Fabiano Caruana: Rating History and Career

The career, turn by turn

1. 1997 · age 5

   Polgar Chess Center^[1]

   Played first tournament

   First competitive chess tournament at age five

2. 2004 · age 12

   Relocation to Europe^[1]

   Moved to Madrid

   Relocated to pursue a professional chess career

3. 2005 · age 13

   Federation transfer^[1]

   Moved from US to Italy

   Played for Italy for ten years

4. Jul 2007 · age 14

   First Saturday GM tournament, Budapest^[1]

   Final GM norm

   Youngest grandmaster in history of Italy and the US at the time

5. Dec 2007 · age 15

   Italian Chess Championship^[1]

   Won first Italian Championship

   National champion in the same year he became a grandmaster

6. Jan 2008 · age 15

   Corus Group C in Wijk aan Zee^[1]

   Won with 10/13

   Clear leader throughout, qualified for Group B

7. Feb 2009 · age 16

   Corus Group B in Wijk aan Zee^[1]

   Clear first

   The first player to win Corus C and Corus B in consecutive years

8. Jul 2010 · age 17

   Biel Young Grandmaster Section^[1]

   Won after playoff

   Defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in playoff

9. Jan 2012 · age 19

   Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee^[1]

   Shared second place

   Tied with Magnus Carlsen and Teimour Radjabov behind Aronian

10. Feb 2013 · age 20

    Zurich Chess Challenge^[1]

    Won with 4/6

    Major super-tournament victory

11. Aug 2014 · age 22

    Sinquefield Cup^[1]

    Won with a 3098 performance

    The highest performance in history at the elite level

12. May 2015 · age 22

    Federation transfer^[1]

    Moved back to the US

    Transferred national affiliation back to the United States

13. Mar 2018 · age 25

    Candidates Tournament in Berlin^[1]

    Won

    First American challenger since Fischer in 1972

14. Nov 2018 · age 26

    World Championship match v Carlsen^[1]

    Drew all twelve classical games

    Lost in rapid tiebreaks after drawing all classical games

15. Jan 2020 · age 27

    Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee^[1]

    Won with 10/13

    Category 20 victory with a round to spare, two points ahead of Carlsen

16. May 2023 · age 30

    Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest^[1]

    Won with 5½/9

    Clear first in classical Grand Chess Tour event

17. Jun 2024 · age 31

    Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest^[1]

    Defended title

    Second consecutive Superbet title

18. Feb 2026 · age 33

    FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship^[1]

    Runner-up to Carlsen

    Finalist in the inaugural Freestyle World Championship

19. Oct 2026 · age 34

    2026 U.S. Chess Championship^[1]

    Claimed 5th US title with 8/11

    Tied Bobby Fischer for most consecutive US championships in history

Coaches and trainers

6 people are named in published sources as a coach, trainer, second or mentor, in order. Players rarely list everyone who helped them, so this is what's on the record, not a complete count.

1. Bruce Pandolfini^[1]First chess coach · Age 6 to 8
2. Miron Sher^[1]Coach in New York · Age 8 to 12
3. Boris Zlotnik^[1]Trainer in Madrid · 2004–2007
4. Alexander Chernin^[1]Trainer in Budapest · 2007–2010
5. Vladimir Chuchelov^[1]Trainer in Lugano · 2010–2014
6. Rustam Kasimdzhanov^[1]Long-time coach and second · 2014–2021

Records, as they stood

• Third-highest peak rating in history, 2844 (as of Nov 2026)^[1]

Where the career stands

• 2026Five-time US Chess Champion^[1]
• 2026Played every Candidates since: 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2026^[1]
• 2026Runner-up to Carlsen at the 2026 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship^[1]

Checked on 2026-11-03. Ratings and rankings change every month.

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