Homestretch at 2016 Candidates!

An epic finale’ is brewing in Moscow at the 2016 Candidates Tournament. Both Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana are gripped in a tense tie for 1st place and are scheduled to meet in the last round of the tournament. At this point Karjakin has the better tiebreak based on his number of wins, so Caruana will have to win one of the last two encounters.

One day this will be a classic photo.

Caruana has sprinted toward the finish line after underwhelming the first seven rounds with draws. After his key win over compatriot Hikaru Nakamura, he pulled ahead in the field after beating Viswanathan Anand. Karjakin lost brutally to Anand, but rebounded with a win over the hapless Veselin Topalov.

This sets up a very tense showdown where Caruana will face both Russians evoking memories of Bobby Fischer against the Soviets. All the parallels are there: New York, Brooklyn, child prodigy, Russian opposition. Of course, Caruana is a rather mild-mannered personality with tough nerves and a universal style. Equally, Karjakin is a tough competitor who will come without any expense spared to make him successful. He has had an unimpressive second half, but will be more than prepared. Levon Aronian will be a tough prequel to his finale with Caruana.

The possibilities of a Carlsen-Karjakin match vs. Carlsen-Caruana contrast sharply. As mentioned by commentators, Karjakin has been around the elite level for many years, but despite his various sponsorships, has not established an identifiable media brand. He is not particularly visible and his fan base may not be equal to the other top players. However, he is eminently-qualified to compete and the match will be competitive. Whether Madison Avenue will make an investment is another matter.

GM Sergey Karjakin

For Carlsen-Caruana, there would be immediate attention given that it will be in New York, a place Caruana called home for most of his childhood. There are all the connections to Brooklyn-bred Fischer and Caruana’s Italian ancestry will certainly give marketing agencies a lot to work with. In addition, he has much in common with Carlsen with both being telegenic bachelors, epitomizing a mano-mano, gladiator battle. Finally, Caruana has a decent score against Carlsen which would make for great anticipation.

Caruana with his second GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Photos by Amrita Mokal (ChessBase India).

So what will be the outcome of the Candidates? We are all hoping for an ending free of drama and controversy, but there were many critics of the tie-breaking format. Instead of playing a playoff, the winner will be determined by tiebreaks… unless all the tiebreaks still produce a tie. In that case, rapid games are played. There can actually be a five-way tie for first!! One thing that is certain is that chess fans are in for an exciting finale’ and an even more exciting championship in November. Carlsen is certainly watching.

2016 World Championship Candidates March 11th-27th, 2016 (Moscow, Russia)
Round #13
#	Name	Flag	Rating	Result	Name	Flag	Rating
13.1	Caruana		2794	*-*	Svidler		2757
13.2	Aronian		2786	*-*	Karjakin		2760
13.3	Topalov		2780	*-*	Nakamura		2790
13.4	Anand		2762	*-*	Giri		2793
Round #14
#	Name	Flag	Rating	Result	Name	Flag	Rating
14.1	Svidler		2757	*-*	Anand		2762
14.2	Giri		2793	*-*	Topalov		2780
14.3	Nakamura		2790	*-*	Aronian		2786
14.4	Karjakin		2760	*-*	Caruana		2794
Games (PGN)