3102 turned out to be the TPR for Caruana after winning the 2014 Sinquefield Cup. He finished on 8.5/10 (+7=3), 3 whole points ahead of second place Magnus Carlsen. In fact they were the only 2 players above 50%, with Veselin Topalov finishing third on that score.
As in the previous round, all three games were drawn, which is understandable given the tough field taking part. By the end the major points of interest seemed to be (a) Caruana's final score and (b) who out of Nakamura, Vachier-Lagrave and Aronian could avoid the wooden spoon. With 8 draws in the last 3 rounds, Caruana coasted to victory (despite missing a win in round 9), while Nakamura's loss to Topalov in round 8 settled question (b).
While I have not heard anything about the 2015 Sinquefield Cup at this point, the 2014 edition will go down in chess history as one of the most significant tournaments ever. Already making history as the highest rated event of all time, Caruana's result is one of the greatest tournament performances ever. I suspect that any 100% start to an event will almost immediately be compared to Caruana's 7/7, while his 3102 TPR will be the benchmark for future events. I also suspect that anyone looking to organise an Elite-GM event, will feel the need to try and secure both Carlsen and Caruana in the field.
3 comments:
Assuming the Carlsen - Anand match takes place and is a win for Carlsen, the next match in 2016 is likely to be Carlsen - Caruana. That assumes both that a Candidates tournament is held and that Caruana wins it.
Predictions are easy after a stupendous performance but I think Carlsen himself mentioned (yes, taken with a bit of salt) that after Zurich and Aronian's stupendous performance, he was considered favourite to be the challenger. But Caissa has other plans!
Well you're only as good as your last tournament. Let's see what Caruana can do in the next couple of years. He may burn out and fade away...he may have peeked...he may never lose another game in his life. Who knows!?
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