Maurice Ashley in the commentator room thinks that Carlsen's position is so good that Carlsen might even decline should Karjakin offer a draw now. An idea that Judit Polgar thinks to be very unlikely.

00.22 / 18.22: Karjakin is searching for a way to create counterchances and is now down to five minutes. 

00.17 / 18.17: According to the engines White has a clear advantage - Carlsen gets closer to winning the match.

00.05 / 18.05: Carlsen is playing solidly, Karjakin tries to create chances. But the engines still like White.

23.59 / 17.59: Carlsen is playing quickly and confidently. And Sergey Karjakin has to find a way to create chanbes. But "the position is so terribly passive" - Judit Polgar.

23.54 / 17.54: Things look good for Carlsen: the engines like his position and he is five minutes ahead on the clock.

23.49 / 17.49: Karjakin is again behind on the clock. After 11 moves Karjakin has 19 minutes left, Carlsen 24.

23.46 / 17.46: After winning game three of the tie-break for the first time Carlsen takes the lead in the match. 

23.41 / 17.41: Game four was a Sicilian in which Carlsen avoided the main lines with 5.f3.

23.30 / 17.30: Carlsen wins game three! Karjakin finally cracked under the pressure and now has to win game four with Black to even the score.

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1.e4 0 e5 1 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 1 3.Bb5 0 a6 1 4.Ba4 0 Nf6 2 5.0-0 0 Be7 1 6.d3 0 b5 2 7.Bb3 d6 1 8.a3 0 0-0 5 9.Nc3 2 Na5 2 10.Ba2 2 Be6 3 11.b4 8 Nc6 24 12.Nd5 32 Nd4 1 13.Ng5 196 Bxd5 248 14.exd5 3 Nd7 31 15.Ne4 37 f5 38 16.Nd2 8 f4 6 17.c3 136 Nf5 18 18.Ne4 204 Qe8 24 19.Bb3 170 Qg6 90 20.f3 5 Bh4 194 21.a4 90 Nf6 11 22.Qe2 149 a5 35 23.axb5 256 axb4 15 24.Bd2 135 bxc3 84 25.Bxc3 2 Ne3 42 26.Rfc1 8 Rxa1 154 27.Rxa1 13 Qe8 36 28.Bc4 29 Kh8 73 29.Nxf6 134 Bxf6 18 30.Ra3 23 e4 85 31.dxe4 24 Bxc3 2 32.Rxc3 1 Qe5 2 33.Rc1 11 Ra8 20 34.h3 5 h6 84 35.Kh2 13 Qd4 28 36.Qe1 72 Qb2 39 37.Bf1 5 Ra2 15 38.Rxc7 94 Ra1 20 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karjakin,S2772Carlsen,M28530–12016C84AGON FWCM 2016-Tiebreak1.3

23.27 / 17.27: Judit Polgar: "I think Magnus will win this." Karjakin now is down to less than one minute.

23.26 / 17.26: Judit Polgar: "It is very difficult to defend this position. I wonder if Karjakin will work his defensive magic again."

23.23 / 17.23: With 30...e4!? Carlsen sacrificed a pawn - once more, trying to put pressure on Karjakin.

23.21 / 17.21: After 30 moves Black is slightly better and Karjakin has less than three minutes on the clock - Carlsen still has ten.

23.10 / 17.10: After 24 moves Karjakin is already down to five minutes while Carlsen still has more than 15 minutes left. And the position on the board is slightly better for Black.

23.09 / 17.09: Judit Polgar: "Does Karjakin rejoice in defending these bad positions? I mean, the draw in game two must have felt like a win."

23.04 / 17.04: After 22 moves Karjakin is on the defensive again and with 22...a5 Carlsen plays on both sides.

23.01 / 17.01: Body language indicates that Carlsen recovered from game two and is trying to play for a win again.

22.54 / 16.53: After 19 moves Karjakin is down to 15 minutes, Carlsen still has 20. And the engines like Black's position better. Carlsen is starting an attack on the kingside.

22.51 / 16.51: After another miraculous escape by Karjakin, a lot of people suddenly seem to see Karjakin as favorite to win the match. However, after two tie-break games it's still 1-1. And Carlsen has a good position in game three and is again ahead on the clock.

22.45 / 16.45: Karjakin seeks the confrontation and Carlsen accepts. He is getting active with Black and another tense game might be ahead.

22.42 / 16.42: Whether one supports Carlsen or Karjakin - game two was a thrilling drama.

22.38 / 16.38: Game three saw another Ruy Lopez. But this time Karjakin seems to try to push.

22.36 / 16.36: After a break of ten minutes game three began - and Carlsen was still visibly shaken by the events of game two.

Magnus Carlsen at the start of game three.

22.22 / 16.22: Draw! Karjakin escaped once again - with only seconds left on the clock he found a way to draw the game and saved a position in which he was lost. The story of the match seems to repeat itself - and the question is how Carlsen will cope with the psychological of missing yet another chance to win. 

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1.e4 0 e5 1 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 1 3.Bc4 0 Bc5 2 4.0-0 0 Nf6 1 5.d3 2 0-0 3 6.a4 2 a6 1 7.c3 9 d6 24 8.Re1 24 Ba7 23 9.h3 9 Ne7 6 10.d4 7 Ng6 3 11.Nbd2 9 c6 88 12.Bf1 24 a5 236 13.dxe5 373 dxe5 75 14.Qc2 15 Be6 159 15.Nc4 38 Qc7 49 16.b4 73 axb4 166 17.cxb4 2 b5 1 18.Ne3 116 bxa4 423 19.Rxa4 2 Bxe3 14 20.Bxe3 233 Rxa4 6 21.Qxa4 2 Nxe4 36 22.Rc1 3 Bd5 40 23.b5 7 cxb5 140 24.Qxe4 3 Qxc1 2 25.Qxd5 1 Qc7 73 26.Qxb5 30 Rb8 4 27.Qd5 18 Rd8 70 28.Qb3 8 Rb8 20 29.Qa2 13 h6 17 30.Qd5 63 Qe7 51 31.Qe4 44 Qf6 49 32.g3 49 Rc8 6 33.Bd3 63 Qc6 5 34.Qf5 4 Re8 7 35.Be4 287 Qe6 6 36.Qh5 66 Ne7 3 37.Qxe5 65 Qxe5 5 38.Nxe5 2 Ng6 9 39.Bxg6 8 Rxe5 1 40.Bd3 5 f6 63 41.Kg2 10 Kh8 2 42.Kf3 22 Rd5 1 43.Bg6 3 Ra5 3 44.Ke4 9 Rb5 3 45.h4 3 Re5+ 2 46.Kd4 2 Ra5 1 47.Kc4 11 Re5 21 48.Bd4 3 Ra5 9 49.Bc5 2 Kg8 5 50.Kd5 1 Rb5 3 51.Kd6 3 Ra5 3 52.Be3 17 Re5 8 53.Bf4 29 Ra5 12 54.Bd3 38 Ra7 8 55.Ke6 5 Rb7 5 56.Kf5 6 Rd7 23 57.Bc2 13 Rb7 9 58.Kg6 2 Rb2 23 59.Bf5 2 Rxf2 16 60.Be6+ 1 Kh8 2 61.Bd6 31 Re2 2 62.Bg4 122 Re8 17 63.Bf5 25 Kg8 7 64.Bc2 28 Re3 19 65.Bb1 9 Kh8 28 66.Kf7 17 Rb3 15 67.Be4 3 Re3 27 68.Bf5 23 Rc3 5 69.g4 17 Rc6 16 70.Bf8 6 Rc7+ 3 71.Kg6 2 Kg8 7 72.Bb4 8 Rb7 6 73.Bd6 9 Kh8 6 74.Bf8 15 Kg8 2 75.Ba3 3 Kh8 2 76.Be6 24 Rb6 6 77.Kf7 16 Rb7+ 2 78.Be7 2 h5 58 79.gxh5 39 f5 3 80.Bxf5 5 Rxe7+ 2 81.Kxe7 1 Kg8 1 82.Bd3 3 Kh8 1 83.Kf8 2 g5 5 84.hxg6 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2853Karjakin,S2772½–½2016C54AGON FWCM 2016-Tiebreak1.2

22.17 / 16.17: Karjakin has only seconds on the clock but Carlsen does not seem to have a clear idea how to win.

22.13 / 16.13: Carlsen missed a win and is under two minutes on the clock.

22.11 / 16.11: Carlsen sacrificed a pawn to initiate a mating attack with the two bishops and his king.

22.09 / 16.09: Carlsen improves the position of his king and seems to edge closer to a win.

22.05 / 16.05: Karjakin now just lives on his increment. But Carlsen has to find a way to break through. But as he said after game four of the match: "I do not believe in fortresses."

22.03 / 16.03: Carlsen is down to 3 minutes. He offered the exchange of queens and an endgame arose in which Carlsen has the two bishops and Karjakin a rook.

22.01 / 16.01: Carlsen takes a lot of time, a sign that he is not sure how to convert his advantage to a win.

21.59 / 15.59: Maxim Dlugy: "But it's not ever yet. White still has to win."

21.56 / 15.56: Carlsen plays calmly and tries to exploit his advantage on the board and the clock.

21.53 / 15.53: Karjakin has less than one minute left, Carlsen has 11 minutes left. And the engines see a 75% winning chance for Carlsen.

21.51 / 15.51: Judit Polgar: "If Sergey keeps this position - he really is a genius."

21.49 / 15.49: Judit Polgar: "Sergey Karjakin is very close to losing." His position is worse and he is under two minutes on the clock.

21.47 / 15.47: After a tactical sequence Carlsen has two pieces for the a rook and has a clear advantage. Not to mention the clock - 3 minutes for Karjakin, 12 minutes for Carlsen. This game has good chances to decide the match.

21.44 / 15.44: Carlsen sacrificed a pawn and put Karjakin under pressure. Judit Polgar: "Karjakin is in a very critical position now." Carlsen is a pawn down but the engines see a slight advantage for White. And Karjakin is under four minutes on the clock.

21.42 / 15.42: Things are getting tense:

21.39 / 15.39: After 19 moves Karjakin is down to 7 seven minutes - Carlsen has 15 minutes left - and the engines think that White is slightly better.

21.34 / 15.34: Maxim Dlugy is commentating again and thinks that Carlsen should try to keep the tension up to emphasize his advantage on the clock.

21.32 / 15.32: Carlsen again has a slight plus on the clock: after 18 moves Carlsen has 16 minutes left, Karjakin 12.

21.30 / 15.30: After Karjakin pushed a pawn on the queenside the position suddenly flared up - and should be better for White, at least, according to the engines.

21.25 / 15.25: After 15 moves the position is equal - and Judit Polgar thinks that Karjakin plans to continue to defend solidly to provoke Carlsen into risking too much.

21.23 / 15.23: Sergey Karjakin and his wife on the way to the playing hall.

Karjakin auf dem Weg zur Markthalle

21.17 / 15.17: Really? Is it that simple?

21.15 / 15.15: After 12 moves Carlsen is again ahead on the clock. He has 23 minutes left, Karjakin 20.

21.08 / 15.08: Game two began with an Italian. The players followed theory and played the first ten moves quickly.

20.52 / 14.52: Draw! After 37 moves the first game of the tie-break ends in a draw!

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1.e4 0 e5 2 2.Nf3 0 Nc6 1 3.Bb5 0 a6 2 4.Ba4 0 Nf6 2 5.0-0 0 Be7 2 6.d3 0 b5 2 7.Bb3 1 d6 3 8.a3 2 0-0 3 9.Nc3 1 Nb8 10 10.Ne2 135 c5 13 11.Ng3 15 Nc6 3 12.c3 30 Rb8 48 13.h3 46 a5 10 14.a4 100 b4 2 15.Re1 214 Be6 101 16.Bc4 177 h6 128 17.Be3 117 Qc8 184 18.Qe2 110 Rd8 52 19.Bxe6 92 fxe6 83 20.d4 2 bxc3 41 21.bxc3 1 cxd4 14 22.cxd4 1 exd4 8 23.Nxd4 2 Nxd4 7 24.Bxd4 1 Rb4 3 25.Rec1 149 Qd7 26 26.Bc3 9 Rxa4 13 27.Bxa5 11 Rxa1 7 28.Rxa1 2 Ra8 9 29.Bc3 23 Rxa1+ 7 30.Bxa1 1 Qc6 7 31.Kh2 38 Kf7 284 32.Bb2 161 Qc5 33 33.f4 44 Bd8 77 34.e5 119 dxe5 49 35.Bxe5 7 Bb6 150 36.Qd1 1 Qd5 26 37.Qxd5 49 Nxd5 2 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Karjakin,S2772Carlsen,M2853½–½2016C77AGON FWCM 2016-Tiebreak1.1

20.48 / 14.48: The engines evalute the position as absolutely equal but maybe Carlsen wants to try to exploit his advantage on the clock.

20.45 / 14.45: After 33 moves Karjakin is down to five minutes, Carlsen has ten minutes left.

20.44 / 14.44: With 33.f4 Karjakin gets active - but weakens the black squares around his king.

20.40 / 14.40: The position looks drawish but both players seem to be willing to play on and to try something.

20.35 / 14.35: After 30 moves the position simplified and a draw does not seem to be far away.

20.33 / 14.33: Judit Polgar: "Both players seem to be happy that the first game is so solid."

20.32 / 14.32: After some quick moves from both the position simplified and the engines say that's is equal.

20.28 / 14.28: Maxim Dlugy: "What is the only way not to lose on time in blitz? - Play faster than your opponent!" Karjakin is down to 11 minutes, Carlsen has 17 minutes left.

20.25 / 14.25: Judit Polgar: "I have a feeling that Carlsen is playing solid strategic chess and fast."

20.22 / 14.22: After 17 moves the game gradually takes shape in the middlegame and Carlsen is taking more time for his moves. However, with 19 to 13 minutes he is still much ahead on the clock.

20.13 / 14.13: Maxim Dlugy: "In blitz and rapid it is important to play good, solid moves. You simply do not have time to search for the best move."

20.11 / 14.11: Carlsen plays the opening quickly and after 15 moves he has eight minutes more on the clock than Karjakin.

20.05 / 14.05: The World Champion removes his jacket. Dlugy thinks that Carlsen is still in his preparation - he played ...Rb8 rather quickly.

20.03 / 14.03: Maxim Dlugy joined Judit Polgar in the commentary room and explained some of the basic patterns of the Ruy Lopez.

Maxim Dlugy, our man in New York, knows a lot about rapid and blitz.

20.01 / 14.01: The tie-break began. With a Classical Ruy Lopez again. 

19.57 / 13.57: Judit Polgar: "Today is the day. Today, we will have a World Champion."

19.50 / 13.50: Judit Polgar: "After game 12 both players looked as if they were World Champions. But now I feel that there's more pressure on Magnus Carlsen."

18.02 / 12.02: Sabrina Chevannes predicts a decision in the rapid games. She is visiting our headquarters in Hamburg to produce some "My First Repertoire" DVDs and says: "It's Magnus' birthday today, and what better birthday gift than to be awarded the title of World Chess Champion yet again. I believe that he has been conserving his energy for this rapid showdown and will show the world who's boss in the first four games. Prediction: 2.5-1.5 to Magnus." 

Sabrina Chevannes

16.56 / 10.46: Only three more hours to the tie-break. As a warm-up here's a blitz game Carlsen and Karjakin played at the Fide World Blitz Championship 2015 in Berlin.

15.14 / 9:14 - Interview with Vlastimil Hort:

What do you think about the World Championship in New York?
Very interesting, two young people, almost equally strong. I think Karjakin is very well prepared, Carlsen less so.

Does Carlsen play his best chess?
No, definitely not. I think, he is not 100% focused on the match. Maybe he did not take the task seriously enough. His schedule is probably too tight. Today he's here, the next month he's there. He does this and he does that. But you cannot juggle too many balls at once. For Karjakin things are different. For him, the match is the highlight of his career so far. And Carlsen was already down. After his loss in game eight Carlsen prepared a risky line in the Ruy Lopez. He easily could have lost a second game. He was lucky.

What did you predict before the match?
Before the match I did indeed risk some money at the bookies, not much, just a little, and I bet on a 6-6. I have to admit that I support Karjakin a bit more than Carlsen, you always root for the underdog. But I also have another reason: Karjakin and I are both Capricorns, born on January 12. I am only a bit older - 48 years! But Capricorns have stick together.

What was the best game of the match?
Carlsen's win in the Italian.

The worst game...?
Well, the last game, that was terrible. In this situation Fischer would have played on to the bare king, 100 moves or more if necessary.

What do you think about the format of the match?
Much too short. Twelve games, that is not enough. And the tie-break, terrible. Tennis has a tie-break, hockey has sudden death, soccer has a penalty shootout. All very similar to the actual competition. But rapid or blitz chess is something entirely different than classical chess. In the opera you can neither start as tragedy and finish as comedy.

What is better, a tie-break or the rules we had in previous matches - if the match is equal, the World Champion keeps the title?
Well, a difficult question: I once discussed it with Fischer, in Budapest. Fischer thought that it would be best to toss  a coin. 

Your prediction for the tie-break?
I think, Carlsen is better in these disciplines and he will win.

10.50 / 04.50: Not everyone is happy that a rapid, and possibly a blitz tie-break, will decide the World Championship in classical chess. Yesterday, Yasser Seirawan proposed a "radical solution" to avoid such tie-breaks in future World Championship matches. Seirawan's proposal provoked an enormous response.

Yasser Seirawan

09.04 / 03.04: As luck would have it, today is Magnus Carlsen's 26th birthday. He was born on 30. November 1990 in Tønsberg, Norway. This makes Carlsen a Sagittarius. For this star sign horoscope.com has some advice for today: "Don't let others push you into places you don't want to be. The key is to probe deeply with your penetrating mind and share your incredible insights with others. Don't be surprised if your actions cause some tension. Don't let this stop you from doing what you feel is right."

Sergey Karjakin was born on 12. January 1990, in Simferopol, Ukraine. His star sign is Capricorn. horoscope.com also has advice for him: "Emotionally speaking, you're probably doing quite well today, Capricorn. You have extra self-confidence to draw on to tackle your projects. The one difficult aspect of the day probably has to do with some sort of mental challenge that for some reason just isn't making sense. Don't continue to beat a dead horse. If things don't want to budge, let them sit. Tackle them later."

08.08 / 02.08: Here are the basic rules of the tie-break - we will see a minimum of three and a maximum of 15 games.

Rapid

The players start with a four-game rapid match (25 min + 10 sec/move). Karjakin has the white pieces in the 1st game. In case of a 2-2 after four games, the match will be decided by blitz games.

Blitz

The blitz phase consists of  two-game-blitz-matches (5 min + 3 sec/move). If the first blitz match also ends in a 1-1 draw, another two-game-match follows - up to five in total. If these five matches all end 1-1, Armageddon will decide the match.

Armageddon

This format guarantess a winner, as in case of a draw the player with the black pieces will be declared as the winner. In this format, White has five minutes, Black only four. An increment of three seconds is given from move 61.

07.45 / 01.45: According to the live ratings Carlsen is a slight favorite in rapid and in blitz.

Live Ratings: Top Ten Rapid

1 Carlsen 2894.0
2 Nakamura 2839.0
3 Karjakin 2818 i
4 Nepomniachtchi 2812.0
5 Mamedyarov 2805.0
6 Dominguez Perez 2803.0
7 Anand 2802.0
8 Vachier-Lagrave 2795.0
9 Radjabov 2788 i
10 Kramnik 2778.0

Live Ratings: Top Ten Blitz

1 Ding Liren 2875.0
2 Carlsen 2873.0
3 Nakamura 2842.0
4 Nepomniachtchi 2830.0
5 Aronian 2830.0
6 Vachier-Lagrave 2823.0
7 Mamedyarov 2813.0
8 Radjabov 2800 i
9 Karjakin 2800.0
10 Caruana 2800.0

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