World No.3 GM Fabiano Caruana was crowned the new champion of the United States of America at the recently concluded U.S. Championship 2016. In the 11th and final round of the event, Caruana convincingly overcame IM Akshat Chandra with the black pieces.
Caruana scored a total of 8.5 points out of a possible 11 and remained unbeaten en route to his first U.S. title.
Caruana’s closest competitors – GMs Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura – scored 7.5 points each. However, Wesley So’s superior tie-break score helped him finish second while Nakamura had to settle for the third spot.
Final Standings
| Rank | Name | Rating | Score |
| 1 | Caruana | 2795 | 8.5 |
| 2 | Wesley So | 2773 | 7.5 |
| 3 | Nakamura | 2787 | 7.5 |
| 4 | Robson | 2663 | 7 |
| 5 | Onischuk | 2664 | 6 |
| 6 | Xiong | 2618 | 5.5 |
| 7 | Kamsky | 2678 | 5 |
| 8 | Shankland | 2656 | 4.5 |
| 9 | Lenderman | 2618 | 4.5 |
| 10 | Akobian | 2615 | 4.5 |
| 11 | Shabalov | 2528 | 4 |
| 12 | Chandra | 2477 | 1.5 |