Fabiano Caruana storms back to win US Masters
World number two Fabiano Caruana has won the US Masters with a score of 8/9, half a point ahead of Greek Grandmaster Nikolas Theodorou, who he lost to in the sixth round. Theodorou had the sole lead at that point with 6/6, but made three straight draws to finish the tournament, leaving Caruana just enough space to sneak ahead. Caruana was the clear favourite coming into the tournament, but despite his toughest opposition being 2600-level Grandmasters, it is still an impressive performance to only drop a single point and gain a few rating points.
The win earns Caruana 17 FIDE Circuit points, which puts him in very good shape to overtake current leader Arjun Erigaisi to qualify for the 2026 Candidates with one more good performance.
Standings for the US Masters are available on the Charlotte Chess Center website, and you can watch GM Cristian Chirila’s commentary on Caruana’s sudden final round win over IM Mark Heimann here.
