Wesley So and Sergey Karjakin Off to Tie-breaks

After the draw in the second game in Round 2 of World Chess Cup 2011, the match proceeds to a tie-break tomorrow. 2 Rapid games and if necessary blitz games are to be held tomorrow between GM Wesley So and GM Sergey Karjakin in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

Wesley So vs. Liren Ding Round 1 World Chess Cup 2011

Now the match stands at 1-1 after both GM Wesley So of the Philippines and GM Liren Ding of China drew both their games at the first round of World Chess Cup 2011.

I don't have yet the time to run the analysis at my own machine, so I'll just be posting the analysis by the GM's at chessdom.com. Replay the Game 2 L. Ding vs. W. So here.

We have to watch out for the tie-breaks tomorrow, including rapid games, and if necessary -- blitz games.

The World Chess Cup 2011 Tie-Break System

While Game 2 of the 1st Round in the World Chess Cup 2011 is underway in Khanty-Mansiysk, we're expecting a lot of matches tied at 1-1, including that of our favorite, GM Wesley So. You must be wondering what happens in these cases.

The rule states:

Except for the final, all rounds will have 2-game matches at the FIDE time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes to finish the game, with a 30-second increment from the first move. In case of a 1-1 tie, on the third day of the round a tie-break is played. A tie-break consists of 2 games (25 minutes + 10 seconds increment). In case of a 2-2 score, 2 more games will be played at 10 minutes + 10 seconds increment and then, if needed, 2 games of 5 minutes + 3 increment. If necessary, the tie-break will end with an Armageddon game with White getting 5 minutes and Black 4 and 3 seconds increment starting from move 61. In this game, a draw means the player behind the black pieces goes through. The final will played over 4 games at the FIDE time control and if necessary a tie-break on the day of the closing ceremony.

So, it means that, except for the final game, a maximum of 9 games can be played between the two players at each match up if they end up a draw all the way after each pair of games.