Total Chess World Championship: Abhimanyu Mishra holds Carlsen; Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali lose twice

Abhimanyu Mishra emerged unbeaten after drawing two games with Magnus Carlsen at the Total Chess World Championship. | Photo Credit: Total Chess

Abhimanyu Mishra had welcomed the chance to play Magnus Carlsen twice when the Total Chess draw was announced. On Thursday, the youngest Grandmaster in the field emerged from those encounters unbeaten, even leaving the world No. 1 defending an inferior position in their return game.

The 17-year-old American drew both games in the third and fourth rounds of the Fast Classic group stage, making Carlsen wait for his first victory after four successive draws.

Mishra, rated 2644 against Carlsen’s 2823, was secure with Black in their first encounter. An Italian Game remained balanced despite Carlsen’s bishop sacrifice on h6, and the game ended in a draw following a rook exchange on move 50.

The return game offered Mishra considerably more. Carlsen chose the Scandinavian Defence, but his position deteriorated after he moved his king to d7 on move 26. Mishra’s knight manoeuvre to h5 allowed him to collect the g7 and h6 pawns, giving him a substantial advantage.

Carlsen nevertheless steered the game towards an opposite-coloured bishop ending. Mishra’s advantage slipped away as the kingside pawns advanced, and the Norwegian established a defensive barrier. The American continued probing before agreeing to a draw after 80 moves.

Before tournament began, Mishra had told Sportstar that the strength of the field was central to his decision to accept the invitation.

“What really convinced me to come here is the sheer number of the world’s elite,” he said.

He had particularly welcomed two games against Carlsen as a learning opportunity, alongside meetings with Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

The draws took Mishra to three points in Group C. Carlsen had four, while Nepomniachtchi and Haik Martirosyan shared the lead on six, with six games remaining. Nepomniachtchi drew twice with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while Martirosyan and Giri exchanged victories.

Arjun recovers; Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali lose twice

R. Vaishali lost both games to Hans Niemann, leaving her last with one point.  | Photo Credit: Total Chess

Bibisara Assaubayeva delivered the day’s biggest rating upset by defeating Arjun Erigaisi with Black in round three. The Kazakh, rated 2532 against Arjun’s 2746, secured her first Fast Classic victory after two opening-day draws.

Arjun responded by winning the return encounter, also with Black. The split results left both players on five points in Group D, with Arjun third ahead of Assaubayeva on the preliminary blitz tie-break.

R. Vaishali lost both games to Hans Niemann, leaving her last with one point. Niemann joined Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on eight after the Frenchman beat Wesley So and drew the return game.

R. Praggnanandhaa also endured two defeats, against Fabiano Caruana, and remained bottom of Group B on two points. Caruana led with 10, followed by Liem Le on eight after a win and a draw against Vincent Keymer.

Alireza Firouzja led Group A with eight points after beating Jorden van Foreest and drawing their second game. Jan-Krzysztof Duda followed on seven after trading wins with Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Published on Nov 13, 2026

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