After two draws to begin the rapid chess tie break, Carlsen won the remaining two games to win the match and retain his title.

[2] The Candidates Tournament to determine the challenger was held on 11–30 March 2016 in Moscow, Russia, with FIDE's commercial partner Agon as the official organizer,[18][19] with support from the Russian Chess Federation.

[20] The tournament was an 8-player double round-robin, with five different qualification paths possible:[19] the loser of the World Chess Championship 2014 match, the top two finishers in the Chess World Cup 2015, the top two finishers in the FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15, next two highest rated players (average FIDE rating on the 12 monthly lists from January to December 2015, with at least 30 games played) who played in Chess World Cup 2015 or FIDE Grand Prix 2014–15, and one player nominated by Agon (the organizers).

[22] Caruana played for a win in the final round, but overpressed, and at the critical moment, Karjakin calculated correctly and won the game and tournament.

[23] In retrospect, Karjakin's draw with black in his other game against Caruana, which Chessbase called a "brilliant defensive effort",[24] was critical.

The Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin was held from 10 to 30 November 2016 in New York City, United States, under the auspices of FIDE.

Their most recent encounter was at the July 2016 Bilbao Chess Masters double round-robin tournament, where Carlsen won one game while the other was drawn.

[30] The match was held under the auspices of FIDE, the world chess federation, with the organisation rights belonging to Agon, its commercial partner.

[34] The time control was set at:[1] Magnus Carlsen's team for the match consisted of Peter Heine Nielsen (main coach), Jon Ludvig Hammer (regular sparring-partner), Espen Agdestein (manager).

Additional support was from the analytic team which included Laurent Fressinet, Nils Grandelius, Jan Gustafsson, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

[36] Sergey Karjakin's team for the match included Vladimir Potkin, Alexander Motylev, Yury Dokhoian, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, and some undisclosed Russian grandmasters.

Agon's CEO Ilya Merenzon attended, and the two major sponsors (EG Capital Advisors and PhosAgro) had representatives, with both players and the chief arbiter rounding out the principals.

[41] Carlsen's opening choice was recalled multiple times in interviews and the post-game press conference, in part due to its uncommon reputation, but also because its name resonated with Donald Trump and the recent United States presidential election three days prior.

Karjakin exchanged central pawns on move 18 (see diagram), and Carlsen said afterwards that Black was too solid in the center for White to regroup his Nc3 to g3.

)[47] Karjakin accepted slightly weakened pawns, and in contrast to the previous games decided to aim for counterplay with 29...Ra8 then 30...Ra2 rather than sit passively.

[48] Karjakin instead immediately grabbed White's f-pawn (70...Kxf5), which would lose against perfect play, but Carlsen granted him another drawing chance two moves later with 72.Rb7.

An ensuing liquidation saw Karjakin's passed h-pawn strong enough to compel Carlsen to acquiesce to a draw after almost seven hours of play.

[50] At the postgame conference, Carlsen said that he never saw a clear win, that it was "a little bit disappointing" not to have converted, and responded "absolutely" when asked if he was afraid to find out from the computer how much he had missed.

Both players repeated the classical Ruy Lopez opening from Game 2, but this time White went with the main line 6.Re1.

[52] The game developed into a sharp middlegame when Karjakin played 18.Bxh6, but Carlsen navigated the complications better, gaining a small advantage.

In this topsy-turvy game, Karjakin equalized easily out of the opening (a Giuoco Piano) and seized the initiative in a complicated middlegame.

The resulting position was objectively equal but double-edged in practice, with connected outside passed pawns but an exposed king for Karjakin.

[60] After the game Carlsen was visibly uncomfortable and left the press conference before it began, potentially incurring a fine of 5% of his prize money to the organizers Agon, and a further 5% to FIDE.

Carlsen chose a variation which has given White "free pressure" (Svidler)[67] in the past, but Karjakin failed to make the most of his theoretical edge.

[68] Agon Director Ilya Merenzon said during the press conference that fans holding tickets for round 12 would get into the tiebreak for free.

While materially equal in value, the open nature of the position gave the bishops great scope, and Carlsen had all the winning chances.

Carlsen failed to find the winning approach to the end game, and in spite of his time situation, Karjakin managed to set up a wrong rook pawn position where his king could not be dislodged from h8/h7/g8.

Judit Polgár called Karjakin's defensive skills, finding the required moves with only seconds on the clock, "unbelievable".

On move 38, with less than 20 seconds left and in a slightly worse position, Karjakin blundered with 38.Rxc7?, allowing the winning 38...Ra1, which skewered the white queen and bishop.

Carlsen remained the top player in the world, 17 points ahead of Fabiano Caruana, while Karjakin rose to sixth.