Budapest, Hungary | November 12, 2026
Fabiano Caruana and Hans Moke Niemann each won both of their games on the second day of the Fast Classic group stage at the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot in Budapest, while Bibisara Assaubayeva produced a standout victory over Arjun Erigaisi.
Rounds 3 and 4 produced 13 decisive results from 24 games, three more than on first day. Each player faced the same opponent twice with colours reversed. With three points awarded for a win and one for a draw, the two double victories earned Caruana and Niemann six points apiece.
Alireza Firouzja now leads Group A outright on eight points, while Caruana heads Group B on ten. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Haik Martirosyan are level on six points at the top of Group C, and Niemann has joined Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on eight in Group D.
Firouzja moves clear in Group A
Alireza Firouzja played a long game and won with White over Jorden van Foreest with a draw in the return game. The four-point return takes him to eight overall, one point ahead of Jan-Krzysztof Duda.
Credit: Total Chess / Michal Walusza
Duda and Nodirbek Abdusattorov exchanged wins with the black pieces. Duda prevailed in a long opening encounter, the longest game of the day, before Abdusattorov responded with victory in the return. Their three points apiece leave Duda on seven and Abdusattorov on four.
Credit: Total Chess / Michal Walusza
Levon Aronian and Andrew Hong drew both games. Aronian moves to five points, with Hong on three. Van Foreest finishes the day on four.
Caruana wins twice to take control of Group B
Fabiano Caruana delivered one of the day’s strongest performances against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu. With White, he sacrificed a piece to open the Black’s defences and won comfortably. He then added a with Black. The two wins put Caruana on ten points, two clear of Liem Le.
Credit: Total Chess / Michal Walusza
Liem Le remained his closest challenger after a win and a draw against Vincent Keymer. After winning an tough battle with White, Le ends the day on eight points, while Keymer has three.
Richard Rapport and Vladislav Artemiev drew both encounters and move to three points each. Praggnanandhaa remains on two.
Martirosyan joins Nepomniachtchi as Carlsen draws twice
Haik Martirosyan recovered from a first-game defeat against Anish Giri to win their return encounter. Giri’s attack brought him victory in as few as 26 moves with White, but Martirosyan answered back with a White win. The three points lift Martirosyan to six, level with Ian Nepomniachtchi at the top of Group C, while Giri moves to five.
Credit: Total Chess / Michal Walusza
Nepomniachtchi drew both games with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. The pair added two points each, leaving Mamedyarov on five.
Credit: Total Chess / Maria Emelianova
Magnus Carlsen and Abhimanyu Mishra also drew twice. Their second game featured a long endgame where Mishra was pressing for a win with white pieces. Carlsen has now drawn all four of his Fast Classic games and stands on four points, while Mishra has three.
Niemann catches Vachier-Lagrave as Assaubayeva strikes
Hans Moke Niemann collected the maximum six points against Vaishali Rameshbabu, winning first with Black and then with White. Niemann moved from two points to eight, while Vaishali remains on one.
Credit: Total Chess / Maria Emelianova
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave added four points against Wesley So. He won their first encounter with White before drawing the return, taking his total to eight and leaving So on three.
Credit: Total Chess / Michal Walusza
Bibisara Assaubayeva scored one of the day’s most striking results by defeating Arjun Erigaisi with Black. Her advancing pawns helped decide the first encounter, but Erigaisi responded with a Black win of his own in Round 4. Both players finish the day on five points.
Credit: Total Chess / Maria Emelianova
The Fast Classic round-robin stage continues in Budapest as the players compete for positions in the knockout brackets.
About Total Chess
Total Chess is a global championship platform established to redefine elite competitive chess for the modern era. Developed by Norway Chess and approved by FIDE, the Total Chess World Championship Tour introduces a unified format that crowns the world's ultimate champion by testing excellence across three disciplines: Fast Classical, Rapid and Blitz. The Tour will bring together the world's top 24 men and women players to compete across four premier international events hosted in leading global cities. Designed to elevate the sport's commercial appeal and fan engagement, Total Chess combines world-class competition with innovation, technology and immersive spectator experiences to create a new benchmark for professional chess.
With a vision to make chess one of the world's most engaging and commercially sustainable sports, Total Chess aims to expand the game's global footprint, inspire the next generation of players, and connect millions of fans through a dynamic championship that celebrates intelligence, strategy and sporting excellence.
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