Good day, dear friend!

Tie-break is used in many sports: For example, volleyball, tennis. Have you heard? This popular competition format has not bypassed chess. We are chess players and we simply have to know what kind of animal this is, a tie-break in chess, and what it is eaten with.

Moreover, at the 2016 World Championship in the match between Carlsen and Karjakin, the fate of the match was decided precisely in a tie-break. In the last, 4 parties. I hope you remember, and maybe even watched the broadcast.

(Subscribe for updates).

What is itlike a tie-break in chess?

Tie-break is the continuation of the match. Origin of the word from English tie (draw) and break (complete, terminate).

When is the tiebreak played?

The main part of the match consists of a certain number of classical time format games.

If at the end of the main part of the match the winner is not revealed, that is, the match ended in a draw, the tie-break begins. Multiple games with shortened time control.

Most often 4 parties. If one of the players scores 2.5 points (for example, one win and three draws), he is declared the winner.

If the first tie-break ends in a 2-2 draw, then there may be options depending on the rules of the match:

• Another four-game tie-break
• Blitz match of two games

If in this case it was not possible to determine the winner, another blitz mini-match of two games is played. There can be only 5 such matches. No more. If here, too, there is a draw, then it will be the decisive game, which is called the terrible word Armageddon.

The usual time control in a tie-break is 25 minutes each for the entire game, with a few seconds added per move after that time.

There may be options with control, so you should always check the rules with the judge.

How to play tiebreak?

The strategy and tactics of the game with short control has its own characteristics. Let me give you a couple of recommendations:

Best the enemy of the good

Finding the best plan, the strongest move, the ingenious combination is all wonderful. But it is better to leave for the classic format of the game. All these delights require time to think. And in a tie-break, long reflections are an unaffordable luxury. The control is shortened.

Get your opponent in trouble

Try to get a position, especially in the opening, where the opponent has to play accurately.There is not much time, and in an unfamiliar position, the opponent can get nervous and make mistakes.

For this, many strong chess players have special opening preparations.

For example:

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.de d4 Albin's Countergambit

Boris Spassky's move.

Now Black should play accurately. Most players continue to develop pieces by inertia. four…. Nc6 5.f4 Cb4+6.Cd2 K8e7 7. Bd3

As a result, White has a powerful pawn fist in the center and an extra pawn. Much better for Black is 6…f6!, undermining the center. However, in practice, almost no one plays like this. The move is not obvious, it doubles the pawn, and over time, you won’t be able to especially clear up for evaluation.

Common tiebreak mistakes

Getting into time trouble

You can lead the game perfectly, with inspiration, force and beauty. However, chess players have this saying: the most difficult thing is to win a won position. If you do not leave yourself time to realize the advantage, all your efforts can easily go to waste in a time trouble.

Passion for calculating long options

Accurate calculation takes time and skill. As long as you are not a grandmaster, you should not overestimate your strengths. Even in your “most accurate” calculation, the opponent will almost always have the opportunity to turn “left”.

In a tie-break, try to play hard, avoid making gross miscalculations and not get into time trouble. And for the opponent's mistakes usually it will not happen.

Thank you for your interest in the article.

If you found it useful, please do the following:

1. Share with your friends by clicking on the social media buttons.
2. Write a comment (at the bottom of the page)
3. Subscribe to blog updates (the form under the social network buttons) and receive articles in your mail.

Have a nice day!

In London, the main part of the World Championship match between current champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and contender Fabiano Caruana (USA) has come to an end. All 12 classical time control games were drawn.

Carlsen and Caruana entered the 56th match for the title of world chess champion in history as the 1st match in the main part of which not a single game ended with a score. The score according to the results of the classical part of the match was 6:6.

In the 12th game, the white pieces were held by challenger Fabiano Caruana, whose "white" games in this match are marked by the move "e2-e4" and the Sicilian Defence. In the first part of the match, Caruana played the Rossolimo Variation with White (1st, 3rd and 5th games), in the second part of the match, the Chelyabinsk Variation in the Sicilian Defense (8th, 10th and 12th games) .

However, as it happened in this confrontation, the game is not dictated by the white color.

In the 11th game, playing black, Caruana tried to lead his opponent away from theory into more unusual variations. This time Magnus Carlsen played in a new way. The first 7 moves of the 12th game repeated the 8th and 10th. With move 8, Carlsen removed his knight from the threat of the white pawn on e7 instead of b8, which was used in the previous games mentioned above. Already in the interval from the 10th to the 14th move, there was almost a threefold repetition of moves on the board, which in chess is equated to a draw. Fabiano Caruana made a couple of maneuvers with his queen across the squares a4-b4-a4-b4, and the world champion responded to every maneuver with his queen with the bishop d7-f5-d7-f5. Continuing the repetition of moves could be a difficult task for the referees of the match, since according to the rules, a draw in a game is allowed only after the 30th move. The challenger Caruana left the peaceful path, responding with a somewhat non-obvious 15.С e3?. Then the challenger continued a series of inexplicable decisions (such as 18.f3? and 21. Rh2!?), thereby causing misunderstanding on the part of fellow grandmasters watching the game.

“According to my forecast, Caruana will lose, I really don’t like what he is doing today, it seems that he does not feel the position,” said the 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik on one of the chess portals.

However, that's why Carlsen is a champion, because in the question of inexplicable decisions in the final game, he turned out to be a champion. At a time when computer analysis gave a score of "-2" against Caruana, and the challenger himself was far behind in time, the Norwegian chess player offered a draw after the 31st move.

“I have never seen Magnus offer a draw in this position before. A completely playful position with the prospect of winning," grandmaster, number 5 in the world rating Anish Giri, noted in his microblog.

“The offer of a draw came as a surprise to me,” said Fabiano Caruana at a press conference on the field of the game. I needed some time to make a decision. I checked that I didn’t have a good continuation, and agreed.”

Magnus Carlsen himself, answering the press question why he did not dare to direct the game in a winning direction, did not want to reveal his cards.

“Obviously, this kind of continuation was not part of my plans. My position was secure. Did your computer tell you not to play 25. …a5, but 25. …b5, and strongly evaluate the position in Black's favor? I don't care. A draw, like a tie-break, is a very good deal for me, ”said the world champion.

According to the rules of the match, when the outcome of the match is transferred to a tie-break, the division of the prize fund changes. If the winner had been revealed during regular time of the match, he would have received 60 percent of the one million euros in prize money, the loser would have received 40 percent. Now the proportion will be 55 percent to 45 percent.

“Money is the least of my concerns now,” said challenger Fabiano Caruana. “I didn't even know about it,” Carlsen said.

In conclusion, chess players were asked a question that has become popular today: do they think that a match consisting only of draws can harm the popularization and image of chess?

“I don't know,” said Magnus Carlsen.

“It's not my job to think about it and comment on it. We play in the format that we have. If the rules of the match are changed, then we will play within it,” said Fabiano Caruana.

At the end of the conference, the chief arbiter of the match, Stefan Escafre, held a draw, according to the results of which Magnus Carlsen will play the first game of the tie-break with the white pieces.

Rules for the tie-break match for the world crown.

Stage 1 - Rapid. 4 games of rapid chess (25 minutes + 10 seconds of addition per move) if none of the participants wins ahead of time.

Stage 2 - blitz. While maintaining an equal score, the opponents will play up to 5 series of 2 games in blitz (5 minutes + 3 seconds of addition for each move) with white and black. The winner is the player who first won a series of 2 games.

Stage 3 - Armageddon. If all 5 series end in a draw, the opponents play the "party of death" Armageddon. White is given 5 minutes, black 4. Starting from the 61st move, each player gets 3 seconds per move. The player who wins by lot gets to choose the color of the pieces. White with an extra minute to spare should win. A draw would mean White's defeat. Thus, at any outcome, the party will determine the winner of the match, who will be the world champion.

Carlsen and Caruana entered the 56th World Chess Championship match into history as the first match in the main part of which neither game ended with a score. The score following the results of the classical part of the match was 6:6.

In the twelfth game the challenger Fabiano Caruana had white pieces, whose "white" games in this match are marked by the move "e2-e4" and the Sicilian Defence. In the first part of the match, Caruana played the Rossolimo Variation with White (first, third and fifth games), in the second part of the match, the Chelyabinsk Variation in the Sicilian Defense (eighth, tenth and twelfth games).

But, as happened in this confrontation, the game is not dictated by the white color.

In the eleventh game, playing black, Caruana tried to lead his opponent away from theory into more unusual lines. This time, Magnus Carlsen played in a new way. The first seven moves of the twelfth game repeated the eighth and tenth. With the eighth move, Carlsen removed his knight from the threat of the white pawn on e7, and not on b8, which was used in the previous games mentioned above. Already in the interval from the tenth to the fourteenth move, a threefold repetition of moves almost happened on the board, which in chess is equated to a draw. Fabiano Caruana made several maneuvers with his queen across the a4-b4-a4-b4 squares, and the world champion responded to every queen maneuver with the bishop d7-f5-d7-f5. Continuing the repetition of moves could be a difficult task for the referees of the match, because according to the rules, a draw in a game is allowed only after the thirtieth move. The challenger Caruana left the peaceful path, responding with a somewhat non-obvious 15.С e3?. Then the challenger continued a series of inexplicable decisions (such as 18.f3? and 21. Rh2!?), thereby causing misunderstanding on the part of fellow grandmasters who follow the tournament.

"According to my forecast, Caruana will lose, I really don't like what he is doing today, it seems that he does not feel the position," said the 14th world champion Vladimir Kramnik on one of the chess portals.

But that's why Carlsen is a champion, because he turned out to be a champion when it comes to inexplicable decisions in the last game. At a time when computer analysis gave a score of "-2" against Caruana, and the challenger himself was significantly behind in time, the Norwegian offered a draw after the 31st move.

"I've never seen Magnus offer a draw in such a position before. A completely playable position with the prospect of winning," Grandmaster, world number five Anish Giri wrote in his microblog.

"The offer of a draw came as a surprise to me," said Fabiano Caruana at a press conference on the field of the game.

Magnus Carlsen himself, answering a journalist's question why he did not dare to direct the game in a winning direction, did not reveal his cards.

"Obviously, such a continuation was not in my plans. My position was safe. Your computer said to play not 25. …a5, but 25. …b5, and strongly assessed the position in favor of black? I don't care. A draw, like a tie- a break is quite a good deal for me," the world champion replied.

According to the rules of the match, when the outcome of the match is transferred to a tie-break, the division of the prize fund changes. If the winner had been revealed during the regular time of the match, he would have received 60% of the one million euros in prize money, the loser - 40%. Now the proportion will be 55% to 45%.

"Money is the least of my concerns right now," challenger Fabiano Caruana said. "I didn't even know about it," Carlsen assured.

Finally, chess players were asked a question that has become popular today: do they think that a match consisting only of draws can harm the popularization and image of chess?

"I don't know," was Magnus Carlsen's reply.

"It's not my job to think about it and comment on it. We play in the format that we have. If the rules of the match are changed, we will play within it," Fabiano Caruana said.

At the end of the conference, the chief arbiter of the match, Stefan Escafr, held a draw, according to which Magnus Carlsen will play the first game of the tie-break with the white pieces.

Rules for the tie-break match for the world crown.

The first stage is rapid. Four games of rapid chess (25 minutes + 10 seconds of addition for each move) if none of the participants wins ahead of time.

The second stage is blitz. While maintaining an equal score, the opponents will play up to five series of two games in blitz (5 minutes + 3 seconds of addition for each move) with white and black. The winner is the player who first won a series of two games.

The third stage is Armageddon. If all five series end in a draw, the opponents play the "death game" Armageddon. White is given five minutes, black four. Starting from move 61, each player gets three seconds per move. The player who wins by lot gets the right to choose the color of the pieces. White with an extra minute to spare must win. A draw would mean Black's victory. Thus, at any outcome, the game will reveal the winner of the match, who will become the world champion.

A lot of noise, but zero wins. Caruana and Carlsen will determine the champion in a rapid and blitz tie-break.

Twelve draws in twelve games. The match of the year between Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen will go down in history as the first where there was not a single scoring game.

Despite the unity of chess programs and grandmaster analysts in that Black had a big advantage in the 12th game, the participants in the match agreed to a draw on the 31st move, since Carlsen prefers a tie-break to reveal the world champion.

After Tuesday's holiday, Carlsen and Caruana will continue to play rapid chess (and, if necessary, blitz) in Wednesday, November 28th. In the first game of the tie-break, Carlsen will play with White.

By the way, twelve games in a draw is still nothing - in 1863, two of the strongest players in the world met at the match for the world championship in checkers, and then everything ended in a draw 40 parties (moreover, 21 parties of them completely coincided!).

Compared to this, the London match is just fire, although today the fight barely flared up, as the world champion put it out. It's like watching the first half of a Tarantino movie, where the intrigue is twisted, but it all ends with the characters putting away their weapons and sitting down to drink tea.

"At the moment I wasn't in the right mood to fight for the win," Carlsen said after the game.

The game was visited by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich.

The world's most powerful computer programs (including Stockfish, Komodo, Houdini and Leela) will fight in this position With1:00 on Tuesday November 26 Moscow time and before the start of the tie-break at the World Chess Championship.

Watch the game analysis video from MG Alexei Ermolinsky:

One journalist suggested that the participants in the match evaluated the middlegame differently. "I didn't say that the opponent's position is good, nothing like that," Carlsen clarified. "I said that the way to win, devoid of risks, was not obvious, and I did not want to take risks. I think there is not much contradiction here."

Caruana agreed with this: "Probably our scores were very similar," he said. "I don't think either of us clearly saw a way for Black to win, but we both understood that White was under pressure. That's obvious to any decent chess player."

Participants of the match with Danny King at a press conference. |Photo by Maria Emelyanova/website.

The handshake came as a relief to Caruana as he avoided the most precarious position in two weeks. Like books at the end of a shelf, his first and last shipments tipped, but between them he held his own.

"I'm relieved because I was close to losing today," Caruana said. "I was very nervous during the game. When you find yourself on the verge of defeat, or in a very dangerous position, not to lose is very good."

The peace proposal surprised even Carlsen's manager, Esper Agdestein.

From the very beginning of the match, Carlsen did not mind the tie-break..

Both opponents showed confidence on the eve of the tie-break.

"Obviously I have very good chances, but anything can happen," said Carlsen. "Until today, I thought going to the tie-break would be a good result, and I'm still happy about it."

Caruana has already said that he values ​​his chances highly, much higher than most experts.

— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru ) November 26, 2018

"Given that Caruana has shown superiority in all aspects of the match: opening preparation, transition to the middlegame, endgame, it would be strange if he loses it." — Hikaru Nakamura, November 26, 2018.

12 games showed us how well the opponents prepared for the match. Levon Aronian told the site live that he thought Caruana and his team showed the best preparation, although Carlsen also tried to improve in this regard.

"I don't know, I think it doesn't matter at all now," Carlsen said of this assessment. "So far the match has been even, so it's not interesting who was better prepared."

Caruana's response was somewhat more extended and modest: "We both had our moments. Neither of us showed dominance at any stage of the game. Everything was balanced."

Legendary chess photographer Harry Benson, who took many famous photographs of Bobby Fischer in 1972, was shooting yet another would-be world champion today.

The last game of this match turned out to be similar to the 12th game of the match in New York. Back then, Carlsen was also aiming for a draw and a tie-break. The difference is that he played white and simply changed pieces at every opportunity. This time the last game turned out to be more meaningful.

What is more disappointing: the refusal to fight or the fight interrupted at the most interesting place? This may depend on personal preference. Compare your impressions of the matches with the impressions of the end of the series "The Sopranos".

Tie-break rules

• In case of equality in the score after 12 games, a tie-break of four games in rapid chess is held for 25 minutes each with an addition of 10 seconds per move.
• If these games do not reveal the winner, two blitz games will take place (5 minutes each with an addition of 3 seconds per move). In case of equality in the score after two games, two more are played, and so on. If equality in the score remains after five series, Armageddon will take place. The player who wins the toss has the right to choose a color. White will get five minutes and Black will get 4 minutes until the 60th move. Starting from the 61st turn, opponents will be added 3 seconds per turn. With a draw in the game, Black wins the match.

The report was prepared with the participation of Peter Doggers.

Including in daily reports on. You can follow the match on and live on and Twitch.tv/Chess- to commentators MM Daniel Renshu and GM Robert Hess special guests join each day, including Hikaru Nakamura, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So, Sam Shankland and other famous chess players.

MG Alexey Ermolinsky posts his videos with a detailed analysis of the games after each round.

Current US Champion Sam Shankland analyzes each game in detail for our news reports.