GMFabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana was born in Miami in 1992 and grew up in Brooklyn. He discovered chess through an after-school program and trained with Bruce Pandolfini and Miron Sher. At twelve, he moved to Europe with his parents to pursue the game more seriously. The family first settled in Spain, where he worked with Boris Zlotnik. A later move to Budapest allowed him to train with Alexander Chernin. He became a grandmaster at fourteen and won four Italian championships. He trained with Vladimir Chuchelov.

The 2014 Sinquefield Cup became a landmark performance: Caruana began with seven consecutive victories against elite opposition. He finished with 8½ points from ten games, three points clear of Magnus Carlsen. In 2015, he returned to representing the United States. The following year brought his first U.S. championship and an Olympiad team gold medal. Winning the 2018 Candidates Tournament earned him a world-title match against Carlsen in London. All twelve classical games were drawn before Caruana lost the rapid tiebreak. He remained a regular title contender and won the 2020 Tata Steel Masters. He added three consecutive U.S. championships from 2022 through 2024. Alongside tournament play, he has discussed elite chess and current events as a co-host of the C-Squared podcast.