Firouzja, Caruana, Giri and MVL top groups as Carlsen drops out of contention
Magnus Carlsen can no longer win Group C of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot 2026, while Alireza Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave lead their respective groups heading into the final day.
Alireza Firouzja remains unbeaten at the top of Group A, with Jorden van Foreest moving into joint second after a win over Andrew Hong. In Group B, Fabiano Caruana holds a four-point lead over Liem Le, securing an almost certain group victory despite two draws.
In Group C, Anish Giri has taken the lead after defeating Abhimanyu Mishra, while Magnus Carlsen’s two draws against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov leave him unable to finish first.
Group D is tightly contested; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave stays ahead on blitz tiebreaks after a loss to Arjun Erigaisi, who also beat him in the second game. Hans Niemann joins Erigaisi and Vachier-Lagrave in a three-way tie.
Levon Aronian noted that players appearing satisfied with their positions are stabilising, while Caruana admitted brief thoughts of overtaking the world-number-one spot during his games. Wesley So expressed support for fellow Indian competitors Gukesh and Vaishali ahead of upcoming world championship matches.
The group stage concludes on Sunday, November 15, with the top four group winners advancing to a knockout stage to determine the overall champion of the pilot event.