# Total Chess World Championship: Mishra holds Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali lose twice _Abhimanyu Mishra drew both games against Magnus Carlsen while two Indian players suffered defeats in the Fast Classic group stage._ - Publisher: Apex Sports News (https://apexsportsnews.in) - Canonical URL: https://apexsportsnews.in/news/total-chess-world-championship-mishra-holds-carlsen-praggnanandhaa-and-vaishali - Author: Atul, Editor (https://apexsportsnews.in/author/atul) - Published: 2026-11-13T03:16:45.250Z - Section: Other Sports > Chess - Topics: R Vaishali, R Praggnanandhaa, Magnus Carlsen, Total Chess World Championship, Abhimanyu Mishra ## Summary Abhimanyu Mishra stayed unbeaten after drawing twice with Magnus Carlsen at the Total Chess World Championship. R Praggnanandhaa and R Vaishali each lost both their games. ## Key takeaways - Abhimanyu Mishra drew both games against Magnus Carlsen in rounds three and four - Mishra is rated 2644 against Carlsen's 2823 - Carlsen had four successive draws before meeting Mishra - R Praggnanandhaa lost both games to Fabiano Caruana - R Vaishali lost both games to Hans Niemann ## Article Abhimanyu Mishra emerged unbeaten after drawing both games against Magnus Carlsen in the third and fourth rounds of the Fast Classic group stage at the Total Chess World Championship. The 17-year-old American left the world number one defending an inferior position in their return game. ## Mishra holds Carlsen 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. In the return game, 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. ## Group standings and other results The draws took Mishra to three points in Group C. Carlsen had four points. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Haik Martirosyan shared the lead on six points, with six games remaining. Nepomniachtchi drew twice with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while Martirosyan and Anish Giri exchanged victories. R Praggnanandhaa remained bottom of Group B on two points after losing both games to Fabiano Caruana, who led with 10 points. Liem Le followed on eight points after a win and a draw against Vincent Keymer. R Vaishali was last with one point after losing both games to Hans Niemann. Niemann joined Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on eight points after the Frenchman beat Wesley So and drew the return game. ## Other group action 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. Alireza Firouzja led Group A with eight points after beating Jorden van Foreest and drawing their second game. Jan-Krzysztof Duda followed on seven points after trading wins with Nodirbek Abdusattorov. ## Context and what happens next Before the tournament began, Mishra had told Sportstar that the strength of the field was central to his decision to accept the invitation. He had particularly welcomed two games against Carlsen as a learning opportunity, alongside meetings with Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Total Chess World Championship 2026 is the first edition of the event, announced by Norway Chess on October 15, 2025, and approved and endorsed by FIDE. It is part of the Total Chess World Championship Tour 2026–27, organized by Norway Chess and approved by FIDE, which comprises four tournaments: a Pilot Tournament in 2026, two other tournaments and a Grand Final. Players are awarded points in each of the first three tournaments based on their rank, and the highest rank-scorers qualify for the Grand Final. The winner of the tournament is crowned with the FIDE World Combined Champion title. The tour offers two spots for the Candidates Tournament 2028. ### Group standings and key results mentioned by Sportstar | Group | Player | Points | Result | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Group C | Mishra | 3 | Drew twice with Carlsen | | Group C | Carlsen | 4 | Four draws before Mishra | | Group C | Nepomniachtchi | 6 | Joint leader | | Group C | Martirosyan | 6 | Joint leader | | Group B | Praggnanandhaa | 2 | Lost twice to Caruana | | Group D | Vaishali | 1 | Lost twice to Niemann | ### Related on Apex Sports News - [Total Chess World Championship Tour: Erigaisi and Vaishali in Group D, Praggnanandhaa faces Caruana](https://apexsportsnews.in/news/total-chess-world-championship-tour-erigaisi-and-vaishali-in-group-d) - [Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi draw twice at Total Chess Pilot in Budapest](https://apexsportsnews.in/news/praggnanandhaa-and-erigaisi-draw-twice-at-total-chess-pilot-in-budapest) - [Nepomniachtchi and Vachier-Lagrave lead Total Chess World Championship](https://apexsportsnews.in/news/nepomniachtchi-and-vachier-lagrave-lead-total-chess-world-championship) ### Sources - [Sportstar](https://sportstar.thehindu.com/chess/magnus-carlsen-draw-vs-abhimanyu-mishra-india-results-total-chess-world-championship/article71696392.ece) - [Wikipedia: Total Chess World Championship Tour (background)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Chess_World_Championship_Tour) - [Photo: Stefan64, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AbhimanyuMishra24a.jpg) --- Source: Apex Sports News, https://apexsportsnews.in/news/total-chess-world-championship-mishra-holds-carlsen-praggnanandhaa-and-vaishali. Please cite and link the original article when quoting.