GM Fabiano Caruana will be the first American in decades to play for the world championship title after the winning the candidates tournament outright in Berlin Tuesday.

The Miami-born Caruana, 25, bested seven of the world’s strongest players in the double round-robin FIDE Candidates Tournament to qualify for the right to take on reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway. He defeated Armenia’s Levon Aronian and Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk in the final two rounds to pull away from his closest pursuers with a 9-5 score. The 12-game title match against Carlsen, who has held the title since 2013, takes place in November in London.