30 Fantastic Facts About Fabiano Caruana You Probably Didn’t Know Before

Fabiano Caruana, one of the most highly talented chess players in the world, became a grandmaster at the age of 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days—the youngest grandmaster in the history of both Italy and the United States at the time. He has earned the nickname “The Machine,” and has been hailed by Magnus Carlsen as a player who has an edge in calculations and opening preparation over most of his contemporaries. He played for the United States until 2005, when he transferred his national federation affiliation to Italy. He won the Candidates Tournament 2018, becoming the first American challenger for the undisputed World Chess Championship since Bobby Fischer in 1972. Here are some interesting facts about the chess player that will blow your mind:

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1.  In the 2021 FIDE World Rapid Championship, he ended up as one of the joint leaders with 9.5/13 points, but ultimately scored 4th place after tiebreaks.
2.  He obtained his final GM norm and at age 14 years, 11 months, and 20 days, became the youngest grandmaster of both the United States and Italy, surpassing the US record set by Hikaru Nakamura.
3.  Caruana won the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis, Missouri, one of the strongest tournaments ever held, with 8½ points out of 10 games.
4.  With seven consecutive wins from the start, 3 draws and 0 losses, he ultimately achieved a performance rating of over 3100, possibly the best tournament result in history.
5.  On April 25, 2016 he became the US Chess Champion for the first time, after defeating IM Akshat Chandra in the last round of the US Chess Championship, as he finished the tournament with 8.5 points out of 11 games, and went undefeated.
6.  Fabiano Luigi Caruana was born on July 30, 1992 to Italian parents Lou and Santina Caruana in Miami, Florida. He is a dual citizen of Italy and the United States.
7.  His family relocated to Park Slope, Brooklyn, New York City, when he was four years old. It was there that his chess talent was discovered.
8.  At the age of five, in an after-school chess program at Congregation Beth Elohim, a reform Jewish congregation in Park Slope, his interest for chess started to develop.
9.  He played his very first tournament at the Polgar Chess Center in Queens, New York City, at the young age of just 5.
10.  He lived and played in the United States, until the age of twelve, occasionally traveling to Europe and South America to participate in tournaments.

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11.  National Master (NM) Bruce Pandolfini was his first chess coach, who taught him from the age of six to eight. He studied under GM Miron Sher from the age of eight to twelve.
12.  When he was twelve years old, his family relocated to Madrid, Spain, in order for Fabiano to pursue a professional chess career, playing for Italy from 2005 to 2015.
13.  There, in Madrid, he trained with International Master Boris Zlotnik, before moving to Budapest in 2007 to train with GM Alexander Chemin.
14.  In the year 2010, he moved to Lugano, Switzerland, where he started to train with grandmaster Vladimir Chuchelov. Four years later, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri.
15.  Caruana won the "First Saturday" GM tournament in Budapest with seven points out of nine games in July 2007.
16.  In November and December 2007, he participated in the Italian Championship, and won with a score of +8 (9½/11) to become the youngest ever Italian champion.
17.  He played first board for Italy at the Mitropa Cup, which is a four-board team competition amongst 10 "middle" European nations in June 2008. He scored +6 (7½/9) winning the first board prize with performance of 2810.
18.  In February 2009, having won Corus C 2008, he received and accepted invitation to Corus B 2009 which was of category 16 with average Elo of 2641.
19.  He won the Young Grandmaster Section of Biel 2010 after a playoff with the others two leaders Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, in July 2010.
20.  He also won the Italian Championship for the third time with a score of 9 points out of 11 games, in December 2010.

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21.  At the 74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament A in Wijk aan Zee in January 2012, he finished on place second together with Magnus Carlsen and Teimour Radjabov, behind the winner Levon Aronian.
22.  In the Grand Slam Chess Final in São Paulo and Bilbao in October 2012, Caruana won 4 games, drew 5 and lost 1, tying for 1st with Magnus Carlsen, but eventually lost both blitz tiebreak games and thus ending 2nd.
23.  In April at Shamkir Chess 2014, a six-player double round-robin tournament held in Shamkir, Azerbaijan, in memory of Vugar Gashimov, he finished second with 5½ points out of 10 games, behind the winner Magnus Carlsen.
24.  He was at the 2015 Grenke Chess Classic in Baden-Baden, an eight-player round-robin. He shared third and fourth positions, with four points out seven games, behind the winner Magnus Carlsen, in February 2015.
25.  In May 2015, he won along with Hikaru Nakamura and Dmitry Jakovenko the FIDE Grand Prix Khanty-Mansiysk 2015, a 12-player round-robin, with 6½ points out of 11 games.
26.  At the 2016 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, he shared second with Ding Liren with a score of 8 points out of 13 (+5-2=6), losing to David Navara and Evgeny Tomashevsky.
27.  If he had defeated Tomashevsky, he would have at least tied for 1st place with Magnus Carlsen. Still, he gained 7 rating points, and moved to #3 in the world.
28.  In March 2018, he won the Candidates Tournament 2018 with a score of 9/14, thus winning the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2018.
29.  During the Championship held from November 9 to 28, all 12 classical time control games were drawn. Carlsen then won the rapid tiebreak games 3–0.
30.  Caruana was runner-up in the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2021, which qualified him for the Candidates Tournament 2022.
31.  Fabiano Caruana Net Worth: $13 Million