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The Classical World Championship Should Be Decided by Classical Chess

Chess tournament photo

The 2018 World Championship produced a strange result. Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana played 12 classical games and drew all 12. Carlsen then won the rapid playoff 3-0 and retained the classical title.

The rapid games were convincing. They proved that Carlsen was much better that day at rapid chess. They did not prove that he had won the classical match.

I like rapid chess. It demands intuition, calculation, practical judgment, and control of the clock. But it is a different discipline. The most important classical title should be decided by classical chess.

The thought returned to me during the 2025 U.S. Championship. In round seven, Fabiano Caruana accepted real risk with Black against co-leader Hans Niemann and won. Caruana had already won the national title four times, which may have made the downside of one loss easier to accept. That part is only my interpretation. The game itself showed the larger point: when a player has a reason to take risks, even elite preparation does not make decisive chess impossible.

How the current system became normal

The modern story begins with the 2006 reunification match. Vladimir Kramnik held the classical lineage, while Veselin Topalov was the FIDE World Champion. Their 12 classical games finished 6-6, and Kramnik won the four-game rapid playoff 2.5-1.5. Given the split title and the need to produce one recognized champion, the compromise was understandable.

There was one unusual step after that. The 2007 championship was a double round-robin tournament in Mexico City, won by Viswanathan Anand. Anand then beat Kramnik 6.5-4.5 in their 2008 match and Topalov 6.5-5.5 in 2010. From that point onward, the title was again operating through one unified match cycle.

The playoff rule remained. Anand beat Boris Gelfand in rapid games after their 2012 classical match finished 6-6. Carlsen won the title from Anand 6.5-3.5 in 2013 and defended it against him 6.5-4.5 in 2014, both without playoffs. Carlsen then beat Sergey Karjakin in 2016, winning the rapid playoff 3-1 after a 6-6 classical match. Then came the 12 draws and the 3-0 rapid result against Caruana in 2018.

FIDE expanded the classical match from 12 games to 14 for 2021, which was a good change. Carlsen beat Ian Nepomniachtchi 7.5-3.5 without a playoff. The 2023 match between Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren was completely different: six decisive classical games, a 7-7 score, and then Ding won the fourth rapid game to take the playoff 2.5-1.5. In 2024, Gukesh defeated Ding 7.5-6.5 when the defending champion blundered in game 14. No playoff was needed.

So this is not an argument that every modern match becomes 14 draws. The evidence does not support that. The problem is structural. When a classical match is tied, the identity of the classical champion is determined by another form of chess.

Preparation has changed the risk calculation

Top-level preparation has become deeper and more accessible. That does not mean Black can solve every opening in one minute, and it certainly does not make elite defense automatic. But strong teams and modern engines allow players to test risky lines much more thoroughly than before. Black can often reach a defensible position without making many independent decisions.

This changes incentives. If both players believe they are strong favorites in rapid, or if one player believes survival is enough to reach a better format, the classical match can become a waiting game. The system then depends on somebody voluntarily accepting more risk.

Karjakin demonstrated how close a disciplined defensive strategy could come in 2016. He won game eight, Carlsen equalized only in game ten, and the classical match ended level. Caruana held all 12 classical games in 2018. That was not cowardly chess. Defending accurately against Carlsen for an entire match is an achievement. But the format gave neither challenger a requirement to establish classical superiority before the faster contest began.

The 2021 match moved in the opposite direction. Carlsen kept pressing, won the record-length sixth game, and the match opened up. The 2023 and 2024 matches were also full of decisive classical games. Those matches show that fighting chess is still possible. They do not remove the weakness in the rule.

My preferred format

I would use a 15-game classical match. The challenger would receive one extra White and would need to win the match outright. An 8-7 score wins the title. A 7.5-7.5 tie means the champion retains it.

This is not a new principle. In important periods of World Championship history, a tied match allowed the reigning champion to keep the title. Botvinnik retained against Bronstein in 1951 and Smyslov in 1954 after 12-12 matches. Kasparov retained against Karpov after their 12-12 match in 1987. Kramnik retained against Leko after 7-7 in 2004.

The extra White compensates the challenger for needing to win. More importantly, the roles are clear. The champion has already earned the title. The challenger must demonstrate superiority in the discipline whose title is being contested.

The obvious objection is that the champion might play only for draws. That risk is real, and I would not pretend the format guarantees beautiful chess. No format does. But playing 15 classical games with the sole intention of neutralizing everything is not as safe as it sounds. A player who repeatedly gives up the initiative also gives the opponent many chances to press. The challenger, knowing a tied score is insufficient, must prepare winning ideas rather than plan for a different time control.

Why I reject a preliminary rapid match

One proposal is to play rapid chess before the match and use that result to decide who receives draw odds in the classical portion. It is clever, but it keeps the same basic problem. Rapid performance would still change the conditions of the classical title.

I prefer a rule that can be explained without mixing disciplines: the champion defends; the challenger gets the extra White; the challenger must win.

Some people will consider draw odds too favorable to the champion. Others will prefer more games, sets, or a playoff of additional classical games. Those are reasonable debates. My main line is simpler. If the scheduled classical games do not produce a winner, do not switch clocks and call the faster winner the classical champion.

Rapid chess should crown a rapid champion. Blitz should crown a blitz champion. The classical World Championship should be decided by classical chess.

Sources and further reading

Vasif Durarbayli

Vasif Durarbayli is a highly accomplished Azerbaijani chess Grandmaster. He was born on February 24, 1992, in Sumgait, Azerbaijan, and began playing chess at the age of six. Durarbayli quickly showed a talent for the game, winning several national and international chess competitions as a young player. He holds the record for being the youngest player ever to represent the Azerbaijani Olympic chess team, achieving this feat at just 14 years old. To this day, his record has yet to be broken or renewed. He also won the World Youth Chess Championship U14 and the European Youth Chess Championship U18. He was awarded the title of International Master in 2007 at the age of 15 and became a Grandmaster in 2010, at the age of 18. Throughout his career, Durarbayli has competed in and won numerous prestigious chess tournaments, including the Azerbaijani Chess Championship twice (in 2021 and 2023). He was also ranked among the top 16 players in the World Cup in 2021. Durarbayli has represented Azerbaijan in several Chess Olympiads. Currently, he resides in St. Louis, MO.