Carlsen Strikes First As Total Chess Begins—But Vaishali Steals The Spotlight

New format, same result. GM Magnus Carlsen has wasted absolutely no time whatsoever reminding the world's best chess players who they are up against.

The Norwegian world number-one won the opening nine-round blitz tournament at the inaugural Total Chess pilot in Budapest on Tuesday finishing unbeaten on 7/9.

French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished second on 6.5 points, with Armenian-American GM Levon Aronian third on 6.

Carlsen clinched first place by beating GM Haik Martirosyan with Black in the final round, while Vachier-Lagrave could only draw with GM Hans Niemann.

It was a familiar outcome for the five-time classical world champion, but this was more than another blitz victory.

Under Total Chess's unusual rules, the opening tournament determines tiebreak priority during the group stage, influences knockout pairings and gives higher-ranked players the first choice of colour in knockout blitz games.

Carlsen has therefore secured a potentially useful advantage before the main competition has even begun.

Vaishali makes her mark

One of the most intriguing performances came from Indian GM Vaishali Rameshbabu, who defeated Niemann in the opening round and former world rapid champion GM Wesley So in round three. It was quite the feat: So has been in blazing form recently after winning being crowned U.S. Champion for the fourth time just two weeks ago.

Vaishali, one of only two women competing in the 24-player field, finished on 4/9.

Her results offered an early answer to one of the questions surrounding the tournament: how would the women fare against a field packed with elite grandmasters?

Kazakhstan's GM Bibisara Assaubayeva is the other woman taking part. Both now face an exceptionally demanding group stage.

Meanwhile, GM Arjun Erigaisi threatened to challenge for first place after beating Vachier-Lagrave and GM Fabiano Caruana, only to lose his final game to Aronian.

Erigaisi finished among five players on 5.5 points, alongside GM Alireza Firouzja, Caruana, Niemann and hometown hope GM Richard Rapport.

Rapport provided the first major upset of the evening by defeating world number-three Caruana in the opening round.

Now comes the real experiment

The tournament switches to its new Fast Classic format on Wednesday, with 24 players divided into four groups of six.

Games will be played at 45 minutes plus 30 seconds per move, with three points awarded for a win and one for a draw.

Carlsen faces Dutch number-one GM Anish Giri, his old Russian adversary GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Martirosyan and 17-year-old GM Abhimanyu Mishra in Group C.

Group B features Caruana, GM Praggnanandhaa R, GM Vincent Keymer and Rapport, while Group D brings together Vachier-Lagrave, Erigaisi, Niemann, So, Vaishali and Assaubayeva.

Only the four group winners will contest the main championship knockout bracket, although all 24 players will continue competing for final positions.

The $650,000 event is intended as a trial run for a new world tour combining Fast Classic, rapid and blitz, with organisers hoping to establish a single measure of chess excellence.

Right not, Magnus Carlsen is the still the yardstick.

The Fast Classic group stage begins Wednesday, November 11, at 15:00 CET (14:00 GMT).

For the full format, schedule and players, see our Total Chess 2026 guide.