Fabiano Caruana

Fabiano Caruana, the defending U.S. champion, also won this event in 2022 and 2023. Will he be able to make it four in a row? The last player to pull off this herculean feat was Bobby Fischer back in the 1960s.

Currently the third highest-rated player in the world, Fabiano is a former World Championship Challenger (2018) and winner of the 2023 Grand Chess Tour. A top ten rated player for over a decade, much of it spent in the top five, he has been rated number two many times. A strong argument can be made that Fabiano’s excellent play and consistency made him the second strongest player in the world the past decade, trailing only Magnus Carlsen.

Caruana has won a number of super-tournaments in his career. His most recent victories include the American Cup (2022), Sinquefield Cup (2023), Superbet Chess Classic (2023 and 2024), Zagreb Rapid & Blitz (2024) and the Champions Showdown: The Kings (2025).

Fabiano has represented the United States in Chess Olympiads since 2016. He led the team to gold that year at the Baku Chess Olympiad, also earning an individual bronze medal on board one. He was also the leader of the American teams which won silver medals at the Batumi (2018) and Budapest (2024). Chess Olympiads.  With a peak FIDE rating of 2844, Caruana holds the third highest rating since the inception of professor Arpad Elo’s system in 1970.