Last Round Shivers for Fabiano!
World #2 Fabiano Caruana went into the final round of Saint Louis Masters with a full point lead and needed just a draw with the white pieces against Alexander Donchenko (2618) to clinch the victory and invaluable FIDE Circuit points!
Nerves seemingly got the better of the American Grandmaster as he faltered and lost the full point, still winning the tournament on tiebreak. Not finishing as the sole winner cost Fabiano a few important Circuit points, now getting him a 15.6 points lead over GM Arjun Erigaisi who is currently trying his luck in Qatar.
According to an analysis by “@chess_insights” on X, this last-round loss for Fabiano Caruana opened up gates for India #1 Arjun Erigaisi who can now still catch Fabi only and only if he manages to get a clear win at the Qatar Masters. After 5 rounds in Qatar, Arjun is looking strong with 4/5 (joint #3) and has all the chances to clutch the FIDE Circuit.
The 2024 World Rapid & Blitz Championships are also going to be taken into account for the FIDE Circuit. No players can be written off as yet but the race would be pretty much in between these two horses.
