Caruana leapfrogs Arjun – FIDE Circuit Update
Fabiano Caruana has officially taken the lead in FIDE Circuit going into the final two tournaments to be counted for the 2024 cycle, World Rapid & Blitz Championships!
Fabiano expressed his thoughts on the aftermath of his unusual participation in two Open Tournaments in the last 3 weeks. Fabi opened up on the episode of his podcast with Cristian Chirila, “C-Squared”, on how exhausting playing two open tournaments in a row was. Fabiano played 18 classical games across just 11 days, winning one of the tournaments, US Masters, outright while choking in his final stride and only managing to tie for the first position in the Saint Louis Masters.
Watching 2800+ Grandmasters playing open tournaments is indeed a rare sight but it didn’t end with Fabi, since Arjun Erigaisi decided to enter the Qatar Masters last moment, potentially looking to improve his FIDE circuit score. Had Arjun won the tournament solely, the India #1 would have kept his edge over Fabiano. Qatar Masters saw many talented and ambitious Grandmasters arrive at the tables in hot form, one of whom was Andrey Esipenko who just crushed through the field, winning the Open in clear first place, allowing Arjun Erigaisi only #2, followed by Nodirbek Abdusattorov in #3.
Outstripping the closest trailing player Arjun, Fabiano has almost guaranteed himself a spot in Candidates 2026, unless Arjun Erigaisi manages to conjure some sorcery in New York. Arjun’s lowest score in the 7 counted events is 14.00 (TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament). Arjun needs exactly 20.03 points in one of the World Rapid & Blitz Championships to win the circuit, provided Caruana doesn’t improve his points. Both the players are going to be contesting for the speed chess crowns this year.
Will high stakes on the line bring out the best of the India #1 or will it be an easy sail for Fabiano to Candidates 2026?
