Caruana Doubles Up In 3 0 Thursday

GM Fabiano Caruana followed up on his Titled Tuesday victory this week by becoming the first-ever winner of two 3 0 Thursday tournaments on the same day. He won the first tournament on tiebreaks over GM Matthias Bluebaum. He kept up his form by winning the second tournament of the day as well, this time with a dominant 10 points from 11 rounds, 1.5 points clear of Bluebaum in second place again. Caruana contended in the third tournament of the day, but lost to the eventual winner, IM Reza Mahdavi, and had to settle for sixth place.

1st Tournament: Caruana Victorious

Caruana started well in the first tournament of the day, winning his first seven rounds. That included a sixth-round win with the black pieces over his fellow Candidate, Bluebaum.

After a draw against GM Denis Lazavik, Caruana had Black against another Candidate, GM Hikaru Nakamura. 

GM Haik Martirosyan defeated Caruana in the 10th round, ensuring that the finish would come down to the final round. Caruana took care of business, defeating GM Parham Maghsoodloo. Bluebaum defeated Martirosyan to keep pace and tie for first, while Lazavik won to reach nine points and take third place. The women’s prize went to WIM Kalyani Sirin with seven points, her third consecutive week with a prize. 

2nd Tournament: Caruana Repeats

After a narrow victory on tiebreaks in the first tournament, Caruana left little doubt in the second tournament. He overcame a fifth-round loss to IM Renato Terry to win every game the rest of the way. In the seventh round he defeated GM Rasmus Svane in a variation that the two of them had debated before.

In round nine Caruana defeated Bluebaum again, once again knocking him down to second place.

Svane took third place on tiebreaks behind Bluebaum, both of them scoring 8.5 points. WIM Melika Mohammadi won the women’s prize for the second time with 6.5 points. 

3rd Tournament: Mahdavi Defeats Caruana, Wins Tournament

Caruana tried for a hat trick by competing in the third tournament of the day, but he couldn’t score a perfect 3/3. In the third round Mahdavi defeated him in a wild back-and-forth struggle, winning with just two tenths of a second left on his clock. 

Caruana stayed in contention for the next few rounds, reaching 6/7 before losing to GM Alexey Sarana. Sarana kept the lead until the final round, where a draw would likely have brought him first place. However, Mahdavi entered a better rook endgame and won another time scramble.

Behind Mahdavi’s 9 points, GM Oleksandr Bortnyk took second with 8.5 points, ahead of Terry on tiebreaks. FM Rose Atwell took the women’s prize for the third time, with six points.