# Total Chess World Championship Tour: Erigaisi and Vaishali in Group D, Praggnanandhaa faces Caruana
_Three Indians begin their campaigns in Budapest as the pilot event starts on Tuesday._

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- Canonical URL: https://apexsportsnews.in/news/total-chess-world-championship-tour-erigaisi-and-vaishali-in-group-d
- Author: Atul, Editor (https://apexsportsnews.in/author/atul)
- Published: 2026-11-11T16:59:23.607Z
- Section: Other Sports
- Topics: Arjun Erigaisi, R Vaishali, R Praggnanandhaa, Magnus Carlsen, Total Chess World Championship Tour
## Summary

Arjun Erigaisi and R Vaishali are drawn in Group D, while R Praggnanandhaa is in Group B with Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer. Magnus Carlsen leads the 24-player field at the pilot Total Chess World Championship Tour.

## Key takeaways

- Arjun Erigaisi and R Vaishali are drawn together in Group D.
- R Praggnanandhaa is in Group B with Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, Richard Rapport, Vladislav Artemiev and Liem Le.
- Magnus Carlsen heads Group C and leads the 24-player field in Budapest.
- The pilot event offers a $650,000 prize fund and a Fast Classic format.
- Only the four group winners will contest the Budapest title.

## Article

The Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot begins in Budapest on Tuesday, with three Indians in the 24-player field. Arjun Erigaisi and R Vaishali are drawn together in Group D, while R Praggnanandhaa is placed in Group B. The event tests players across Fast Classic, rapid and blitz formats.

## Group stage and title path

Only the four group winners will contest the Budapest title. Finishing second means continuing in a separate bracket, with the main prize already beyond reach. That requirement to win the group gives an immediate edge to the Fast Classic competition.

## Fast Classic schedule

The first sustained test comes over five days of Fast Classic. Each will face the other five members of the group twice, once with each colour, with two games scheduled daily from November 11 to 15. A win earns three points and a draw one, meaning a victory and a defeat are worth more than two draws.

## Indian group opponents

For Arjun and Vaishali, the opposition includes Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hans Niemann and Bibisara Assaubayeva. The draw brings together the field’s two women, with Vaishali and Assaubayeva meeting again after their closely contested Women’s Candidates campaign earlier this year. R. Praggnanandhaa, the third Indian in the field, has Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, Richard Rapport, Vladislav Artemiev and Liem Le for company in Group B.

## Carlsen and other groups

Magnus Carlsen heads Group C, where he will face Anish Giri, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Haik Martirosyan and Abhimanyu Mishra. Each will play the world No. 1 twice as they compete for the group’s sole place in the title bracket. Group A features Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Alireza Firouzja, Levon Aronian, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Jorden van Foreest and Andrew Hong.

## Knockout stage

Once the groups are settled, players will enter six knockout brackets according to their finishing positions.

## Prize fund and background

The prize fund is $650,000. Vaishali won the Women’s Candidates Tournament in April to earn the right to challenge China’s Ju Wenjun for the world title. Praggnanandhaa defeated Fabiano Caruana in the Grand Chess Tour final in Saint Louis in August.

Erigaisi was part of India’s silver-medal-winning team at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. The Total Chess World Championship Tour 2026–27 is organized by Norway Chess and approved by FIDE, combining fast classical, rapid and blitz into one tournament tour.

### Group D and Group B line-ups

| Group | Players |
| --- | --- |
| Group D | Arjun Erigaisi, R Vaishali, Wesley So, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hans Niemann,… |
| Group B | R Praggnanandhaa, Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, Richard Rapport, Vladislav… |
| Group C | Magnus Carlsen, Anish Giri, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Haik… |

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### Sources

- [Sportstar](https://sportstar.thehindu.com/chess/total-chess-world-championship-tour-pairings-indians-in-action-preview-erigiasi-pragg-vaishali/article71687339.ece)
- [NDTV Sports](https://sports.ndtv.com/chess/r-praggnanandhaa-arjun-erigaisi-r-vaishali-face-stern-test-at-total-chess-world-championship-tour-12304687#publisher=newsstand)
- [Photo: Frans Peeters, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Praggnanandhaa_R,_Tata_Steel_chess_tournament_2025,_Round_1_(02)_(cropped_v2).jpg)
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