Fabiano Caruana wins U.S. Masters with 8 out of 9

by Johannes Fischer
12/3/2024 – Fabiano Caruana was the clear rating favourite at the U.S. Masters, an open tournament that was played in Charlotte from 28 November to 1 December. Caruana and other top players rarely play open tournaments, but the U.S. Masters promised FIDE Circuit points, and thus winning the tournament might help Caruana to qualify for the Candidates 2026. Caruana started the tournament with five wins, then lost to GM Nikolas Theodorou but after scoring 3.0/3 in the last rounds he still finished clear first with 8.0/9, gaining 17.11 FIDE Circuit points. | Photos: Charlotte Chess Center
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Playing in open tournaments can easily be difficult for top players, but with 5.0/5 Caruana had a concinving start in Charlotte. However, in round 6 the world's number 2 stumbled against GM Nikolas Theodorou.

Fabiano Caruana

Caruana, Fabiano28050–1Theodorou, Nikolas2612
US Masters 2024
Charlotte30.11.2024[Schulz,A]
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.a3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Qc2 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Bd6 8.g3 0-0 9.Bg2 Qe7 9...Re8 10.d3 Bf5 11.Nd2 Qd7 12.Rb1 Rab8 13.Qa4 Bh3 14.0-0 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 a6= 0-1 (37) Caruana,F (2796)-Firouzja,A (2744) Chess. com INT 2024 10.d3 Bg4 10...h6 11.0-0 Na5 12.c4 c5 13.Nd2 f5 14.Nb1 Nc6 15.Nc3 Rb8 16.Rb1 Nd4 17.Qd1 1-0 (44) Carlsen,M (2830)-Keymer,V (2726) Warsaw 2024 11.h3 Bd7 12.0-0 b6
13.e4 f6 To bring Black's queen to h5. 14.d4 Qf7 15.Be3 Kh8 16.a4 Rad8 17.Rfe1 Na5 18.Nd2 Qh5 19.g4 19.Kh2= 19...Qf7 20.Qa2?! White's kingside is weak and he would welcome an exchange of queens. But Black can easily avoid that. 20.Rf1!?= to play f4 was a viable alternative. 20...Be6 21.d5 Bd7 22.Nc4 Nxc4 23.Qxc4 h5 24.Qe2 g6 25.gxh5 gxh5 26.Kh1 Rg8 27.Rg1 Qh7 28.Raf1
28...Rg4! The hidden idea of 27...Qh7. 29.f3? 29.hxg4?? hxg4+ and White is mated. Better was 29.Kh2 and now the engines propose Rdg8 29...Rg7 30.hxg4 hxg4+ 31.Kg3 f5 32.exf5 32.Rh1? f4+ 33.Bxf4 exf4# 32...e4+ 33.Bf4 Bxf4+ 34.Kxf4 Qh6+ 35.Kxe4 Re8+ 36.Kd3 Bxf5+ 37.Be4 Rxe4 38.Qxe4 Qf4 39.f3 g3 40.Kd4 Qd2+ 41.Ke5 Bxe4 42.fxe4 g2 43.Rf3 Qg5+ 44.Kd4 Qd2+ After 29.-- Rxe4 White should be able to hold, e.g. 30.Bxe4 Qxe4+ 31.f3 Qh4 32.Qg2 Qxh3+ 33.Qxh3 Bxh3 34.Rf2= 29...Rg3 30.h4 Rdg8 31.Kh2 Bc5 31...Qe7!? with the idea ...f5 was also strong. 32.Bxc5 bxc5 33.Qf2 Qg6
White has hardly any moves. 34.a5 f5?? An oversight. Probably both players were in time-trouble. 34...Qh6-+ with the idea ...Qf4 leads to a win. 35.exf5?? White returns the compliment. After 35.Bh3 Rxg1 36.Rxg1 Qf6 37.Rxg8+ Kxg8 38.Qg3+ Kh7 39.f4 White is clearly better. 35...Qxf5 Now Black is back in charge - and threatens ...Rh3+. 36.Qxg3 Rxg3 37.Kxg3 Qf4+ 38.Kf2 Qd2+ 39.Kg3 Qf4+ 40.Kf2 Qxh4+ 41.Ke3 Qf4+ 42.Kf2 Qd2+ 43.Kg3 h4+ 44.Kh2 Qf4+ 45.Kh1 h3 46.Rb1 Bf5 47.Rb8+ Kh7 48.Rf8 hxg2+ 49.Rxg2 Qc1+ 0–1

With this win Theodorou took the lead, but then drew his games in rounds 7 to 9, while Caruana won all three remaining games and took the tournament by a whole point ahead of Grigoriy Oparin.

Final standings

# Name Rating Fed Pts Prize
1 GM Fabiano Caruana 2805 (2857) USA 8.0 $7500.00/trophy - 1st Place
2 GM Nikolas Theodorou 2612 (2694) GRE 7.5 $3500.00 - 2nd Place
3 GM Grigoriy Oparin 2653 (2730) USA 7.0 $1700.00 - 3rd Tie
4 GM Illia Nyzhnyk 2576 (2637) UKR 7.0 $1700.00 - 3rd Tie
5 IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova 2385 (2459) USA 7.0 $3300.00 - 3rd Tie / U2500 1st / Womens 1st
6 GM Awonder Liang 2687 (2755) USA 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie
7 GM Alexander Donchenko 2617 (2617) GER 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie
8 GM Abhimanyu Mishra 2616 (2714) USA 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie
9 GM Olexandr Bortnyk 2603 (2677) UKR 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie
10 GM Lázaro Bruzón 2578 (2658) USA 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie
11 GM John Michael Burke 2573 (2661) USA 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie
12 GM Bharathakoti Harsha 2531 (2638) IND 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie
13 GM Guha Mitrabha 2511 (2511) IND 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie
14 GM Gleb Dudin 2510 (2636) HUN 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie
15 IM Isik Can 2508 (2508) TUR 6.5 $314.29 - 5th Tie GM NORM

...264 players

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In the FIDE Circuit leaderboard Caruana is now just behind Arjun Erigaisi.

Source: FIDE

The player with the most points in 2024 will qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament, and this is a race between Caruana and Erigaisi, although Nodirbek Abdusattorov still has a slight chance.

After the U.S. Masters Caruana travelled to Saint Louis to collect more circuit points in the Saint Louis Masters, which starts on 3 December. Meanwhile, Erigaisi and Abdusattorov will try to pick up points at the Qatar Masters, which also starts on 3 December.

The last chance to gain the necessary points to win the Circuit will come at the end of the year at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships in New York.

Tournament page

Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
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