There is a persistent contrarian view that the world’s top players maintain their high ratings by being part of a closed shop. According to that theory, the same players get invited to all the same tournaments, where they face each other repeatedly, and the prevalence of draws between closely matched players means that nobody’s rating ever changes very much.
There is a kernel of truth in this, as a few elite events do become turgid drawfests, but the broader claim is nonsense: there is no closed shop. Most top players also face ‘rank-and-file’ grandmasters regularly, in national leagues, international team events, and the occasional large open tournament.
Though billed as an invitational, the recent St Louis Masters drew more than 70 competitors, ranging from strong tournament players all the way up to Fabiano Caruana, the St Louis resident and world no. 3. His presence as top seed was something of a surprise in an event where the second seed ranked just outside the world top 50.
Caruana fared just as well as the statistics would predict, but on this occasion that was not quite enough. He scored five wins and three draws, plus a half-point bye, to finish second on 7/9. The winner, grandmaster Mikhail Antipov, originally from Russia but now representing the USA, summoned a Carlsen-level performance to finish on 7.5/9. His games often display quirky ideas, and in the diagram below he has just played 45…bxa4! The motley band of seven (!) isolated pawns compensate for Caruana’s extra knight.
Fabiano Caruana-Mikhail Antipov
St Louis Masters, February 2026 (see first diagram)
46 Rxa4 Rg8 47 Rxf5 Rg2 48 Ra1 Re8 49 Rc1 a4 50 Rc2 a3+ 51 Kb1 Rb8 52 Ka1 Bxc3+ 53 Rxc3 Rb3 54 Rc2 c3 55 Rxf7 Rb2 56 Rxc3 Rbxf2 Draw agreed
In the final round, Caruana missed out on a chance to share first place.
Francesco Sonis-Fabiano Caruana
St Louis Masters, March 2026
38…h5 38…Bc4+! was simplest. After 39 Kf2 Bd3, White must soon cede e3 to the king. Or, 39 Nxc4 bxc4 40 Kf2 g4 41 fxg4 Kxg4 42 Kg2 Kf4 43 Kf2 Ke4 44 Ke2 h5! and White will soon shed a pawn. 39 Kf2 h4 40 Ke2 Bc4+ 41 Nxc4 bxc4 42 Kf2 g4 43 fxg4 Kxg4 44 Kg2 Kf4 45 Kf2 h3 46 Ke2 Ke4 47 Kd2 Kf3 48 Kd1! Preparing to meet a future …Kg2xh2 with Ke2-f2, with a draw. By contrast with the earlier variation, Black pawn on h3 entombs its king on h1/h2. Ke3 49 Kc2 Kf2 50 Kd2 Kf3 51 Kd1 Ke3 Draw agreed
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