Total Chess Pilot 2026 Day 2: Caruana sacrifices his house against Pragg!

The Russian team defeated India in the 4th round to emerge as the sole leader of the Asian Nations Chess Cup 2026. On 12th November, it was a double-round day; in the morning round, India defeated Kazakhstan 3.5-0.5 and started the day strongly. Russia drew China 2-2. In the evening round, top seed India faced second seed Russia. On the top board, Andrey Esipenko defeated Nihal Sarin with white pieces; on the second board, Pranav drew against Daniil Dubov in a wild encounter; on the third board, Pranesh lost against Aleksey Grebnev; and on the 4th board, Aravindh drew his game. The 5th round in Men and the 3rd round in Women start at 3 pm local time/4:30 pm IST. Photos: Devansh Singh

The 1st Lions Club of Belgaum and Leo Club of Belgaum All India Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament featured rapid, blitz and puzzle competitions in Belagavi. IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete won the rapid with 8/9, ahead of IM Goutham Krishna and IM Ravi Teja S. (7.5/9 each). Goutham Krishna scored a perfect 9/9 to claim the blitz title, followed by FM Niranjan Navalgund and IM Kashish Manoj Jain, while IM Suyogh Wagh, IM Sammedh Shete and IM Nitesh Belurkar finished first, second and third in the puzzle competition. Photos: Aakash Madiwalar.

We know what Sharvaanica AS has achieved: World Under-10 champion in 2025, World Under-12 Rapid champion this year, Woman FIDE Master at 11. What we rarely ask is who made it possible. This October, Sharvaanica was in Mumbai for a session at the Temple of Chess. Khushi Kumari spent time with her and her family during that visit - and came back with the story of the two people behind the champion: her mother and her sister.

Anustoop Biswas of West Bengal won the 2nd Shefali Memorial International Open FIDE Rating Rapid Chess Tournament with an unbeaten 8/9. Aritra Pal finished second with 7.5 points, while WCM Aaradhya Das finished third, also scoring 7.5/9.

The group stage of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot began in Budapest on the 11th of November 2026, and the match of the day was Anish Giri against Magnus Carlsen. Magnus played the Dutch Defence against the Dutch no.1 in the first game. Anish sacrificed a bishop on g2 in the second. Both games were drawn, and that leaves both of them two points behind Ian Nepomniachtchi in Group C. Among the Indians, R. Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi drew both their games after being in serious trouble in the second, and R. Vaishali lost one and drew one against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

"It's not over until it's over." This quote summarises the 2nd round of the Asian Nations Chess Cup 2026. In the men's section, India defeated Uzbekistan on the top board, but Nihal Sarin was clearly winning; under time pressure, he slipped, and the game ended in a draw. The same thing happened in the Women's section, where Vantika's opponent ran out of time because she thought there were two time controls; also, Aamuktha Guntaka lost from a clearly better position, and the match with Mongolia ended 2-2. Polina Shuvalova scored an important win in the clash between Russia and China to help Russia win 2.5-1.5. It's a double-round day for men, and the third round starts at 10 am local time/ 11:30 am IST. Photos: Devansh Singh

Aditya Sur scored 8.5/10 to win the Resurrection Race-III Open International Standard FIDE Rating Chess Tournament. Diproneel Barman also scored 8.5 points to finish runner-up, while Dipro Mandal took third place with 8/10.

Kamad Mishra of Madhya Pradesh scored a perfect 9/9 to win the Khelo Chess India 94.0 Classical Rating 2026. Kamad won the tournament with a round to spare after defeating Nitin Raghuwanshi in the penultimate round. Reyaansh Sushil and Debopriyo Dutta scored 7/9 points to finish in second and third place, according to the tiebreak scores. The total prize fund was ₹1,00,000, with top 3 prizes of ₹25,000, ₹15,000, and ₹10,000, along with trophies. Photos: Ayush Jain

Experienced FM Prakash Ram of Punjab scored an unbeaten 8/9 points to win the 9th N L Pandiyar Memorial International Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament 2026. Rahul Mynala and Shreyash Singh scored 7.5/9 points to finish 2nd and 3rd, respectively, on tiebreak scores. The tournament took place from 25th to 29th October 2026 at Orbit Resort, Udaipur. The total prize fund was ₹16,01,000, with top 3 prizes of ₹1,11,000, ₹71,000, and ₹41,000, along with trophies. Photos: IA Vikas Sahu/Chess in Lakecity

Magnus Carlsen won the Blitz Swiss that opened the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot in Budapest on the 10th of November 2026. He scored 7.0/9 and did not lose a game. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was second on 6.5/9 and Levon Aronian third on 6.0/9. For India the story of the evening was R. Vaishali. She had the lowest blitz rating in the field of 24 players, and she beat Hans Niemann and Wesley So, both with the black pieces!

The Asian Nations Chess Cup 2026 officially kicked off on November 10, 2026, in Abu Dhabi. In the 1st round, all the favourites won their games easily. In the Men's section, India defeated Lebanon (4-0), Russia defeated Nepal (4-0), and China also clean-swept New Zealand. In the Women's section, Russia defeated UAE (A) on the top board. Indian women's team won 3.5-0.5 against New Zealand. In the second round, the Indian men's team is facing Uzbekistan. The second round starts at 3 pm local time/ 4:30 pm IST. Photos: Devansh Singh

The Asian Nations Chess Cup 2026 starts on 10th November 2026. Almost all top Asian federations are taking part in this team event. In the Men's section, India is the top seed, with GM Nihal Sarin, GM Pranesh M, GM Pranav V, and GM Aravindh Chithambaram leading the charge. Russia is the 2nd seed in the Men's. In the Women's section, Russia is the top seed, Kazakhstan is second, and India is third. The first round will start after the opening Ceremony at the Sheraton Hotel and Resorts Abu Dhabi at 5 pm local time/ 6:30 pm IST. Photos: Devansh Singh

Players were getting ready for the final round, and Viresh was sitting at the board, chatting with his friends. He asked me, "Did you check the norm situation?" I told him yes. He then asked whether a draw would be enough. I began to worry as I knew a draw wouldn't cut it and would leave him stuck at a 2599 performance rating. But should I tell him the news just two minutes before the game?

GM V. Pranav is the FIDE World Junior Blitz Champion 2026! The 20-year-old from Chennai scored 10.5/13 in Al Ain, UAE, finishing a full point clear of the field and adding the blitz crown to the rapid silver he won earlier in the week. In the Girls section, WGM Valeria Kleymenova took the title with 10/13, while WIM Aamuktha Guntaka finished fourth and IM Savitha Shri seventh for India.

The Total Chess Pilot begins in Budapest on the 10th of November 2026 and runs till the 20th. Twenty-four players, three time controls, four groups, six knockout brackets and a prize fund of USD 650,000. Almost everyone we have spoken to in the last few days has had the same reaction: it sounds exciting, but how does it actually work? Here is the whole format, in the order in which it will unfold, with the four questions we keep hearing answered along the way.

Opening Preparation to End the Tournament?? GM Pranesh M. defeated GM Iniyan Panneerselvam in the final round of the 1st Chola Chess Open International Grandmasters Chess Tournament 2026 to clinch the title. The tournament was a huge success, with 9 out of 86 players scoring their Norms. 1 Grandmaster, 7 International Masters, and 1 Woman International Master norm were secured. FM Aadik Lenin from Kerala scored his final IM Norm to get the International Master Title. The most shocking and cheering result was IM Viresh Sharnarthi defeating GM Leon Mendonca with black pieces on demand to score his 2nd GM Norm in 10 days. Read the final report. Photos: Devansh Singh

IM Anuj Shrivatri of Madhya Pradesh won the 7th ASEAN Plus Individual Open Chess Championship and earned the Grandmaster title. After losing the first game, Anuj scored 7/8 points to win the tournament. With this, India gained its 100th Grandmaster, and Madhya Pradesh got its first. Huge congratulations to Anuj and his family on this achievement!

We learn about many incredible chess talents in India every day. Many players stand on podiums, holding their glistening trophies and adding norms to their bags. One of them is Nivedita VC. Born in 2011, Nivedita is a Woman FIDE Master with a long list of achievements. Let's take a look at her journey!

In just a few hours, one of India's strongest open tournaments will conclude, but not without an exciting last-round fight. After the penultimate round, the biggest news is Aadik Lenin becoming India's latest IM after scoring his final IM norm with a round to spare. IM Viresh Sharnarthi needs to win against GM Leon Mendonca with the black pieces to secure his 2nd GM norm. Almost 9 more IM norms are expected, depending on the results. The final round will start at 10 am IST on 7th November. Photos: Devansh Singh

The fight for norms is getting intense at the 1st Chola Chess GM 2026. On the top board, S.L. Narayanan defeated Pranesh M to gain the sole lead. FM Sarbartho Mani is getting back in shape; he defeated GM Sayantan Das with white pieces. This was Sarbartho's 2nd win against a Grandmaster in classical chess, and with this win he moves to 4/7 points. FM Avirat Chauhan is also playing great chess, and he defeated IM Aradhya Garg in an exciting clash. In other games, most of the favourites won. The penultimate round will start on 6th November at 2 PM IST. Photos: Devansh Singh

India won ten medals across the Rapid and Blitz events at the 4th Asian Chess Championship for Players with Disabilities 2026 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Sharon Rachel Aby won gold in the Girls Under-20 category in both Rapid and Blitz, while Nishan Mondal added a third gold in the Boys Under-20 Rapid. Sarthak Singh, Ezhilarasi G and Durkasri M also won medals in both formats. Read the full report. Photo: Tamizharasan Murugan

A day filled with some heartbreaks and upsets! The biggest news of the day was GM Pranesh M defeating GM Leon Mendonca to gain the sole lead. FM Aarit Kapil was on the verge of defeating GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, but he missed his chance, and the game ended in a draw. It was his 5th draw against a Grandmaster. FM Aadik Theophane Lenin scored his highest-rated classical win, beating GM Dimitris Alexakis. FM Madhesh Kumar S. defeated IM Apoorv Kamble in an exciting battle. With just three rounds to go, the battle for scoring norms is getting intense; stay tuned. Photos: Devansh Singh

Here is a job opening you don't see every day. A chess academy is looking for someone to run the whole show, and that person does not need to know how the knight moves! GM Swapnil Dhopade, India's 40th Grandmaster, is hiring a full-time CEO for Chess Pathshala, at Rs.70,000 to Rs.80,000 per month plus a profit share linked to the academy's growth.