The buzz around downtown Tahoma revolves around the startling news: a young Italian/American has won the most prestigious chess tournament in the USA this year-the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, MO. The young grandmaster, Fabiano Caruana, dominated the competition that included the top players in the world.
In the 3rd round, he routed Magnus Carlsen, of Norway, the world champion. He defeated Levon Aronian of Armenia, the world's #2 ranked player. He trounced Hikaru Nakamura, the top United States player. He then went on to humble Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France. The tournament was the strongest in history, based on the world rankings before the tournament. The closest win happened in the World Championships in San Luis, Argentina, in 2005 when Topalov ran up 6 victories on his way to the title.
Two of Capuana's games are on display in today's nytimes.com.
That Capuana is so young, 22, indicates his mastery of the art and style of international chess. He has trained with the best all over the world, and has chosen to represent both Italy and the United States. He is a 3 time Italian champion, and claims dual citizenship in the USA and Italy.
Certainly, Italians can puff out their chests a bit more this morning as they absorb the significance of this great win by one of their own.
Tahoman kings, queens, knights, and pawns all cheer this great moment in current international chess history. All right at home in St. Louis, home of the Cardinals.
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