The Tata Steel chess tournament recently ended in the tiny coastal village of Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. I finished in 2nd place with a score of 8 points out of 13 games, behind current World Champion Magnus Carlsen.

I started strong with wins in the first and third rounds and a draw against Carlsen in the second, and for a long time the tournament seemed to be going my way. Towards the end of the event Carlsen started to pull away with a series of strong victories, but going into the last round I was a mere half point behind him, and a win would most likely have given me a share of first place. Unfortunately, a risky opening strategy backfired on me and I lost any hope of tournament victory.

The tournament was long, difficult, physically and mentally demanding; perfect preparation for the upcoming (March) Candidates event, which will decide who will challenge Carlsen for the World Champion title this year. I was pleased to have won a number of attractive games and to have performed better than my Candidates rivals.

For the next month I will rest, prepare and accumulate energy for the Candidates, a 8-player double round-robin event, to be held in Moscow. The winner will qualify to take on Magnus Carlsen in a World Championship match later in the year.

Fabiano is Liberty Science Center’s Visiting Grandmaster in Residence. He is also the ambassador for our new Chess Works! program.

chess,  Fabiano Caruana