Total Chess Day 1: Carlsen Wins Opening Blitz Unbeaten as Vachier-Lagrave Takes Second
10 November 2026, Budapest · Chess It UpAdd Chess It Up as a preferred source on Google
Magnus Carlsen won the day 1 blitz tournament of the Total Chess World Championship pilot in Budapest with 7/9 and no losses, for a rating performance of 2923. The event ran over nine rounds at 3 minutes plus 2 seconds a move. Carlsen beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Richard Rapport, Erigaisi Arjun, Anish Giri and Haik M. Martirosyan, and drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Hans Moke Niemann and Levon Aronian. Of the 108 games, 75 were decisive, and Vaishali took the biggest rating gain of the day, 27 blitz rating points from a score of 4/9.
Vachier-Lagrave finished second with 6½ points and Aronian third with 6. Alireza Firouzja, Erigaisi Arjun, Fabiano Caruana, Niemann and Rapport all scored 5.5 points and filled fourth to eighth place in that order. The final table breaks ties in the group stage, which starts on day 2 at 15:00 Budapest time on 11 November.
Magnus Carlsen's games
- Round 1Beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda with Black in 38 moves0–1
- Round 2Beat Richard Rapport with White in 65 moves, by resignation1–0
- Round 3Drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with Black in 66 moves, with too little material to mate½–½
- Round 4Beat Erigaisi Arjun with White in 35 moves1–0
- Round 5Drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi with Black in 58 moves½–½
- Round 6Beat Anish Giri with White in 45 moves1–0
- Round 7Drew with Hans Moke Niemann with Black in 36 moves½–½
- Round 8Drew with Levon Aronian with White in 43 moves, by repetition½–½
- Round 9Beat Haik M. Martirosyan with Black in 48 moves0–1
Final standings
| # | Player | Rating | Points | Performance | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | 2860 | 7 | 2923 | +7 |
| 2 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 2734 | 6½ | 2898 | +20 |
| 3 | Levon Aronian | 2714 | 6 | 2847 | +16 |
| 4 | Alireza Firouzja | 2797 | 5½ | 2758 | -4 |
| 5 | Erigaisi Arjun | 2766 | 5½ | 2773 | +3 |
| 6 | Fabiano Caruana | 2738 | 5½ | 2750 | +2 |
| 7 | Hans Moke Niemann | 2711 | 5½ | 2777 | +9 |
| 8 | Richard Rapport | 2616 | 5½ | 2745 | +16 |
| 9 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2765 | 5 | 2767 | 0 |
| 10 | Anish Giri | 2636 | 5 | 2717 | +10 |
| 11 | Wesley So | 2745 | 4½ | 2601 | -16 |
| 12 | Praggnanandhaa R | 2712 | 4½ | 2637 | -8 |
| 13 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 2704 | 4½ | 2666 | -4 |
| 14 | Haik M. Martirosyan | 2686 | 4½ | 2681 | 0 |
| 15 | Vincent Keymer | 2628 | 4½ | 2714 | +11 |
| 16 | Vladislav Artemiev | 2712 | 4 | 2604 | -12 |
| 17 | Quang Liem Le | 2675 | 4 | 2608 | -8 |
| 18 | Abhimanyu Mishra | 2541 | 4 | 2628 | +10 |
| 19 | Rameshbabu Vaishali | 2345 | 4 | 2623 | +27 |
| 20 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2612 | 3½ | 2604 | -1 |
| 21 | Andrew Hong | 2537 | 3½ | 2550 | +1 |
| 22 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 2819 | 2½ | 2461 | -41 |
| 23 | Jorden Van Foreest | 2659 | 2½ | 2479 | -21 |
| 24 | Bibisara Assaubayeva | 2424 | 0½ | 2205 | -16 |
Players on the same score are ranked by Buchholz, then rating performance. Change is the blitz rating change.
Every result
Round 1
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Haik M. Martirosyan½–½
- Quang Liem Le – Alireza Firouzja½–½
- Erigaisi Arjun – Jorden Van Foreest1–0
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Magnus Carlsen0–1
- Anish Giri – Ian Nepomniachtchi½–½
- Wesley So – Vincent Keymer0–1
- Richard Rapport – Fabiano Caruana1–0
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov1–0
- Abhimanyu Mishra – Levon Aronian½–½
- Vladislav Artemiev – Andrew Hong1–0
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Praggnanandhaa R0–1
- Hans Moke Niemann – Rameshbabu Vaishali0–1
Round 2
- Praggnanandhaa R – Erigaisi Arjun0–1
- Vincent Keymer – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave0–1
- Rameshbabu Vaishali – Vladislav Artemiev0–1
- Magnus Carlsen – Richard Rapport1–0
- Levon Aronian – Nodirbek Abdusattorov½–½
- Alireza Firouzja – Anish Giri½–½
- Ian Nepomniachtchi – Quang Liem Le1–0
- Haik M. Martirosyan – Abhimanyu Mishra1–0
- Jorden Van Foreest – Wesley So0–1
- Fabiano Caruana – Bibisara Assaubayeva1–0
- Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Hans Moke Niemann0–1
- Andrew Hong – Jan-Krzysztof Duda0–1
Round 3
- Erigaisi Arjun – Vladislav Artemiev½–½
- Haik M. Martirosyan – Ian Nepomniachtchi0–1
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Vincent Keymer0–1
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Magnus Carlsen½–½
- Hans Moke Niemann – Alireza Firouzja1–0
- Wesley So – Rameshbabu Vaishali0–1
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Fabiano Caruana½–½
- Anish Giri – Levon Aronian1–0
- Richard Rapport – Praggnanandhaa R½–½
- Quang Liem Le – Abhimanyu Mishra1–0
- Andrew Hong – Jorden Van Foreest1–0
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov0–1
Round 4
- Ian Nepomniachtchi – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave0–1
- Vladislav Artemiev – Hans Moke Niemann½–½
- Vincent Keymer – Anish Giri½–½
- Magnus Carlsen – Erigaisi Arjun1–0
- Rameshbabu Vaishali – Jan-Krzysztof Duda½–½
- Fabiano Caruana – Haik M. Martirosyan1–0
- Praggnanandhaa R – Quang Liem Le1–0
- Alireza Firouzja – Richard Rapport1–0
- Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Nodirbek Abdusattorov1–0
- Levon Aronian – Wesley So1–0
- Abhimanyu Mishra – Andrew Hong½–½
- Jorden Van Foreest – Bibisara Assaubayeva1–0
Round 5
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Vladislav Artemiev1–0
- Erigaisi Arjun – Rameshbabu Vaishali1–0
- Hans Moke Niemann – Fabiano Caruana½–½
- Ian Nepomniachtchi – Magnus Carlsen½–½
- Anish Giri – Praggnanandhaa R½–½
- Levon Aronian – Vincent Keymer1–0
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Alireza Firouzja0–1
- Haik M. Martirosyan – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov1–0
- Richard Rapport – Andrew Hong1–0
- Quang Liem Le – Jorden Van Foreest0–1
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Abhimanyu Mishra0–1
- Wesley So – Bibisara Assaubayeva1–0
Round 6
- Erigaisi Arjun – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave1–0
- Alireza Firouzja – Levon Aronian½–½
- Vladislav Artemiev – Ian Nepomniachtchi½–½
- Magnus Carlsen – Anish Giri1–0
- Praggnanandhaa R – Hans Moke Niemann0–1
- Fabiano Caruana – Vincent Keymer1–0
- Rameshbabu Vaishali – Richard Rapport½–½
- Jorden Van Foreest – Haik M. Martirosyan0–1
- Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Wesley So0–1
- Abhimanyu Mishra – Jan-Krzysztof Duda1–0
- Andrew Hong – Quang Liem Le1–0
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Nodirbek Abdusattorov0–1
Round 7
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Fabiano Caruana½–½
- Ian Nepomniachtchi – Erigaisi Arjun1–0
- Haik M. Martirosyan – Alireza Firouzja0–1
- Hans Moke Niemann – Magnus Carlsen½–½
- Levon Aronian – Vladislav Artemiev1–0
- Wesley So – Praggnanandhaa R½–½
- Anish Giri – Rameshbabu Vaishali½–½
- Richard Rapport – Abhimanyu Mishra1–0
- Vincent Keymer – Andrew Hong1–0
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Jorden Van Foreest½–½
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov1–0
- Quang Liem Le – Bibisara Assaubayeva1–0
Round 8
- Alireza Firouzja – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave0–1
- Fabiano Caruana – Erigaisi Arjun0–1
- Hans Moke Niemann – Ian Nepomniachtchi½–½
- Magnus Carlsen – Levon Aronian½–½
- Wesley So – Richard Rapport½–½
- Vladislav Artemiev – Anish Giri½–½
- Praggnanandhaa R – Vincent Keymer0–1
- Rameshbabu Vaishali – Haik M. Martirosyan0–1
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Jan-Krzysztof Duda0–1
- Abhimanyu Mishra – Jorden Van Foreest1–0
- Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Quang Liem Le½–½
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Andrew Hong0–1
Round 9
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Hans Moke Niemann½–½
- Erigaisi Arjun – Levon Aronian0–1
- Ian Nepomniachtchi – Fabiano Caruana0–1
- Haik M. Martirosyan – Magnus Carlsen0–1
- Vincent Keymer – Alireza Firouzja0–1
- Richard Rapport – Vladislav Artemiev1–0
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Wesley So½–½
- Anish Giri – Abhimanyu Mishra1–0
- Andrew Hong – Praggnanandhaa R0–1
- Bibisara Assaubayeva – Rameshbabu Vaishali½–½
- Quang Liem Le – Nodirbek Abdusattorov1–0
- Jorden Van Foreest – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov0–1
How to watch
The games are shown live on six channels. The official broadcast is presented by Anna Rudolf, Fiona Steil-Antoni, David Howell and Jovanka Houska, with Anna Rudolf reporting from the venue. Levy Rozman (GothamChess) hosts a daily highlights show with player interviews and the key moments.
- Total Chess, the official stream on YouTube
- Chess.com, the event page
- DAZN, the competition page
- TV 2, TV 2 Play in Norway
- NDTV, YouTube in India
- ChessBase India, its YouTube channel
On this page you can follow every board as it is played and replay each game with every move graded by Stockfish.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Magnus Carlsen by Miroslav.vajdic, CC BY 4.0.
