GM Fabiano Caruana not only captured his third U.S. national title with a dominating performance earlier this month at the St. Louis Chess Club, the worlds No. 2 player also had a message for a generation of rising American stars aiming for his crown.

Not yet.

The 31-year-old Caruana, whose previous titles came in 2016 and 2022, not only won going away over the strong 12-grandmaster field, but his 8-3 undefeated result including victories over some of the younger players in the field looking to take him down, including 14-year-old GM Abhimanyu Mishra (who finished in a very credible tie for second in his first U.S. title tourney) and early 20-something GMs Andrew Tang, Jeffery Xiong and Hans Moke Niemann.

Niemann, the center of a global chess cheating controversy last year that is just now starting to subside, gave the new champ a run for his money in the early rounds, but his hopes were dealt a fatal blow when matched with the leader in Round 9. Caruana is now 3-0 against the brash, 20-year-old California GM, winning all three games with Black.

Niemann does fine from the White side of this now-popular Vienna Game line, but the need to take chances given the tournament score winds up costing him in the end. After 21. f4!? (21. Re3 f4 22. Rc3 may be more flexible; White underestimates the power of Blacks kingside initiative once the center is closed) Qe7 22. a3 c5 23. Rac1 c4 24. Qd1 Kh8 25. Bb5 (Kh2!? Rg8 26. Re2 g5 27. Rf2 would have made the play more double-edged) g5!?, and Black goes on the attack.

The pressure leads to a material win on 28. Rc3 (c5 Rg3 29. Be2 Qh4 30. Bf3 Rag8 [Qxh3 31. Re2 Qh4 32. Rf2 Rag8 33. Kf1 stalls the Black attack and gives White fresh hope] 31. Kf1 Bd7!, and the bishop enters the game powerfully from the other wing) dxc4 29. Bxc4 Bxc4 30. Rxc4 Qxa3 31. Rc2, and Whites last hope is that his now-liberated central pawns can do some damage.

After 31 f3!? (the materialistic computers like the straightforward 31 Qxh3, in lines such as 32. Rf2 Rxg2+! 33. Rxg2 f3 34. Rg5 Qh4! 35. Qd2 f4, and if 36. Rf5, then Black has 35. Rg8+ 37. Kf1 Qh1+ 38. Kf2 Qg2 mate) 32. e6? (Caruana said afterward that 32. Qa1 may have been Whites last chance, though on 32 Qxa1 33. Rxa1 b5 34. d4 b4 35. d6 b3 36. Rb2 a4 37. e6 Kg7! 38. g3 Kf6 39. e7 Ke6 40. Re1+ Kd7, the White pawns are frozen, while Blacks are ready to roll) fxg2 33. Qe2 Qxh3 34. Qe5+ Rg7, also losing would have been 35. e7 (Qh2 Qxh2+ 36. Kxh2 g1=Q+ 37. Rxg1 Rxg1 38. Kxg1 Kg7, and Black should win the ending) Qh1+ 36. Kf2 g1=Q+ 37. Rxg1 Qxg1+ 38. Ke2 Qg2+ 39. Kd1 Qg4+ 40. Kd2 Qg5+ 41. Kd3 Qxe7 and wins.

Its over on 43. Qd5 (d5 Rf5 44. Qb8+ Kh7 45. d6 Rd5 46. e7 Qe6+ 47. Kxf3 Rf5 mate) Re8, and Niemann conceded facing lines like 44. e7+ Kh8 45. Qxf3 Rge7+ 46. Kd3 Qxf3+ 47. Rxf3 Rg8 48. Rh3 Rg5, and Black is just three pawns to the good.

We also slighted GM Wesley So in last weeks column, dropping him from the list of three players along with GMs Abhimanyu Mishra and Leinier Dominguez Perez who finished second to Caruana in St. Louis. So and Dominguez Perez matched the winner in going undefeated in the 11-round event.

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Its a measure of how things can change: The just-completed 76th Russian national championship tournament, once the gold standard for these things worldwide, was a far more low-wattage affair compared to the U.S. event, with not a single player in St. Petersburg topping the 2700 ratings mark and many familiar names Nepomniachtchi, Grischuk, Svidler declining to participate.

Top-seeded GM Vladislav Artemiev overpowered the field, winning by 2 full points at 8-2. Among his wins was a quick knockout of GM Ivan Rozum in a Caro-Kann Advance, an object lesson in how even a strong master can play himself in a miserable position with just a couple of misguided early moves.

Black gets himself in trouble the classic way grabbing a pawn at the expense of development: 8. Nge2 Be7?! (Ne7 9. Ng3 Bg6 10. Bg5 Nb6 would have been easier for Black to play) 9. Be3 Bxh4?! 10. Nf4 Bg4 11. Be2!, a slightly unexpected retreat, but Artemiev is happy to trade off Blacks one truly active piece. After 11 Bxe2 12. Qxe2, recalling the bishop for defense is bad because after 12 Be7?! 13. Rxh5 Rxh5 14. Qxh5 Nf8 15. 0-0-0 Nh6 16. g4, and White has all the play.

But White just keeps pushing ahead after the games 12 g6 13. g4 hxg4 14. Ne4! wasting no time stopping to recover the pawn; already threats like 15. Nd6+ Ke7 16. 0-0-0 g5 17. Rxh4! gxh4 18. Nxe6! fxe6 19. Qxg4 Qf8 20. Bg5+ Ngf6 21. exf6+ Nxf6 22. d5! Kxd6 23. Qxxe6+ Kc7 24. d6+ Kb8 25. d7 hover in the air.

Black has been barely holding things together with chewing gum and baling wire, and the modest 16. 0-0-0!, getting the king to safety and bringing a rook into play, is enough to push him over the edge.

Thus: 16 Nxe3 17. fxe3 f5 (yet another desperate defensive move that only undermines Blacks positional foundation) 18. Nd6+ Kf8 19. Nf4 (threatening the brutal twins 20. Nxg6+ and 20. Nxe6+) Kg8 20. Qc4 Nf8 (see diagram; having been there many times, Im guessing poor Rozum by now was just looking for a dignified way to get out of the playing hall) 21. Nxg6! (Artemiev obliges; even now, the stronger 21 Rh6 only prolongs the agony after 22. Nxh4 Rxh4 23. Qb3 Rxh1 Qb6 25. Qc2 Qc7 26. Rh5 Rd8 27 Qh2, and Black wont survive long) Nxg6 22. Qxe6+ Kh7 23. Nxf5 and Black stops the clocks.

White wraps up quickly after 23 Rf8 (Qf8 24. Nxh4 Nxh4 25. Rxh4+ Kg7 26. Rxg4+ Kh7 27. Qg6 mate) 24. Rxh4+ Nxh4 25. Qh6+ Kg8 26. Qg7 mate.

(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)

Niemann-Caruana, U.S. Chess Championship, St. Louis, October 2023

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 a5 6. O-O d6 7. Re1 Ba7 8. Nbd2 O-O 9. h3 Be6 10. Bb5 Ne7 11. d4 Ng6 12. Ba4 Nh5 13. Nf1 Nhf4 14. Ng3 exd4 15. Nxd4 Bxd4 16. cxd4 d5 17. e5 f6 18. Bxf4 Nxf4 19. Nh5 Nxh5 20. Qxh5 f5 21. f4 Qe7 22. a3 c5 23. Rac1 c4 24. Qd1 Kh8 25. Bb5 g5 26. b3 gxf4 27. bxc4 Rg8 28. Rc3 dxc4 29. Bxc4 Bxc4 30. Rxc4 Qxa3 31. Rc2 f3 32. e6 fxg2 33. Qe2 Qxh3 34. Qe5+ Rg7 35. Rcc1 Qh1+ 36. Kf2 Qh4+ 37. Ke2 f4 38. Rg1 Qg4+ 39. Kd2 f3 40. Ke3 Kg8 41. Rc2 Rf8 42. Rf2 h5 43. Qd5 Re8 White resigns.

Artemiev-Rozum, 76th Russian Chess Championship, St. Petersburg, October 2023

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. c4 e6 6. Nc3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 Nd7 8. Nge2 Be7 9. Be3 Bxh4 10. Nf4 Bg4 11. Be2 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 g6 13. g4 hxg4 14. Ne4 Nh6 15. Ng2 Nf5 16. O-O-O Nxe3 17. fxe3 f5 18. Nd6+ Kf8 19. Nf4 Kg8 20. Qc4 Nf8 21. Nxg6 Nxg6 22. Qxe6+ Kh7 23. Nxf5 Black resigns.

David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.

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Caruana claimed third U.S. chess title by holding off the young guns - Washington Times