Vaishali stuns So and Niemann as Carlsen wins Total Chess Blitz opener

Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali registered impressive victories over Wesley So and Hans Niemann, while world No.1 Magnus Carlsen lived up to his top billing by winning the nine-round Blitz Swiss that opened the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot here.

Arjun Erigaisi was the best-placed Indian, finishing in a five-way tie for fourth with 5.5 points alongside Alireza Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana, Niemann and Richard Rapport here on Tuesday.

Women's World Championship challenger Vaishali began with two wins in her first three games but struggled to maintain that momentum, losing twice and drawing three times in her remaining six rounds to finish with four points.

Her victories over world No.6 So and world No.36 Niemann, however, stood out in an otherwise mixed outing.

Her brother and Norway Chess champion R Praggnanandhaa signed off with a win over Andrew Hong to finish on 4.5 points.

Carlsen remained unbeaten, winning five and drawing four of his nine games to top the standings with seven points and take the first honours of the tournament.

France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished second with 6.5 points, while Armenian Grandmaster Levon Aronian took the third place with six points.

Erigaisi was the only player to beat Vachier-Lagrave and also registered a notable victory over Caruana in the eighth round, moving to within half a point of the lead heading into the final round.

However, Aronian defeated the Indian in the final round to secure the third place, capping an impressive finish with four wins in his last six games.

The Blitz standings will carry significant weight throughout the tournament, serving as the tiebreaker in the group stage, determining semifinal pairings across all six knockout brackets and giving the higher-ranked player the choice of colour in the first blitz game of each knockout match.

Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave set the pace through the evening.

The Norwegian entered the final round unbeaten on six points from eight games, having beaten Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Richard Rapport, Erigaisi and Anish Giri, while drawing against Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Niemann and Aronian.

Vachier-Lagrave drew level with Carlsen by beating Firouzja in the eighth round but could not match the world No.1's winning finish.

Earlier in the day, the drawing of lots determined the groups for the Fast Classic stage.

Group B appears the strongest on paper, featuring three players from the world's top 10 in Caruana, Praggnanandhaa and Vincent Keymer, along with Rapport.

Carlsen will face Giri, Nepomniachtchi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in Group C, while Group D features So, Erigaisi, Vachier-Lagrave and Niemann alongside Bibisara Assaubayeva and Vaishali, the two women in the 24-player field.

Groups:

Group A: Alireza Firouzja, Jorden van Foreest, Andrew Hong, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Levon Aronian, Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Group B: Vladislav Artemiev, Richard Rapport, R Praggnanandhaa, Vincent Keymer, Fabiano Caruana, Liem Le.

Group C: Anish Giri, Haik M Martirosyan, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Abhimanyu Mishra, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Magnus Carlsen.

Group D: R Vaishali, Hans Niemann, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Wesley So, Arjun Erigaisi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

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