Articles

Caruana, the new Bobby Fischer?

mida
| 9 | Chess Players

Italy and United States have their new chess prodigy. Fabiano Caruana, a young player with dual citizenships, won the First Saturday-GM group in Budapest, Hungary, with 7 points out of 9 and scored his third and last GM norm. Caruana is 14 years, 11 months and 15 days old: he is the youngest Italian and American GM ever (Bobby Fischer and Hikary Nakamura were both 15 years old when they obtained the title) and the 12th youngest GM of all times. In the current Fide list Fabiano is also the top-rated U16 player of the world and the #1 Italian player with his 2549 rating.
Caruana was born in Miami, Florida, on July 30, 1992. He learnt playing chess when he was 5 years old and he lived in Brooklyn (NY): Bruce Pandolfini was his first chess trainer. In June of 2002 - in Argentina - Caruana won the Pan-American Youth Championships (Boys under 10), earning the Fide Master title. In September of 2002, he became the youngest American (and Italian) to defeat an International Grandmaster - Aleksander Wojtkiewicz - in an official tournament, surpassing the record set by Hikaru Nakamura. In 2003 - in Columbia - he again won the Pan-American Youth Championships (Boys Under 12). In April of 2006 he was awarded the International Master title, and in November of that same year he became sub-champion of Italy (after losing a blitz tie-break against GM Michele Godena). In March and April of 2007, in Budapest, he earned his first two GM norms with performances of 2634 and 2670. He currently lives in Budapest with his family, where he studies chess with GM Alexander Chernin, but they will probably move to Castel San Pietro Terme, a very nice place near Bologna, in a few months. In a recent interview, when asked about his chess style, Fabiano answered: «I shouldn't give a definition in words. I quote Anatoly Karpov: "Style? I've got no style"».
Let's see one of his most recent brilliant wins. I would define his style "combinative", at least...

More from mida
Chess polygamy (with 5 Queens)

Chess polygamy (with 5 Queens)

A chess legend called Kasparov

A chess legend called Kasparov