Tie-break

At the same time, everyone perfectly remembers the statement made by Kramnik’s manager Karsten Hensel two days ago. It declared the official position of the classic world champion regarding the technical defeat counted by him in the fifth game. In a letter, Hensel recalled that Vladimir Kramnik continues the match in protest mode, that is, he believes that his opponent scored a point less than the official score of the match says.

Most experts assumed that in the final game, playing with white, Kramnik would not take too much risk. And so it happened. The price of any seemingly most insignificant mistake turned out to be too high for both grandmasters.

Now there is a tie-break that chess lovers expect with mixed feelings. On the one hand, the sight is extremely exciting. On the other hand, there is something lottery in it, as in football penalty shootouts. Be that as it may, the meeting will continue in this format, and therefore the “Gazeta” once again resembles a tie-break schedule: first four games will be played in “quick chess” 25 minutes each, with automatic addition after each move 10 seconds, then ( in the case of the score 2: 2) two blitz games and finally, if the balance in the score is not upset, - the decisive duel “until the sudden death”. In it, the winner of the draw will be able to choose the color of the pieces, deciding that it is better to win “by order” with white, having six minutes at his disposal, or make a draw with black, having only five.

If, after all additional games, the status quo continues, the fate of the champion crown will be decided by the chief referee of the meeting - Hert Geisen. The fact is that, according to FIDE rules, an arbiter is obliged to intervene in the blitz game if one of the rivals maliciously plays for a while in an obviously drawless position.