Caruana Prospers In Sao Paulo

Fabiano Caruana scored his third win in four games at the Chess Final Masters in Sao Paulo to extend his lead in the tournament.

Lev Aronian is in second place after drawing with Magnus Carlsen, but the battle between the world's #1 and #2 featured remarkable mutual blunders by the players.  Carlsen's 27.Bf4?? should have lost on the spot, but Aronian missed his opportunity and the game was drawn.

Sergey Karjakin was unable to break down Vishy Anand's defence and their game was also drawn.

The players have just one more game to play in Sao Paulo before they take a break and reconvene for the second half of the tournament in Bilbao on 7 October.

The standings after 4 rounds (3-1-0 scoring)

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Fabiano Caruana has an impressive lead

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Lev Aronian and Magnus Carlsen both blundered!

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The Chess Masters Final is a 6-player double round-robin event which is being held half in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and half in Bilbao, Spain. The Sao Paulo leg takes place from 23-29 September and the Bilbao leg is from 7-13 October.

The tournament uses the "Sofia" anti-draw rules, meaning that players can only draw by mutual agreement with the permission of the arbiter. The "Bilbao" scoring system (3-1-0) is also in operation.

Games via TWIC. Photos from the official website.

The full schedule:

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