GM Fabiano Caruana is now rated exactly 2800.0 on the live rating list after beating GM Vincent Keymer, while GM Magnus Carlsen is just 7.2 rating points from losing his 15-year unbroken streak as world number-one after losing to GM Haik Martirosyan. The Armenian is the surprise leader of Group C of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot 2026, while Caruana leads Group B. GM Alireza Firouzja leads Group A despite mixing up colors and losing his first game to GM Andrew Hong, while GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has now defeated three Group D rivals in a row after overcoming GM Hans Niemann.
Day five, which features rounds seven and eight of the Group Stage, is on Saturday, November 14, starting at 9 a.m. ET / 15:00 CET / 7:30 p.m. IST.
Group Stage Round 5 Results
There were some huge upsets in round five, as half the games ended decisively.
The evening round was quieter, but featured some significant wins.
Group Stage Round 6 Results
Check out GM Hikaru Nakamura‘s recap of the day’s action:
Group A: Firouzja Bounces Back To Lead
Firouzja’s first loss had few consequences since he struck back immediately to beat Hong. His three-point haul for the day took him a point further ahead of his pursuers GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Levon Aronian, who drew against each other. GM Jorden van Foreest was the player to climb, inflicting yet another loss on the suffering GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Group A Standings
Firouzja revealed he had an unpleasant surprise in the first game of the day, having made a mistake Keymer confessed to making the day before:
I didn’t know I’ll play the first game Black—I thought I always have White in the group, so I didn’t prepare anything with Black, so this was the shock. And then I didn’t play well in the first game.
In a sharp Sicilian, Firouzja found his king incredibly exposed, but he did have the clock on his side, with 19 minutes to just more than one as things became critical. He chose the wrong side of the board to try and hide, however, and then 27…Qf7? was the last nail in his coffin. Hong could have won with a dramatic rook sacrifice, but 28.Bb6! also got the job done just fine.
Firouzja struck back smoothly in the second game, however, with Hong admitting he wasn’t sure exactly where he’d gone wrong.
It was clear where Abdusattorov went astray against Van Foreest, with 21…Nxc4? only worsening an already tricky position.
Abdusattorov had chances in the second game, but they came to nothing.
Duda and Aronian played out two lively draws, with Aronian crediting his second GM Mikhail Antipov (“a great expert in this line”) for the decision to play the rare 4…Ne7!? in the Anti-Berlin. It sent Duda into a 17-minute think.
Aronian called it “not entirely correct,” but felt it could work in a “fast classic” game. It did, though in the end no blood was spilled. On that topic, Aronian had responded earlier in the day to the news that classical 45+30 games could now become widespread by suggesting a change in the K factor.
@FIDE_chess @ChrisBirdIA I feel that anything below 1 hour 30 minutes per game should have K=5 or K=6 factor. Somehow it doesn’t feel right to equate a 5-6 hour game to a 2.5 hour game.
— Levon Aronian (@LevAronian) November 13, 2026
The lower factor would mean that the games played in Budapest would affect ratings less, with equally-rated opponents earning three points for a win instead of five. That brings us to some dramatic shifts in the rating list.
Group B: Caruana Dominates, But Le Keeps Up Pressure
Caruana remains the top-performing player in the Total Chess Pilot, as he started day four with a fourth win in five games, this time against Keymer. Only GM Liem Le is relatively close after surviving two hair-raising games against GM Richard Rapport.
Group B Standings
Caruana’s win, then draw, saw him gain 17 rating points, while Carlsen has now dropped 15.8, making it a remarkable 32.8-point swing in just three days of chess.
Caruana’s third win in a row against an elite rival saw him flawlessly convert a single easy-to-miss slip by Keymer. That’s our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao has analyzed below.
“My play is flowing very well, I’m just playing quite confidently,” said Caruana. He crossed 2800, but when asked if he was thinking about ratings and catching Carlsen, he responded: “No, not too much, I have reached 2800 a few times before. If it gets a bit closer, I’ll definitely think about it, but for the moment I’m not thinking about it too much.”
It was already perhaps closer than he realized, since Caruana could potentially have become world number-one during the second round of the day. As it happened, however, he admitted he’d been “very close to losing” in a 72-move rematch against Keymer.
Elsewhere in the group, all games were drawn, with GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu calling his first game against GM Vladislav Artemiev “crazy.” In mutual time trouble, Artemiev had some chances, but he admitted overall he was happy to survive after Praggnanandhaa tried to exploit an extra pawn until move 89. A fast draw in the second game suited both players.
In the remaining clash, Le admitted he was “quite lucky to survive both” games against Rapport. In the first, he blundered a simple tactic, while in the second, Rapport came to the confessional to express his surprise.
Rapport on 9…a6 vs. Le: “The funny thing is I have played this vs. Ding in 2017… now it’s the engine’s top choice, so I’m surprised he’s thinking. The question is do I remember anything else after a6 & if I’ve checked that game… and the answer is no!” 😀 #TotalChess https://t.co/pXySG4jGO2
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 13, 2026
Rapport took over and gained a real advantage, but it fizzled out until he liquidated to a position where he was playing with two rooks against Le’s queen. There were chances, but no breakthrough, until a draw was reached on move 103 in the last game of the day to finish. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Rapport didn’t want to be interviewed after it was over.
Group C: Martirosyan Stuns Carlsen To Lead; Giri A Point Behind
Martirosyan’s healthy habit of winning a game a day continued against none other than Carlsen, so that the Armenian star leads Group C while Carlsen languishes at the bottom of the table. The gap isn’t insurmountable, but GM Anish Giri‘s win over GM Ian Nepomniachtchi puts him in a strong position. GMs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Abhimanyu Mishra made two draws.
Group C Standings
It’s impossible not to wonder each day when Carlsen will “wake up,” but, as his tournament and rating situation worsens, the pressure is only growing. Winless so far, he was almost forced to play for a win against 2669-rated Martirosyan, but the Armenian star is no pushover. In fact, Carlsen could also recall an earlier calamity against the same opponent, when he sent pieces flying and was adjudged to have lost in the 2025 World Blitz Championship.
Magnus sends the pieces scattering and desperately tries to set them up again, but to avoid losing on time like the day before he hits the clock with 2 seconds to spare without having finished the repairs! https://t.co/XcvkNAnMKI
— chess24 (@chess24com) December 30, 2025
In Budapest, time was again a factor, with Carlsen once more burning up too much time in the opening for very little reward. Although the world number-one managed to equalize on the board, it was a more pleasant position to play as White, with Martirosyan commenting: “When he had time trouble, I already felt like his king was weak and my king was safer, so I felt it’s very good chances to try to play for a win, and yeah—it worked well!”
Martirosyan managed to weave a mating net around his opponent’s king.
Martirosyan commented: “It’s like a dream for me! I was just dreaming to play against him a classical game, but to win is already special. I will think about this moment many times.”
It’s like a dream for me!
—Haik Martirosyan on beating Magnus Carlsen
That loss after five draws was a heavy blow for Carlsen, but there was almost no time to recover, since half an hour later the next games would begin.
“Magnus, you’re ready for a second game?” “No.” #TotalChess https://t.co/4tEQdpUxNW
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 13, 2026
Carlsen is famous for his comebacks after losses, but his attempt to unsettle Martirosyan in the next game with 8.g4!?, played after a seven-minute think, looked a lot like tilt.
Martirosyan responded well, and once again it felt like all Carlsen’s ingenuity was going into trying to extricate himself from a difficult situation on the board and clock of his own making. This time he managed, however, with a relieved Carlsen in good spirits afterward.
Relief and a smile for Magnus Carlsen as another risky adventure this time ends in a draw that keeps him as the World no. 1! #TotalChess https://t.co/n2lb7g5tP5
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 13, 2026
Still, while needing to win at all costs for the Total Chess standings, he also finds himself in the most rating danger he’s been since the period around the 2018 World Championship match against Caruana, when the gap closed to three points.
That became a blip in over 15 years unbroken as world number-one, but suddenly the top spot is up for grabs again—while Carlsen is also in danger of falling below 2800 for the first time in 17 years.
As you can see, Giri is one player to have increased his rating, and he did it with a draw and win against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi on day four. In the first game, Nepomniachtchi unleashed a piece sacrifice and ended the game with more time than he began, but Giri defended well.
In the second, both players identified it as carelessness from Nepomniachtchi that he got into trouble in what should have been a dead-drawn endgame.
Group D: MVL Tops Table With 3rd Match Win In A Row
Vachier-Lagrave is the only unbeaten player in Group D after scoring a win over Niemann to pull three points clear of the U.S. star, while GM Arjun Erigaisi is also three points back after winning what for GM Wesley So was another gut-wrenching game. GM Bibisara Assaubayeva is still very much in the hunt, but lost the second game after overcoming GM Vaishali Rameshbabu in the first.
Group D Standings
“I’m definitely playing well!” said Vachier-Lagrave, who after a comfortable draw in the first game beat Niemann with a sharp attack in the second—an opportunity he put down to “some very good prep thanks to my seconds who did some great work.”
The most dramatic and painful loss of the day was for So, who surprised Arjun by engaging in a thrilling clash in their first game of the day. Arjun admitted that what proved to be a strong exchange sac had partly been a blunder, but he looked to be taking over until he allowed a dramatic blow.
So was suddenly winning, but immediately missed the best follow-up, while Arjun commented, “I think I did a good job of not panicking, and then he should have taken the repetition.”
Instead of repeating moves for a draw, So tried to play on, only to find himself lost and resigning a move later.
It was no surprise when So, who has now dropped over 18 rating points, offered a 13-move draw in the next game. The question of how he was feeling elicited emotions all chess players have felt.
Wesley So, after a painful loss to Arjun Erigaisi, talks about how his father quit chess. “Right now I want to jump off a building, but it’s not going to help things!” #TotalChess https://t.co/0G0rIANCDM
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 13, 2026
The other action in Group D was a clash between the two women competing in the event.
Assaubayeva confessed to forgetting both her preparation and a jacket…
Bibisara Assaubayeva: “I forgot the opening, unfortunately… Also I forgot to wear a jacket & now I feel cold!” #TotalChess https://t.co/1WvMri1JlN
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 13, 2026
…but she still applied pressure in the first game until Vaishali cracked and weakened her king’s position, which was swiftly punished.
Vaishali hit back to grab her first win, however, with Assaubayeva admitting she wanted to resign after going astray very early in the opening. There was no way back, with Vaishali enjoying herself as she found a sparkling path to victory.
We’ve crossed the halfway mark in the group stage, with just two days and four rounds remaining in the fight to win the groups and play in the knockout for first place. Le vs. Caruana and Carlsen vs. Mamedyarov on Saturday will be watched not just for Total Chess intrigue, however, but because the world number-one spot will again be on the line!
Round 7 Pairings
The Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot 2026 takes place on November 10-21 at the Anantara New York Palace Hotel in Budapest, Hungary. The event is a trial run for the official event in 2027, which will crown the first FIDE World Combined Champion. The event consists of a round-robin group stage and a knockout combining blitz, rapid, and fast classical time controls. The time control is 3+2 for blitz, 15+10 for rapid, 45+30 for fast classical, and 10 minutes (White) vs. 7 minutes (Black) with a one-second increment starting on move 41 in armageddon.
Previous Coverage:
Source: www.chess.com
