Round 11 of the World Chess Championships 2016 saw a solid opening choice by the challenger, Sergey Karjakin, allowing very little danger as the World Champion, Magnus Carlsen, tried everything to complicate the game. It is clear that Karjakin's team has decided that tie breaks will be the best way to win the World Championship. Carlsen seems to be back in psychological stride as he chose continuations that were intended to put more pressure on the challenger. But, with accurate play from both sides this battle in game 11 soon led to a draw on move 34. 

Round 12 will be the final game in the regular time control. If neither player wins this final game, then the match will go into tie breaks. For historical reference, the World Championship match has only been decided on tie breaks once in the 2012 Anand - Gelfand match. Chess purist hate this fact as the World Championship was historically a much more open ended affair. In some matches they would play until a certain number of wins disregarding all of the draws or even the World Champion would have draw odds with no tie breaks. By the end of the 20th century the demand for a faster more spectator friendly championship pushed the matches into shorter time frames (not to mention monetary factors). Perhaps a major change reason for this change is that the 1984 Karpov - Kasparov matches lasted for a total of 48 games over the span of nearly 6 months!

If the players are tied after the 12th game, the first tie break round will be a rapid mini-match. A total of four games with the time control of 25 minutes with a 10 second increment (10 seconds added each move) will be played. This will give each player two White and two Black games. If this is still tied, then the match will enter the blitz tie break phase. Two games will be played with each side having 5 minutes plus 3 seconds increment each move. In the unlikely possibility of a tie here, a final Armageddon game shall be played. If the match were to reach this phase it would be as dramatic as it sounds with the White player receiving 5 minutes and the Black player receiving 4 minutes but draw odds! This means that the player receiving White would need to win to win the Championship! Even though chess purists hate the idea of this tie break scenario, it is a spectator's dreams. We would see the two best players in the world duke it out on pure intuition and instinct. 

But, this is all speculation thus far as Karjakin will need to survive the onslaught of the World Champion as Carlsen will have White for the final time in the match. Can Karjakin hold on to force a dramatic tie break or will he crumple under the pressure? Tune in at 11 AM PST on Monday 11/28 to find out!

Round 11: 

Event: Carlsen - Karjakin World Championship 2016
Site: New York, NY 
Date: 2016.11.26
Round: 11
Result: 1/2-1/2
White: Sergey Karjakin
Black: Magnus Carlsen

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3
d6 8.a3 O-O 9.Nc3 Be6 10.Nd5 Nd4 11.Nxd4 exd4 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6
13.Bxe6 fxe6 14.f4 c5 15.Qg4 Qd7 16.f5 Rae8 17.Bd2 c4 18.h3 c3
19.bxc3 d5 20.Bg5 Bxg5 21.Qxg5 dxe4 22.fxe6 Rxf1+ 23.Rxf1 Qxe6
24.cxd4 e3 25.Re1 h6 26.Qh5 e2 27.Qf3 a5 28.c3 Qa2 29.Qc6 Re6
30.Qc8+ Kh7 31.c4 Qd2 32.Qxe6 Qxe1+ 33.Kh2 Qf2 34.Qe4+ 1/2-1/2