Caruana Wins 2024 U.S. Masters, Trails Arjun In FIDE Circuit By 1 Point

GM Fabiano Caruana won the 2024 U.S. Masters with 8/9, winning all of his games except for a loss in round six against GM Nikolas Theodorou, who finished in clear second. Besides receiving $7,500 plus a trophy, Caruana also gains 17.11 FIDE Circuit points and only trails GM Arjun Erigaisi by one point on the leaderboard, which will determine one spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament.

Final Standings | Top 20

(Full standings here.)

• Caruana Vies For Candidates Spot By Playing In U.S. Open Tournaments
• 'A Complete Dog Fight, Every Single Game' Says Caruana After Difficult, Successful Run

Caruana Vies For Candidates Spot By Playing In U.S. Open Tournaments

As the 2024 FIDE World Championship between defending World Champion Ding Liren and Challenger Gukesh Dommaraju nears its halfway mark, other top players are already fighting for spots in the next Candidates Tournament, the event that in two years will determine the next challenger. It is traditionally an eight-player double round-robin, and one of those eight seats is awarded through the 2024 FIDE Circuit. 

By playing in eligible tournaments, players can accrue circuit points—and only the one top scorer qualifies. The race is essentially between Arjun and Caruana, with an outside shot for GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. For those who don't get it this time around, there will be another FIDE Circuit 2025 spot to strive for next year.

Caruana and other elite players rarely participate in open tournaments and instead, mostly play in closed round-robins with players of similar rating. There's an argument (not all agree) that consistently playing against lower-rated opposition leads to rating loss, as even draws bleed out rating. (Arjun, who rose to the world number-four spot while playing mostly in open tournaments, is the shining counter-example.)

Another challenge Caruana faced in Charlotte, North Carolina, was playing two games per day, a common schedule in U.S. open tournaments but less common in other countries. The U.S. champion explained to GM Daniel Naroditsky on the broadcast that playing in the tournament wasn't ideal but obligatory if he's to win the FIDE Circuit this year: "I have to do it, but it could also be a terrible decision... I thought this would be a challenge for sure."

I thought this would be a challenge for sure.

—Fabiano Caruana

Caruana shared that after losing "a very poor game from my side" in round six, he thought the best-case scenario was tying for first. But he was pleasantly surprised when he managed to win from an inferior position in the final round. His first words to Naroditsky in the interview were, "I'm so happy," followed by, "Sometimes you don't expect it to work out and then things just all come together. It happens every once in a while." 

Sometimes you don't expect it to work out and then things just all come together.

—Fabiano Caruana

By finishing in clear first, he gains more points than he did by finishing fourth in the 2024 FIDE Candidates. His greatest gain of circuit points so far this year came from winning his fourth title at the 2024 U.S. Championship. 

Immediately after finishing this tournament, he boards a plane for the Saint Louis Masters, another nine-round Super-Swiss tournament that starts on December 3. On that same day begins the Qatar Masters, where Arjun and Abdusattorov will be sprinting in their respective lanes of the mad dash. At the end of the month, the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships in New York City will be the final chance to boost their standings in the leaderboard.

🚨If Arjun & Fabi win Qatar & Saint Louis respectively, then Fabi will lead Arjun by 2.7 points in the #FIDECircuit 2024 race!

All scenarios 👇🏼.

The number in each cell is the lead Arjun will have over Fabi (Green = Arjun leads, Red = Fabi) pic.twitter.com/s5lBTOX4gd

— Chess Numbers India (@chess_insights) December 2, 2024

'A Complete Dog Fight, Every Single Game' Says Caruana After Difficult, Successful Run

There were 264 entries in total, including 47 grandmasters, in the tournament that took place at the Westin Charlotte. Every game had a time control of 90 minutes plus a 30-second increment, with no more time added. Though Caruana played against opponents with an average rating of 2478, he said that every game—maybe with the exceptions of rounds three and four—was a struggle.

Contrary to what some may expect, "I didn't coast in any game," he stressed, and besides those two rounds, "everything else was just a complete dog fight, every single game." Despite losing once, he still pulled off a modest rating gain.

He started with five wins in a row, looking on course to pull off a "Caruana." His win against GM John Burke was one of the best fights, where he achieved an advantage, and then a winning position, but didn't play the only winning move, 34...Bxc2!, trading his queen for two rooks and ultimately crashing through on the kingside.

Even still, Caruana showed that as long as heavy pieces remain on the board, in this case, the queens, opposite-colored bishop endgames, still have plenty of venom. Burke resigned two moves after playing the mistake 65.Qc5?. 

The world number-two's rampage ended in round six, where Theodorou, who was the only other player tied on 5/5, pulled off the upset of a lifetime—with the black pieces. 28...Rg4! wasn't winning in itself, but the rook lift prompted an immediate and losing mistake. After 29.f3?, Theodorou made no mistakes and eventually crashed through on the g-file.

Theodorou thus led the tournament with 6/6, but he made three draws in his last three games. Caruana, on the other hand, did what he had to do: win three more games.

The last round was the most dramatic, as IM Mark Heimann reached a pawn-up position where Caruana, after 33...Qa8, said he had already resigned himself to a draw. Instead of the response 34.Qf3, however, Heimann played for the win, and it backfired. The game move wasn't in itself a mistake, but continuing the game gave Caruana the chance he needed. The notes below include lines discussed by Caruana and Naroditsky on the broadcast.

Despite this loss, Heimann still earns his first grandmaster norm with 6.5/9. Theodorou wins $3,500 in second. There was a three-way tie for places third-fifth between GM Grigoriy Oparin, GM Illya Nyzhnyk, and IM Gulrukhbegim Tokhirjonova. The former two make $1,700 each, while Tokhirjonova takes home $3,300 for winning the first U2500 prize and women's first prize.

[Edited on December 3, 2024:] The Charlotte Chess Center has confirmed the following norms earned:

• IM Isik Can (TUR) - GM Norm
• IM Mark Heimann (USA) - GM Norm
• IM Evan Park (USA) - GM Norm
• IM Tianqi Wang (USA) - GM Norm
• FM Avi Kaplan (USA) - IM Norm
• Gunnar Andersen (USA) - IM Norm

There were side events at the Westin Charlotte. Varun Gadi (rated 2015) won the 2024 North Carolina Open championship section, earning $1,200 along with a plaque. There was also a blitz tournament, where Caruana, newly minted GM-elect Brewington Hardaway, and Naroditsky each earned $353.33, tying in first with 5.5/6.  

The 2024 US Masters was an official US Chess National Championship and FIDE Circuit event organized by the Charlotte Chess Center, Chess.com's official partner. The nine-round Swiss took place from November 27 to December 1 at the Westin Charlotte in North Carolina, with a time control of 90 minutes for the entire game plus a 30-second increment. The total prize fund was $28,000, with $7,000 going to first place