Total Chess World Championship: Abhimanyu Mishra Holds Carlsen Twice as India’s Stars Struggle in Budapest

Mishra Earns Unbeaten Record Against Carlsen

BUDAPEST — The Total Chess World Championship continued in Hungary as 17-year-old American grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra went unbeaten in two games against world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, both ending in draws during the third and fourth rounds of the Fast Classic group stage.

Mishra, rated 2644, faced a significant gap in strength against Carlsen’s 2823 rating but managed to secure a solid result with Black in their first encounter. An Italian Game reached a balanced position despite Carlsen offering a bishop sacrifice on h6, and the players exchanged rooks on move 50 before agreeing to a draw.

In the return game, Carlsen opted for the Scandinavian Defence but found himself under pressure after moving his king to d7 on move 26. Mishra’s knight repositioned to h5, capturing pawns on g7 and h6 to build a substantial advantage. Carlsen steered the contest into an opposite-coloured bishop endgame, and while Mishra pressed for a win, the Norwegian established a defensive barrier. After 80 moves, the game was declared a draw.

Before the tournament began, Mishra told Sportstar that the depth of talent in the field was what drew him to accept the invitation, and he had especially valued the opportunity to play Carlsen twice as a learning experience alongside matches against Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachtchi.

Indian Stars Face Setbacks

The day’s results were less kind to other Indian representatives. R. Praggnanandhaa suffered two consecutive defeats, falling to Fabiano Caruana, and remained bottom of Group B on two points. Caruana led the group with 10 points.

R. Vaishali also dropped both her games, losing each time to Hans Niemann, leaving her with just one point from the tournament so far.

Key Highlights

• Mishra drawn both games vs Carlsen; sits on three points in Group C
• Nepomniachtchi and Martirosyan share the Group C lead on six points
• Praggnanandhaa on two points, bottom of Group B behind Caruana
• Vaishali on one point after double defeat to Niemann
• Firouzja tops Group A with eight points

Other Standout Results

Bibisara Assaubayeva produced the day’s biggest upset by defeating Arjun Erigaisi with Black in round three. The Kazakh grandmaster, rated 2532 against Arjun’s 2746, claimed her first Fast Classic victory after two opening-round draws. Arjun responded in the return game with a win as Black, and both players moved to five points in Group D.

Niemann, who beat Vaishali twice, joined Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on eight points after the Frenchman defeated Wesley So and drew their second game. In Group A, Alireza Firouzja extended his lead to eight points following a win over Jorden van Foreest and a draw in the return match. Jan-Krzysztof Duda sat on seven after trading victories with Nodirbek Abdusattorov.

Source

This report is based on information published by Sportstar (The Hindu) — Chess.

Official source: https://sportstar.thehindu.com/chess/magnus-carlsen-draw-vs-abhimanyu-mishra-india-results-total-chess-world-championship/article71696392.ece