Fabiano Caruana Clinches Tata Steel [NEWSFLASH]

Fabiano Caruana, Photo Alina L' Ami

Congratulations to Fabiano Caruana, who clinched the Tata Steel Masters with a round to spare, by defeating Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the penultimate round and scoring 9/12, already a full point and a half ahead of Magnus Carlsen at 7.5.

[pgn] [Event "Tata Steel Masters"] [Date "2020.01.25"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E06"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2758"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "Poland"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "POL"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qa4 c6 8. Qxc4 b5 9. Qb3 Bb7 10. Rd1 Nbd7 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. Bf4 Qc7 14. Nc3 Nc5 15. Qc2 b4 16. Nb1 Ba6 17. Bf3 Rac8 18. a3 Rb8 19. axb4 Rxb4 20. Be3 Qb7 21. Nd2 Rxb2 22. Qc3 Rb5 23. Ra3 Qb8 24. Rda1 Bb7 25. Rxa7 Nd7 26. Nc4 Rd8 27. Be4 c5 28. Qc2 h6 29. Bd2 Nf8 30. Bd3 Rd7 31. Nd6 Rb6 32. Qxc5 Bd5 33. Rxd7 Nxd7 34. Qc8+ Nf8 35. Qxb8 Rxb8 36. f4 Bd8 37. Kf2 Nd7 38. Be3 g5 39. Bd4 Rb4 40. Ke3 gxf4+ 41. gxf4 Kf8 42. Bb5 Nf6 43. exf6 Rxd4 44. Rc1 Bxf6 45. Rc7 Bh8 46. Rc8+ Ke7 47. Rxh8 Rb4 48. Nc8+ Kf6 49. Bd3 Be4 1-0 [/pgn]

The #2 ranked player in the World (now by a wide margin over Ding Liren) put on a sizzling performance to finish ahead of World Champion Magnus Carlsen, as Magnus anointed Fabi as the deserving winner prior to round 12.

Here's the victory by Fabiano that started his tear.

[pgn] [Event "Tata Steel Masters"] [Date "2020.01.19"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D38"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2758"] [PlyCount "121"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "India"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] [BlackTeamCountry "IND"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 O-O 7. e3 Bf5 8. Qb3 Nc6 9. Bg5 a5 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. a3 a4 12. Qxd5 Bxc3+ 13. bxc3 Na5 14. Qe5 Qc6 15. c4 Nb3 16. Qxf5 Nxa1 17. Bd3 g6 18. Qf4 Nb3 19. O-O Qd6 20. Qh6 Qf6 21. c5 b6 22. cxb6 cxb6 23. Ne5 Rfc8 24. f4 Rc1 25. Rxc1 Nxc1 26. Bc4 Ra7 27. Ng4 Qd6 28. Qg5 Qe7 29. Qb5 Kg7 30. f5 f6 31. Qd5 Qf8 32. fxg6 hxg6 33. e4 Qc8 34. h3 Rd7 35. Qe6 Qd8 36. e5 f5 37. Qf6+ Qxf6 38. exf6+ Kh7 39. Ne5 Rd6 40. f7 Kg7 41. Nf3 Nb3 42. Ng5 Nd2 43. Be6 Rd8 44. Kf2 Kf6 45. Bd7 Ne4+ 46. Nxe4+ fxe4 47. Be8 Ke7 48. Ke3 Rb8 49. Bxa4 b5 50. Bb3 Ra8 51. Kxe4 Rxa3 52. Be6 Ra1 53. d5 Rd1 54. Ke5 Rf1 55. d6+ Kf8 56. Kd5 Rf6 57. d7 Ke7 58. Kc6 Rf2 59. Kxb5 Rb2+ 60. Kc6 Rb8 61. Kc7 1-0 [/pgn]

Since that victory, Fabi defeated the sensational Alireza Firouzja, as well as Vladislav Kovalev.

[pgn] [Event "Tata Steel Masters"] [Date "2020.01.22"] [White "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Black "Firouzja, Alireza"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E71"] [WhiteElo "2822"] [BlackElo "2723"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "United States"] [BlackTeam "FID"] [WhiteTeamCountry "USA"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 7. d5 Ne5 8. f4 Ned7 9. g4 c6 10. Nf3 cxd5 11. cxd5 b6 12. Nd4 Nc5 13. Qf3 Bb7 14. g5 Nfxe4 15. Nxe4 Bxd5 16. Nf6+ exf6 17. Qxd5 Re8 18. Nc2 fxg5 19. O-O-O gxf4 20. Bd4 Bxd4 21. Qxd4 Ne6 22. Qd2 Qf6 23. Kb1 Rac8 24. Bb5 Red8 25. Nb4 d5 26. Rhf1 Rc5 27. a4 d4 28. Nd3 Rf5 29. Rf3 g5 30. Rg1 Kf8 31. h4 h6 32. hxg5 hxg5 33. Rh3 f3 34. Bc4 Ke7 35. Bxe6 Kxe6 36. Qh2 f2 37. Rf1 Kd7 38. Rh6 Qe7 39. Rxf2 Rxf2 40. Qxf2 Kc8 41. a5 bxa5 42. Qc2+ Kb8 43. Nc5 Rd6 44. Rh8+ Rd8 45. Qb3+ Kc7 46. Qb7+ Kd6 47. Rh6+ f6 48. Ne4+ 1-0[/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "Tata Steel Masters"] [Date "2020.01.24"] [White "Kovalev, Vladislav"] [Black "Caruana, Fabiano"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C78"] [WhiteElo "2660"] [BlackElo "2822"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Belarus"] [BlackTeam "United States"] [WhiteTeamCountry "BLR"] [BlackTeamCountry "USA"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8 9. d4 Bb6 10. axb5 axb5 11. Na3 O-O 12. Nxb5 Bg4 13. Re1 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Nh5 15. f4 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 exf4 17. Kh1 Ne7 18. Bc2 Ng6 19. b4 c6 20. Na3 c5 21. bxc5 dxc5 22. Nc4 cxd4 23. Nxb6 Rxb6 24. cxd4 Rd6 25. Ra4 Ne5 26. f3 Nc6 27. e5 Rxd4 28. Rxd4 Nxd4 29. Be4 Qh4 30. Rg1 Rd8 31. Qf1 g6 32. Rg4 Qe7 33. Rxf4 Qxe5 34. Rh4 Ne6 35. Rh3 Nf4 36. Rg3 Rd2 0-1 [/pgn]

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