The United States may be on the verge of complete chess supremacy, with not only the best team in the world but quite possibly the next world champion.
Last September, the United States won the team gold medal at the Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan. It was the first time that the United States had been the top team in the biennial competition since 1976, a year in which the Soviet Union and some Eastern Bloc countries boycotted. And before that, the last time that the United States won was in 1937, before the Soviet Union had developed its assembly-line program to churn out the best players in the world.
The victorious United States team was led by a trio of stars – Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura, who all rank in the top six in the world. The three of them pose a real threat to dethrone Magnus Carlsen, the reigning champion, and to bring the world championship title back to the United States for the first time since Bobby Fischer captured it in 1972.
Hikaru Nakamura during the playoff for the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters title against Yu Yangyi of China.
Nakamura, 29, who is ranked No. 6, won the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters, one of the world’s strongest open tournaments, last Thursday. It was his third consecutive Gibraltar title – an unprecedented run. Though Nakamura’s overall record against Carlsen is not impressive in classical, or slow, chess – 12 losses with one win and 19 draws– Nakamura has done better the last few times he has faced him, including notching his only win last year in the Bilbao Masters. Nakamura thrives in complicated positions, as, for example, in his last round against Romain Edouard of France in Gibraltar.
Caruana, 24, has actually struggled a bit recently, though he remains No. 3 in the world. He has the record for the third-highest rating ever (after Carlsen and Garry Kasparov, the former world champion), which he achieved in 2014 after he had one of the greatest performances ever at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis. That victory, which shows that he can go on streaks where he is unbeatable, coupled with his overall consistency, would make him a threat in any match.
Wesley So with his trophy for winning the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
So, 23, and ranked No. 2, may be the biggest threat, and not just because of his ranking. He has been on an unbelievable tear in recent months, winning the Sinquefield Cup, the London Classic and, last week, the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. Those are three of the biggest tournaments of the year. While Carlsen did not play in the first two tournaments, as he was preparing for his world championship match in New York last November, which he won, he did play in Tata Steel and finished in second, a full point behind So.
So has not just been winning, he has also not been losing – he currently has a 56-game unbeaten streak. During the streak, in which he has rarely been threatened, So has shown that he has a universal style. He has won games by blowing his opponents off the board, and with subtle positional masterpieces, where it is hard to see exactly what his opponents did wrong. Should he make his way through the cycle to become the challenger, Carlsen would clearly have his hands full.
Magnus Carlsen, left, preparing to make his first move against Levon Aronian during the Tata Steel Chess Tournament.