Fabiano Caruana: Very good sign when a player can actually win events, not just keep a high rating

Fabiano Caruana arrived in Mumbai just a few weeks after winning the United States Chess Championship. In a tournament that featured some of the world’s top players, such as Wesley So and Levon Aronian, he came a clear first. A couple of months before that, he had won the Grand Chess Tour. Still, the World No. 3 isn’t exactly pleased with his year.

Caruana is also the third-highest-rated player in history, behind Magnus Carlsen and Garry Kasparov. He had challenged Carlsen for the World title in 2018 but lost out in the tie-breaks. He is now eyeing another crack at the World Championship: he will be playing the Candidates in March-April in Cyprus. Before that gruelling event, where he has been a regular since 2016, he played in the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League for the first time. 

And he led Alpine SG Pipers to the title at Mumbai’s iconic Royal Opera House, with a commanding win in the final over Triveni Continental Kings, the champion in both previous editions. Excerpts from an exclusive interview Caruana gave The Hindu on a cool December morning, by the poolside of Trident Hotel, just a stone’s throw away from the Arabian Sea:  

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Your thoughts on your maiden Global Chess League?

It was nice. I wanted to play previous years, but there were always some scheduling issues. So I was excited when I got contacted for this year’s league. And actually, I didn’t really expect it, because I knew all the teams had their players, but one spot opened up for this team. We have two of the best players in the world [Anish Giri and R. Praggnanandhaa], along with many-time World champion for women [Hou Yifan] and one of the best junior players in the world [Leon Mendonca]. And Nino [Batsiashvili] is also a great player. I think the GCL is a very interesting tournament. It is nice to have so many strong players [14 of the world’s top 15] in one place. It took a while to get used to the time control [increment of two seconds after the 40th move].

How do you look back at your wins at the Grand Chess Tour and the US national championship, which you won for the fourth year in a row?

Those two were my major successes this year. Besides that, it wasn’t a great year, but of course that does brighten it quite a bit. The US championship is always very strong for a national tournament, similar to what the Soviet Union championship used to be. This year, it was very close.  

Your compatriot Hikaru Nakamura says he has already started preparing for the Candidates. What about you?

Yeah, well, definitely thought has already gone into preparation for the tournament. The concrete preparation hasn’t really started yet, but it will start pretty soon.  

How close do you think it is going to be in Cyprus? You must be an expert on the Candidates, having played in every edition since 2016.  

Every time it is close. The only question is how close. I think the only exception was in 2022, when Ian [Nepomniachtchi] was clearly first, but that was also a strange year because the runner-up [Ding Liren] ended up qualifying as well.

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I was speaking to So a few days ago, and he picked you as the favourite. Who do you think could be your toughest rivals?

Anyone potentially. By rating, it is clear: it is Hikaru and Praggnanandhaa. And Anish, as well, is up there because he recently also gained a lot of rating. There are other players who can also be dangerous.  

Somebody like Wei Yi, or Javokhir Sindarov…

Wei is such a strong player, though it is his first time in the Candidates. He is a very capable player, for sure. 

Talking of the Candidates, are you happy with the way the players are selected? 

aI think the only change I would really make is to change the qualification for the spot given to the highest-rated player. Let’s say you have to play opponents that have an average rating of 2600 Elo rating, for example. But Hikaru has deserved his spot, for sure.  

Now Candidates slots are also going to be filled from the newly announced Total Chess World Championship…

I generally don’t like the name of that tournament. We already have the total World Championship, you know, the classical World Championship. That is the ultimate goal for a player. Then you have this new world championship and then the confusion.

A few years ago, you had made an interesting study of the young Indian players. Was Gukesh moving ahead of the pack and winning the World title a surprise for you?  

Well, when I did this in 2022, Gukesh was still very young, clearly going to be very strong, but I think he was a little bit less known compared to Arjun [Erigiasi] or Praggnanandhaa. I said Arjun would be the first to cross the 2800 rating, and it ended up being correct, but Gukesh has been the most successful, at least currently, of the bunch. It was hard to predict, and we didn’t predict, of course, that he would be World champion.  

Gukesh and Pragg have been the most accomplished. But Arjun is also very accomplished and has had the highest rating. In terms of his chess, I think what impresses most people is that it feels like he is kind of a very natural player. While Gukesh is a very prepared player, very focused, very professional. His mentality is his strongest suit. Pragg is also very focused, very prepared. He works very hard, which is very good. It is going to take him far along with his talent. And this year, he’s won a lot of tournaments. When a player can win tournaments, not just keep a high rating, but actually win — that is always a very good sign for them.

You are hugely popular here. Are you getting recognised in India more than back home?

Probably yes, I mean even at the airport I was getting recognised a few times. It happens in the US, but usually more in the major cities, like New York for example. Here you can see the interest in chess from the public.

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Your earliest memories of chess?

I have some very early childhood memories from when I was five, playing my first tournament. I grew up in New York, where there was a vibrant chess scene then. That was where the main hub for chess in the US was and now it has changed a lot. It’s gone to St. Louis. You know I also have some fond memories from my teenage years when we moved to Europe and I started to travel to get better and chase my norms

Which other sports do you follow?

Tennis.  

Any favourite players?

Currently Alcaraz. Of course, I have liked the big guys of the past — Djokovic, Nadal and Federer. All three of them have been great, and it is hard to choose. And Agassi as well. His book ‘Open’ got me interested in tennis in the first place. I have always enjoyed watching Agassi.