The World chess championship match between the defending champion Ding Liren of China and the challenger D. Gukesh from Chennai, to be held in Singapore from November 23, will have a new tie-breaker rule.
According to the regulations of the match released by the world chess governing body FIDE on Monday, the tie-breakers will see a gradual decrease in time control. The rapid play-off will begin with a set of four games of 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment per move.
The last World championship, in which Ding defeated Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi, the tie-breakers had four games of 25 minutes plus 10-second increment and if the tie hadn’t broken, the blitz play-off had to be employed. Blitz chess wasn’t required, as Ding won the fourth rapid game after the previous three were drawn.
In Singapore, a two-game rapid play-off of 10 minutes (plus five-second increment) will be played if required after the first set. And if the tie is still not broken, the blitz play-offs will be employed.
The 14 classical games will have a time control of two hours for the first 40 moves and then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment from the 41st move onwards. The player who scores 7.5 points will win the championship, without having to undergo the pressure of playing the tie-breakers.
The match carries a prize-fund of $2.5 million. Each player will get $200,000 for every game they win, with the remaining amount to be split equally. If the match goes to the tie-break, the champions will get $1,300,000 and the runner-up $1,200,000.
