Total Chess Pilot 2026 Day 4: Arjun Erigaisi rises to the occasion, Pragg gets mated in 1
Arjun Erigaisi was in a must-win situation. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was three points ahead of him in Group D, and the fourth day of the Total Chess Pilot group stage in Budapest was his chance to catch him. Arjun drew the first game comfortably with Black and then beat MVL with White, ending the Frenchman's unbeaten run in the Fast Classic. Fabiano Caruana missed a big chance against Le Quang Liem that could have taken him past Magnus Carlsen on the live rating list. R. Praggnanandhaa was winning against Richard Rapport and got mated in one. And Anish Giri took the lead in Group C.
Each day of the group stage, players play two Fast Classic games (45 minutes plus 30 seconds a move) against the same opponent, with colours reversed. A win is 3 points, a draw 1. On the 14th of November, 10 of the 24 games were decisive.
Arjun beats MVL
The first game, with MVL playing White, was a quiet Ruy Lopez that ended in a draw in 30 moves. In the second game Arjun had White, and MVL went for the Tarrasch Defence. Arjun found a very nice sequence.
Arjun Erigaisi vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Game 2
The advantage was small, but MVL was spending a lot of time. By move 23 he had less than two minutes on his clock, and he was playing on the 30-second increment from there. Arjun kept increasing the pressure on c6 and on the d5 pawn, and then he took on d5.
29.Bxc6! was the key point. After 29...Qxd4 30.exd4 Rxd4, White was a pawn up with a passed pawn on the a-file, and soon it was a rook endgame. Still, rook endgames are hard to win, and MVL had one big chance to save the game.
40...f5! would have held. The point is that Black's only way to create play is with his kingside pawns: 41.Kc1 Kh6 42.Kb1 Ra5 43.Kb2 g5 44.Kb3 gxh4 45.gxh4 f4, and Black's f-pawn is fast enough to make a draw.
MVL played 40...g5? instead, and after 41.hxg5 Kg6 42.Kc1 Kxg5 43.Rxf7 Kg4 44.Kb1 Ra6 45.Rg7+, White was completely winning. The white king walked up the board to support the a-pawn, and MVL resigned on move 52.
A three-way tie in Group D
With this win Arjun is level with MVL on 13 points. Hans Niemann beat Bibisara Assaubayeva in the first game, but Bibisara held the second in the longest game of the day, so Hans is also on 13. Three players share the lead with one day to go.
On the 15th of November, in the last two group games, Arjun plays R. Vaishali, MVL plays Bibisara, and Hans plays Wesley So. If players are level on points, the one who finished higher in the Blitz Swiss is ahead: MVL was second, Hans fifth and Arjun sixth. So Arjun loses every tie, and he needs to finish ahead of both MVL and Hans. His best chance is to beat Vaishali in both games and hope that neither MVL nor Hans wins both of theirs. A win and a draw could also be enough, but only if neither of them wins a single game. It will not be easy for Hans either, because he has to face Wesley So, who scored 6 out of 6 points on the fourth day.
Wesley So beats Vaishali twice
Vaishali lost both her games against Wesley So. Wesley won the first game with Black, and the second game was a beautiful one from him. He gave up his d3 pawn early to get pressure on the queenside.
So vs Vaishali, Game 2
Wesley's queen went to b5 and then took on b7, his rooks came to d7 and e3, and Black's queenside began to fall. Vaishali went for it: she gave up her knight on c6 and threw her rooks at the white king. Wesley calmly took one more pawn with 28.Qxc7 and gave the piece back: Vaishali's rook took his knight on e1.
29.Rg3! was the point. It blocks the g-file and thwarts everything. After 29...Rxg3 30.fxg3 the attack was over, and Wesley's queen and rook took over. Vaishali resigned on move 53.
Wesley is now fourth in Group D with 10 points. Vaishali is on 4.
Caruana's missed chance
Fabiano Caruana drew both his games against Le Quang Liem, his closest rival in Group B. But in the second game he had a very big chance.
Caruana vs Le Quang Liem, Game 2
14.Nxd5! is the move. It is a very tough move to see. If 14...Nxd5, then 15.Bh7+ Kh8 16.Rxd5, and the rook attacks the queen on a5 and the knight on e5 at the same time. If 14...Nc6, then 15.b4! Qxa3 16.Ra1, and the black queen is trapped.
Fabi played 14.b4 instead, and after 14...Qxa3 15.Bxe5 dxc4 16.Bxc4 Qxb4 Liem was fine. The game was drawn in 50 moves.
Had Fabi won, he would have gained valuable rating points and could very well have gone past Magnus on the live rating list. He is still very close.
Fabi still leads Group B comfortably. For Liem to finish first, he must beat R. Praggnanandhaa twice and hope that Fabi scores no more than a draw against Vladislav Artemiev. Even a tie would not be enough for Liem, since Fabi finished higher in the Blitz Swiss.
Pragg mated in one
R. Praggnanandhaa played really well against Richard Rapport in the first game. By move 35 he was clearly better, and he kept his advantage even with less than a minute on his clock. Then came this moment.
Richard Rapport vs R. Praggnanandhaa, Game 1
42...Qc3! wins. It offers the queen trade, and after 43.Qxc3 Rxc3 Black's rook goes after White's pawns. If Black takes the knight with 42...fxe6, White's queen comes to f6 and tries for a perpetual check. Pragg played 42...Bc8, pinning the knight on e6 to the white king on h3. But a pinned knight still guards g7.
It was one of the most shocking moments of Pragg's career, especially because there was a 30-second increment on every move. Asked how he would reset before the second game, Pragg said: "I don't think there's anything to reset anymore... I'll just try to play."
The second game was drawn. Pragg is last in Group B with 5 points and is still looking for his first win in the Fast Classic.
Giri leads Group C
Anish Giri beat Abhimanyu Mishra in an endgame in the first game. In the second game Anish was in big trouble.
Abhimanyu Mishra vs Anish Giri, Game 2
Anish decided to sacrifice: 21...Nfxe4 22.fxe4 Rxe4 23.Qf2 Nxb3 24.Rxb3 Rxc4. It looked like he was getting a lot of play.
25.Rxb4! Rxb4 26.Nxb4 Qc3. Now it felt like Anish was getting his piece back.
27.Rf1! was brilliant. With f7 hanging, Black had no time to take anything, and Abhimanyu was winning. But somehow the advantage slipped away, and the game ended in a draw on move 32.
Anish is on 13 points and leads Group C by two. On the last day he plays Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Haik Martirosyan, both on 11, will try to catch him. Nepomniachtchi beat Martirosyan in their second game on the fourth day.
Magnus still without a win
Magnus Carlsen drew both his games against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. He has not won a single game in eight rounds of the Fast Classic: seven draws and one loss. Two draws on the fourth day also mean he can no longer finish first in Group C.
The first game showed Magnus in good shape, until a point, and he had a win.
Magnus Carlsen vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Game 1
25.Bg4! was winning. The bishop attacks the queen and the e6 pawn. If 25...Qxf4, then 26.Bxe6+ Nxe6 27.Qxb3, and the knight on e6 is pinned. Magnus played 25.Be3, and the advantage was gone. The game ended in a draw by repetition on move 44. Prime Magnus would never have missed such an opportunity.
Shakhriyar had given up a pawn early in the game, as he so often does. After the game he told our camera: "I sacrifice every time, and after the sacrifice I think, why did I sacrifice? Today again I sacrificed a pawn very easily... maybe not enough compensation. But okay, against Magnus, why not?" Was there a clear win for Magnus? "Maybe for the engine, but not for humans."
Magnus has dropped 19 points on the live list. If he falls below 2800, it will be for the first time in 17 years, and if Fabi doesn't cross 2800 either, the world will have no player rated above 2800. When was the last time such a thing happened?
Group A
Alireza Firouzja leads Group A with 13 points. He drew both games against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Jorden van Foreest and Andrew Hong traded wins, both with Black, and Levon Aronian and Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew twice.
On the last day Firouzja faces Aronian, while Duda and van Foreest, both on 11, play each other. That is a nice match-up: the winner could catch Firouzja. Aronian, on 9, has an outside chance if he beats Firouzja 2-0.
The four groups after day four
A win is 3 points, a draw is 1. If two players are level, the one who finished higher in the Blitz Swiss is ahead. Every group winner goes to Knockout 1, every runner-up to Knockout 2, and so on.
Group A
Rank | Player | Win | Draw | Loss | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Alireza Firouzja | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
2 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 2 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
3 | Jorden van Foreest | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
4 | Levon Aronian | 1 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
5 | Andrew Hong | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
6 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 1 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
Group B
Rank | Player | Win | Draw | Loss | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Fabiano Caruana | 4 | 4 | 0 | 16 |
2 | Le Quang Liem | 2 | 6 | 0 | 12 |
3 | Richard Rapport | 1 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
4 | Vincent Keymer | 1 | 5 | 2 | 8 |
5 | Vladislav Artemiev | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
6 | R. Praggnanandhaa | 0 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
Vincent Keymer drew with Artemiev and then won the second game, his first win of the Fast Classic.
Group C
Rank | Player | Win | Draw | Loss | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Anish Giri | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
2 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
3 | Haik Martirosyan | 3 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
4 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 1 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
5 | Magnus Carlsen | 0 | 7 | 1 | 7 |
6 | Abhimanyu Mishra | 0 | 6 | 2 | 6 |
Group D
Rank | Player | Win | Draw | Loss | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
2 | Hans Niemann | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
3 | Arjun Erigaisi | 3 | 4 | 1 | 13 |
4 | Wesley So | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
5 | Bibisara Assaubayeva | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
6 | R. Vaishali | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
Pairings for the 15th of November
The players listed first have White in game one. The colours are reversed in game two.
Group | Game one (7.30 p.m. IST), White vs Black |
|---|---|
A | Andrew Hong vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov |
A | Jan-Krzysztof Duda vs Jorden van Foreest |
A | Levon Aronian vs Alireza Firouzja |
B | R. Praggnanandhaa vs Le Quang Liem |
B | Vincent Keymer vs Richard Rapport |
B | Fabiano Caruana vs Vladislav Artemiev |
C | Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Magnus Carlsen |
C | Abhimanyu Mishra vs Haik Martirosyan |
C | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vs Anish Giri |
D | Bibisara Assaubayeva vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave |
D | Wesley So vs Hans Niemann |
D | Arjun Erigaisi vs R. Vaishali |
The first game begins at 7.30 p.m. IST and the second at 11 p.m. IST. You can follow the games live on chessbase.in/live, with commentary on the ChessBase India YouTube channel.
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