Carlsen held again, tie-breaker to decide title

World Chess Championship Match in New York between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karajkin will be decided via tie-breaker games after both played out an uneventful and dull draw in the 12th and final classical game on Monday.

Playing with white, Carlsen opted for Ruy Lopez opening and Karjajin replied with the ultra defensive Berlin Defence. Carlsen and chose the same variation that nearly earned him victory in the third game but this time it wad a tame affair.

Karjakin played cautiously and exchanged all pieces to steer the game to draw. It was apparent the two players were content with a draw and did not take any risks. They blitzed the first 30 moves in about 35 minutes as if preparing for shorter tie-break games.

By the time they completed the theoretical moves, a draw was the only likely outcome. The two players thus ended the regulation 12 games of the match with score level at 6-6. The match will now feature tie-break games on Wednesday to decide who takes the title and 60% share of the tota prize fund of USD 1.1 million.

First they will play four rapid games in which each player wil get 25 minutes to complete the game with 10 seconds of incremental time added with each move. In case scores are still tied, a set of two blitz games, in which each player will get five minutes time and 10 seconds increment after each move. A total of five such blitz games wil be played

In case the tie is not resolved, a sudden death game will be played in which the player with white pieces will have five minutes to four of his rival but has to win the game. A draw will mean the player with black pieces wins.

Carlsen is ranked world No 1 in rapid and blitz while Karjakin is ranked 11th. Thus Carlsen has the edge but with reduced time to complete the game, there are more chances of mistakes and Carlsen has been uncharacteris tically error prone in this match