Karjakin beats Caruana in Round 12 to share the lead in Candidates Tournament 2018

The previous winner of the Candidates tournament, Sergey Karjakin, may have been at the bottom of the standings by the end of Round 6 when he scored just 2 points out of 6 games, or a -2 win/loss record, but he came out strong after that, winning 4 of the next six games, including his Round 12 win against the then leader Fabiano Caruana.

In another match, Ding Liren finally broke his drawing streak with a win over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

Replay the Round 12 games below:[replay]

After this win, Karjakin joins Caruana in the lead:

Round 12 Standings:
1st Karjakin, Caruana 7pts;
3rd Mamedyarov, Ding Liren, Grischuk 6.5pts;
6th Kramnik 5.5pts;
7th Wesley So 5pts;
8th Aronian 4pts

Candidates 2018 Final Ranking

RkSNoNameFEDRtgPtsTB1TB2TB3
14Caruana FabianoUSA278490557
27Mamedyarov ShakhriyarAZE280981.5354.75
32Karjakin SergeyRUS276380.5454.75
46Ding LirenCHN27697.50152.5
51Kramnik VladimirRUS28006.51341.5
68Grischuk AlexanderRUS27676.51244
75So WesleyUSA279960140.5
83Aronian LevonARM27944.50133

It’s indeed a come from behind for Karjakin. The question is, can he maintain the momentum up until the end? Two more rounds to go.

Replay: Candidates Tournament 2018 (All Games)

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