Fabiano Caruana seizes leads over Arjun Erigaisi in FIDE Circuit 2024

American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana took the lead in the 2024 FIDE Circuit race after emerging victorious at the Saint Louis Masters.

He earned 16.39 points to leap over Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi.

Arjun contested hard in the Qatar Masters Open 2024 but finished second, meaning that he could not catch up with Caruana. With both players having completed seven tournaments counted towards the 2024 FIDE Circuit final standings, Caruana holds a six-point advantage over his main rival.

It will all come down to the final competition of the circuit, the World Rapid and Blitz Championships, where Arjun needs to improve on his score while Caruana can secure the top spot by maintaining status quo.

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The circuit is one of the paths to qualify for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026. One player who would achieve the highest results during 2024 in eligible tournaments gets the spot in the FIDE Candidates.

Each player has to play in a minimum of five eligible tournaments, including at least four with a standard time control.

The final score is calculated as the sum of the player’s up to seven highest scores.

FIDE CIRCUIT LEADERBOARD