Total Chess 2026: Arjun Erigaisi joins three-way lead in Group D
On November 15, 2026, on the fourth day of the Fast Classic group stage at the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot in Budapest, Arjun Erigaisi defeated Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to move into a three-way tie atop Group D; Wesley So won both his games and Anish Giri took the outright lead in Group C.
Games 7 and 8 of the Fast Classic produced 10 decisive results from 24 games, with each participant replaying the same opponent with colours reversed and the scoring system awarding three points for a win and one point for a draw; Wesley So was the only player to collect the maximum six points on the day.
In Group A, Alireza Firouzja and Jan-Krzysztof Duda drew both of their games, leaving Firouzja on thirteen points and Duda on eleven. Jorden van Foreest joined Duda on eleven after exchanging wins with Andrew Hong—Hong struck first with Black but van Foreest replied with a Black victory in the return—while Levon Aronian and Nodirbek Abdusattorov also drew twice, taking Aronian to nine and Abdusattorov to seven. Firouzja takes a two-point lead into the final pair of group games.
Group B remained led by Fabiano Caruana, who has sixteen points from four wins and four draws after drawing both games with Liem Le, who stays unbeaten on twelve. Richard Rapport recorded his first Fast Classic victory against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu after a late mistake by Praggnanandhaa allowed Rapport to convert into checkmate; a draw in the return raises Rapport to nine points and Praggnanandhaa to five. Vincent Keymer earned his first Fast Classic win by defeating Vladislav Artemiev in the return, moving to eight points while Artemiev sits on six.
In Group C, Anish Giri moved into the lead with a win and a draw against Abhimanyu Mishra—Giri won an endgame with White in the first game and drew the return to reach thirteen points, with Mishra on six. Ian Nepomniachtchi beat Haik Martirosyan in the return after an opening draw, leaving both players on eleven points for the day. Magnus Carlsen and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov drew both of their games; Mamedyarov is on nine points and Carlsen on seven, with Carlsen remaining without a Fast Classic win after seven draws and one defeat.
Group D saw Erigaisi end Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s unbeaten Fast Classic run: after a first-game draw he won the return with White in an endgame to join Vachier-Lagrave on thirteen points. Hans Moke Niemann also reached thirteen after a win and a draw against Bibisara Assaubayeva—Niemann won the first game with White, while Assaubayeva held the return in the day’s longest game and finishes on nine points. Wesley So secured his first two Fast Classic victories of the event against Vaishali Rameshbabu, moving to ten points while Vaishali remains on four.
Two games remain for each player in the Fast Classic round-robin stage before the final standings determine places in the six knockout brackets.