Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi open fast classical section with draws in Budapest at Total Chess Pilot

Indian grandmasters R. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi each recorded two draws on day two of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot in Budapest on Wednesday, November 11, 2026; Praggnanandhaa was held twice by Germany's Vincent Keymer in Group B while Erigaisi drew both games with American Hans Niemann in Group D. Both players finished the day with two points.

R. Vaishali, the third Indian in the event, lost her opening game to French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave after a late error and salvaged a draw in the return game, leaving her with one point from two games and placed last in Group D, which was led by Vachier-Lagrave. Vaishali, aged 25, is scheduled to challenge Ju Wenjun for the Women's World Championship title next year.

In Group D, Erigaisi was one of four players tied for second place on two points alongside Hans Niemann, Wesley So and Bibisara Assaubayeva, while Vachier-Lagrave held the group lead. The pairings in that group produced those standings after the first two fast classical rounds carried out on Wednesday.

Group B action left Fabiano Caruana and Liem Le sharing the lead with four points, with Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer tied for second. Caruana began his campaign by defeating local favourite Richard Rapport with the black pieces and drew the return game, taking him to four points and into the top of Group B on the basis of his higher blitz ranking; Liem Le collected his four points against Vladislav Artemiev after drawing the opening game and winning the return encounter.

In Group A, Alireza Firouzja and Jan-Krzysztof Duda sat level at four points apiece. Firouzja won his first game against Nodirbek Abdusattorov after capitalising on a critical mistake, then held the return game to a draw; Duda drew his first game against Andrew Hong before winning the return encounter with White to match Firouzja's total.

Ian Nepomniachtchi took sole possession of the lead in Group C with four points after defeating Abhimanyu Mishra in their opening game and being held to a draw in the return meeting. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, who won the blitz section on Tuesday, recorded two draws against Anish Giri and finished the day tied for third in Group C with two points.

The fast classical portion uses a time control of 45 minutes per player with a 30-second increment from move one. After the second day of play the standings show Firouzja and Duda joint leaders in Group A (four points), Caruana and Liem Le shared leaders in Group B (four points), Nepomniachtchi leading Group C (four points) and Vachier-Lagrave atop Group D, with further rounds set to determine who advances from the groups.