When your past calls, don’t answer. It has nothing new to say. – Anonymous
American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana won the elite World Championship Candidates Chess Tournament in Berlin on Tuesday by an impressive full point. He outplayed Russia’s Alexander Grischuk in the final game and therefore has qualified to face World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen for the title. Caruana will play Norway’s Carlsen in a 12-game title match in November, in London. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov from Azerbaijan placed second and Grischuk was third.
The Candidates Tournament was full of speculation and excitement. The signature competition featured the finest in-form chess players in the world. Eight contenders began the 2018 competition, and only one could qualify as the challenger for Carlsen; hence the ferociousness of the competition.
Big names were mathematically eliminated at the halfway mark of the competition. I was rooting for Armenia’s Levon Aronian to win, based on his 2017 performances and the fact that he participated in two previous tournaments. He was suppressed early and failed to recover. He finished last with a series of draws and a few losses.