Fabiano Caruana: the man who nearly beat Carlsen

In the world of modern chess, few names command as much respect among professionals as Fabiano Caruana. With a peak ELO of 2844 — the second highest in history, surpassed only by Magnus Carlsen — he is the best Western player since Bobby Fischer, a master of opening preparation, and one of the most precise calculators on the planet.

Who is Caruana

He was born on 30 July 1992 in Miami, but grew up in Italy, where his family emigrated when he was a child. There he learned to play and developed his early career, representing the Italian federation until 2015. The first Italian grandmaster in decades, he would also be the one to return to the United States to fight for the world title.

Caruana’s childhood was marked by a family environment deeply committed to chess: his father Joe Caruana organized his training from a very young age, and the family reorganized their lives around the boy’s development. It was a huge bet. It worked.

The most technical player of his generation

There are two types of super-grandmasters: those who win through intuition and creativity (Tal, Kasparov, Carlsen in a certain sense) and those who win through rigor and preparation. Caruana clearly belongs to the second category.

What distinguishes his play:

• Unmatched opening preparation: he arrives at the game with extremely deep analysis, often with 25-30 moves memorized in key lines. His opponents know it and often deviate before entering “Caruana territory.”
• First-rate tactical calculation: in complicated positions, his ability to calculate long, precise variations is among the best in the world.
• Universal solidity: unlike some pure attackers, Caruana can handle all types of positions — attacks, defenses, endgames — with the same efficiency.

2014: the most brilliant year

In the summer of 2014, Caruana had one of the best individual tournament performances in chess history. At the Sinquefield Cup (St. Louis, Missouri), he won the first seven games in a row against a field that included Carlsen, Aronian, Nakamura, and other super-grandmasters. He finished the tournament with a performance rating over 3100, something no player had ever achieved in a tournament of that level.

That performance took him to his maximum ELO of 2844, making him the world number 2 and the second player in history to break that barrier (the first was Carlsen with 2882).

The match of the century: 2018

In November 2018, Caruana challenged Magnus Carlsen for the World Championship in London. What followed was the most even match in modern history: 12 classical games, 12 draws. It was the first time in the championship’s history that this had happened.

Caruana had winning positions in at least two or three games — computer analysts confirm it — but couldn’t convert them. Carlsen, a master of long endgames and practical play, chose to hold rather than take risks. When the rapid tiebreak arrived, Carlsen dominated clearly: 3-0. The title stayed in Norway.

For Caruana it was a painful defeat. For the chess world, it was confirmation that a real rival for Carlsen existed: someone capable of drawing twelve classical games with the best player in the world.

His chess DNA

In our chess DNA system, Caruana represents the preparation and precision calculation profile: refined technique, tactical depth, solidity in all types of positions. If your GM twin is Caruana, your strength lies in preparation and clean calculation in complicated positions; your biggest challenge may be converting advantages under limited time or extreme psychological pressure.

Keep exploring

• Magnus Carlsen, his great rival
• Hikaru Nakamura, the other elite American
• Bobby Fischer, the American reference who preceded him
• Gukesh Dommaraju, the current world champion
• All players