Three players grabbed back-to-back wins in the first two rounds of the Champions Chess Tour Finals: Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So and Fabiano Caruana, with Caruana prevailing twice in Armageddon to end the day sharing the lead. Notably, one of the three players who lost his first two matches is Hikaru Nakamura, who celebrated his 36th birthday on Saturday. | Photo: chess.com / Thomas Tischio
For the first time, the eight-player Champions Chess Tour Finals will be held fully in person and over the board from December 9 to 16 in Toronto, Canada. The winner will be crowned Tour Champion 2023 and pick up the $200,000 first prize in addition to winnings already earned. Carlsen, the world number-one and reigning Tour champion, and Nakamura, the world’s top chess streamer, have dominated the 2023 season so far and their rivalry has been a joy to watch. But they will face stiff competition from a world-class field.
With a final-round win over Richard Rapport, Fabiano Caruana secured tournament victory at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis. This was Caruana’s third victory in this event, as he had previously won it in 2014 (when he famously grabbed seven wins in a row) and in 2018. Sole second place went to Leinier Dominguez, who drew Levon Aronian with the black pieces on Thursday. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
American GMs Fabiano Caruana and Leinier Dominguez lead the Sinquefield Cup with 4/6 scores and two rounds to play in the final event of the 2023 Grand Chess Tour.