Fabiano Caruana, the Italian-American wunderkind who famously took chess GOAT Magnus Carlsen to super-secret-quadruple blitz overtime before finally bowing to Carlsen in the 2016 FIDE World Chess Championship is poised to win his fourth consecutive United States Championship at the St. Louis Chess Club. With only two matches to play, Caruana has a 1/2 point lead over three-time U.S. Champion Wesley So. So won consecutive championships in 2020 and 2021, edging out Caruana in a 3-way playoff that also involved Sam Sevian. Caruana also won the U.S. title in 2016.
The last person to win three consecutive U.S. Chess Championships was Walter Brown, whose streak ended in 1977. Should Caruana prevail, he will tie Bobby Fischer for second-most consecutive wins in the event. Samuel Reshevsky won five consecutive U.S. Chess Championships between from 1936-42 and eight overall, tied with Fischer for most overall. Fischer won four in a row twice: once from 1957-58 to 1960-61 and again from 1962-63 to 1966-67. U.S. grandmaster Larry Evans ended both streaks of Fischer’s.
According to ChessBase writers, “Fabiano Caruana moved into sole first place after overcoming Sam Shankland in a tense endgame. Adopting the Taimanov Sicilian, the four-time US champion made his intentions clear from the outset, signalling that he was ready for a fight. The game developed dynamically, with Shankland equalising comfortably out of the opening and even maintaining a slight edge for some time. Gradually, however, Caruana gained the upper hand, steering the game into an ending where he could press without risk. The decisive moment came on move 39. In an equal position, with fifteen minutes still on his clock, Shankland chose the wrong square for his bishop, overlooking a tactical nuance that turned the evaluation instantly.”
That was Caruana’s third consecutive win with the black pieces. He has been using the Sicilian attack with ruthless effectiveness and his brillient calculations unleashing sharp attacks that give him winning endgames. Earlier in the tournament, Fabi defeated fellow grandmasters Hans Neimann, Grigoryi Oparin, and Dariusz Swiercz.
Round ten will see Caruana face Abhimanyu Mishra, with the white pieces, while So takes black against Dariusz Swiercz. Both Mishra and Swiercz are tied in last place with two other players at 3.5 points out of a possible 9.0. In round 11 Caruana will play black against Levon Aronian, currently in third place in the tournament with 5.5 points out of a possible 9. So will close regulation play with an 11th round match against Oparin.
As of 2023, twelve players are invited to compete: the reigning US champion, as well as the respective winners of the US Open Chess Championship and the US Junior Championship. The remaining players are chosen by highest invitational rating, in addition to one organizer wildcard.
Caruana is the third highest chess player in the world right now, behind number 1 Magnus Carlsen and number 2 Hikaru Nakamura.
