Fabiano Caruana is a chess champion all but made for the age of social media.

In August, on the eve of the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis, the most competitive chess tournament ever played on American soil, he took the Ice Bucket Challenge. Sitting at a chess table, playing white, he moved out his pawn and was promptly doused from above, the icy water drenching his T-shirt. Videos were posted to YouTube and collected 30,000 views.

He went on to win seven straight matches against the best players in the world, a nearly impossible feat that some chess historians equated with Bobby Fischer’s 20-game streak in the early 1970s.

The Miami-born, Brooklyn-raised Mr. Caruana became an overnight sensation online. Fivethirtyeight.com weighed in on the tournament with a post stating that he was “doing the impossible.” Fans congratulated him, with one joking that he should refer to his opponents as “punchbags.”

Mr. Caruana, typically understated, sent out a single tweet to his followers, his first since posting the Ice Bucket Challenge video: “Just completed the best performance (so far!) of my career. 8.5/10 and clear 1st place in the highest rated chess tournament ever! #SinqCup.”