Today is the final round of the Candidates tournament. We are witnessing a great fight between Caruana and Karjakin for the first place and for the honour to become the next challenger to Magnus for the title of World Chess Champion! Only half a point behind them is the former World Champion Viswanathan Anand and if he wins, he can also 'have a say' in who the next challenger will be.
How will the tie-breaks work?
If either Karjakin or Caruana wins today, that player will win the tournament.
If Karjakin and Caruana draw, then we will need tie-breaks. The first tie-break rule is their head-to-head record, and with a draw they would have drawn both their games, so this is not decisive.
The second tie-break rule is the number of wins in the tournament, and there Karjakin wins with three games against Caruana's two won games.
Apparently, it is not that simple, because if Viswanathan Anand wins his game (against Peter Svidler), he will come into the tie-break pool as well.
So, of all three end up with the same score, the first tie-break rule, head-to-head record (Karjakin's record against both Caruana and Anand, Caruana's record against both Karjakin and Anand, and Anand's record against both Karjakin and Caruana), will give the first place to Caruana who has the best overall record against the other two.
So, there are two crucial games to follow today
Schedule
| # | Name | Pts | SB |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caruana, Fabiano | 7.5 | 47.5 |
| Karjakin, Sergey | 7.5 | 46 | |
| 3 | Anand, Viswanathan | 7 | 43.25 |
| 4 | Giri, Anish | 6.5 | 43.5 |
| Svidler, Peter | 6.5 | 41.75 | |
| Aronian, Levon | 6.5 | 40.75 | |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | 6.5 | 39 | |
| 8 | Topalov, Veselin | 4 | 27.75 |
