Theodorou Upsets Caruana, Leads US Masters: Day Four Recap!
In a major upset with potential FIDE Candidates circuit ramifications, GM Nikolas Theodorou (2612 FIDE) took down super-GM Fabiano Caruana with the black pieces, putting himself in sole possession of first place entering the last day of play at the US Masters. Hosted by the Charlotte Chess Center, the US Masters is the strongest open event in the United States, with this year's edition welcoming 264 players including 47 Grandmasters. The final two rounds, with a $28,000 prize fund at stake, are taking place today at the Westin Charlotte hotel.
GMs Caruana and Theodorou were the only two players on a perfect score heading into Saturday's games, facing off on board one in the morning round. Although Theodorou was certainly an underdog, he has shown in the past that he's more than capable of taking down the world's best, having defeated GM Arjun Erigaisi (currently world number four!) at Sharjah Masters earlier this year! Against Fabi on Saturday, Theodorou maintained a comfortable position with the black pieces for many moves until the game became sharp around move 34. After some complications, he emerged up material with an a winning attack against Caruana's king, forcing resignation after 49...Qc1+.
This temporarily put Theodorou a full point ahead of the field, although the gap has now shrunk to half a point with his draw in round seven against GM Grigory Oparin (and Caruana's win against GM Andy Woodward to stay in contention). Caruana is now in clear second on 6/7, while Oparin is one of nine players on 5.5/7 entering the final day. Incredibly, four of those players are IMs: Isik Can, Mark Heimann, Samrug Narayanan, and Evan Park, each one upsetting a GM yesterday.
Park, with a listed FIDE rating of 2375, has now beaten four Grandmasters in this tournament, including this win over GM Elshan Moradiabadi:
The remaining players on 5.5/7 are GMs Oparin, Alexander Donchenko, Ilya Nyzhnyk, Viktor Matviishen, and Daniel Fernandez. Yesterday saw the latter winning against the tournament's second highest-rated participant, GM Awonder Liang:
Current standings of the US Masters tournament can be viewed here. In addition to the players covered above, many very notable figures in the chess world are participating in this tournament, including US Women's Champion IM Carissa Yip and streamers such as FM James Canty and WGM Dina Belenkaya.
After the conclusion of yesterday's evening round, the Charlotte Chess Center also hosted a six-round blitz tournament, free to all participants in the US Masters as well as the concurrent North Carolina Open. Our three blitz champions from last night, each tying for first with 5.5/6, were GM Fabiano Caruana, GM Daniel Naroditsky, and GM-elect Brewington Hardaway, who drew Caruana in the final round.
Follow the last two rounds of the US Masters live right here on chess.com! Each round is broadcasted live on Twitch, embedded on chess.com, with commentary from GM Kayden Troff in the morning rounds and GM Daniel Naroditsky in the evenings.
Thank you all so much for reading, thanks again to Kelly Centrelli for the photographs in this recap, and we'll check back in with you tomorrow with the final results from the US Masters.
-------------------------------------------------------------
For upcoming tournaments, bookmark our Events Schedule. The CCC hosts nearly 8 events a week at our facilities in North and South Charlotte, along with bi-monthly major events!
Not a member of the CCC? Join over 1000 members today!
NM Dennis Norman
Chess Coach - Club Journalist
