CHENNAI: Fabiano Caruana warmed up for the Candidates with an emphatic victory at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee. It was his maiden triumph in the tournament dubbed as the Wimbledon of Chess. The American outdistanced his nearest rival Magnus Carlsen by two points. Viswanathan Anand had an average outing, taking the joint sixth spot with Anish Giri, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Alireza Firouzja.
“Winning the tournament and finishing ahead of Carlsen was satisfying,” said Caruana after his triumph. “Winning a lost position against Anand in the eighth round was the turning point in the tournament.”
Former world champion Garry Kasparov tweeted: “Fantastic result by American Fabiano Caruana, clear first with a round to spare in a field including the World champion.”
Caruana’s victory was reminiscent of his triumph at the 2014 Sinquefield Cup in St Louis, where he racked up a sensational 7/7 start in one of the strongest-ever round-robin tournaments. Caruana (10/13) stayed unbeaten and won with a + 7 score (seven wins, six draws).
The other highlight of his scintillating show was his whopping performance rating of 2945 and his rating gain of 20 points. The world’s second-highest ranked player reduced the gap between him and the top-ranked Carlsen to 19 points.
Caruana is the player Carlsen respects the most among the current lot. Their last 19 classical games have ended in draws, validating the fact that Caruana has been the champion’s biggest rival in the last two years. Caruana’s biggest strengths are opening preparation, ability to calculate accurately in complicated positions and steely nerves in crunch situations.
Another facet of his game, which helps him win super tournaments, is his striking power with black pieces. He won the Candidates and Grenke Chess Classic in 2018 by posting victories with black against Alexander Grischuk and Nikita Vitiugov in the last round.
Anand (6.5), who is a five-time winner in Wijk aan Zee, ended with a 50 per cent score after a draw against Duda in the 13th round. His two wins came against Jeffrey Xiong and Firouzja. The tournament could have finished better for the Indian, but for his loss in a superior position to the eventual winner of the event.
World champion Carlsen (8), who had won 10 tournaments in 2019, started with seven straight draws. The Norwegian came back into the reckoning for the top spot with a hat-trick of victories. However, he could manage only three draws in his last three outings, and settled for second spot. Fischer Random world champion Wesley So took the third place securing 7.5 points.