Coverage window: after 10:45 Sofia time on November 11 through 10:45 on November 14, 2026.
Fabiano Caruana is rated 2800.0 and stands 7.2 points behind Magnus Carlsen, after three days in Budapest in which Carlsen lost to Haik Martirosyan and has still not won a game in the group stage. FIDE made 60 minutes plus 30 seconds a standard time control and opened 45 minutes plus 30 seconds to the FIDE Circuit. In Vrnjačka Banja, five players share the lead in the open 50+ with one round left, and Galina Strutinskaia has already won the women's 65+.
Caruana reaches 2800, and Carlsen's lead is 7.2 points
The Total Chess World Championship Tour pilot has 24 players in four groups of six, a double round-robin at 45 minutes plus 30 seconds, two rounds a day from November 11 to 15. A win is worth three points and a draw one. Only the group winners can win the tournament: they go into the top knockout bracket for places one to four, and everyone else is sorted into five more brackets. The prize fund is $650,000, with $80,000 to the winner, and the top three earn a place in the first 2027 Tour event. 1
Six rounds in, Caruana leads Group B with 14 points from four wins and two draws. He beat Vincent Keymer with the black pieces in the first game of November 13 and drew the return. A day earlier he beat Praggnanandhaa twice, first in 26 moves and then in an endgame, for a 3077 performance after four rounds. 2 3
Those six games moved the live ratings further than any single tournament has this year. Caruana gained 17 points to reach exactly 2800.0; Carlsen lost 15.8 and stands on 2807.2. The gap is 7.2 points, down from 40 when the tournament began — a 32.8-point swing in three days. 2 4
Carlsen has been world number one since July 2011, an unbroken run of 15 years. The gap was last close to this around the 2018 World Championship match against Caruana, when it narrowed to three points. He is also in danger of falling below 2800 for the first time in 17 years. 2 5
Caruana could have taken the top spot during the second round on November 13. He drew the return against Keymer instead, and admitted afterwards that he had been "very close to losing" it. "My play is flowing very well, I'm just playing quite confidently," he said. Asked about the ratings, he answered: "No, not too much, I have reached 2800 a few times before. If it gets a bit closer, I'll definitely think about it, but for the moment I'm not thinking about it too much." 2
Fabiano Caruana at the Total Chess pilot in Budapest, where he reached 2800.0 on the live list and closed to 7.2 points behind Carlsen. Photo: Total Chess, via FIDE.
Carlsen's tournament has gone the other way. He has five draws and one loss from six games, and the loss came on November 13 against Martirosyan, who is rated 2669. Martirosyan had the white pieces, built an attack while Carlsen spent too much time in the opening, and broke through. He drew the return. Asked between the two games whether he was ready for the second, Carlsen said: "No." 2 6
"It's like a dream for me," Martirosyan said. "I was just dreaming to play against him a classical game, but to win is already special. I will think about this moment many times." 2
Martirosyan leads Group C on 10 points. Anish Giri is second on 9 after drawing the first game with Ian Nepomniachtchi and winning the return. Carlsen and Abhimanyu Mishra are level on 5 at the bottom of the group. 6
Points after six games, with three for a win and one for a draw:
| Group | Leader | Points | Second | Points | Third | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Alireza Firouzja | 11 | Jan-Krzysztof Duda | 9 | Jorden van Foreest | 8 |
| B | Fabiano Caruana | 14 | Le Quang Liem | 10 | Vladislav Artemiev, Richard Rapport | 5 |
| C | Haik Martirosyan | 10 | Anish Giri | 9 | Ian Nepomniachtchi, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 7 |
| D | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | 12 | Hans Niemann, Arjun Erigaisi | 9 | Bibisara Assaubayeva | 8 |
The rest of each group: Group A — Levon Aronian 7, Andrew Hong 6, Nodirbek Abdusattorov 5. Group B — Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 4, Vincent Keymer 4. Group C — Magnus Carlsen 5, Abhimanyu Mishra 5. Group D — Wesley So 4, Vaishali Rameshbabu 4. 6
Group A turned on Firouzja's first loss. He mixed up the colours before the first game against Hong, prepared nothing with black, and lost; he won the return and still leads on 11. Duda is second on 9 after two draws with Aronian. Van Foreest took four points from Abdusattorov, a win and a draw, and has 8. Abdusattorov, who finished 22nd of 24 in the opening blitz on 2½/9, is on 5 and has lost further rating. 2 6
In Group B, Le Quang Liem is second on 10, four behind Caruana. He survived two difficult games against Rapport, the second of them 103 moves. Praggnanandhaa, who lost twice to Caruana, is on 4. 2
Group D has produced the tournament's best upset. Bibisara Assaubayeva, rated 2532, beat Arjun Erigaisi, rated 2746, with the black pieces in their first game — her first career win over a player above 2700. She lost the return and sits on 8, having gained 11.4 rating points and climbed to fourth on the women's live list. "I am just happy that I won because before the tournament I was scared to score zero out of everything," she said. 7 3
Bibisara Assaubayeva, left, and Vaishali Rameshbabu. They split their two games: Assaubayeva won the first, Vaishali the second for her first fast-classic win of the event. Photo: Total Chess, via FIDE.
Vaishali's win over Assaubayeva was her first in the fast-classic stage. Wesley So is on 4 after losing to Arjun — he missed a repetition, played on, and resigned a move later — and drawing the return in 13 moves. So has dropped more than 18 rating points. "It's pretty clear I found my worst chess format," he said. "It's clear I have to stay away from this time control." 2
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the only unbeaten player in Group D, leads it on 12 points after six games. Photo: Total Chess, via FIDE.
Rounds seven and eight are on Saturday, November 14, from 15:00 CET, 16:00 Sofia time. Carlsen plays Mamedyarov and Caruana plays Le; the number one spot can change hands. Rounds nine and ten follow on November 15, and the knockout runs from November 17 to 20. 2 1
FIDE makes 60+30 a standard control and opens 45+30 to the Circuit
FIDE announced on November 13 that its Council had issued a resolution allowing shorter time controls to count for standard ratings and title norms. It took effect immediately. 8
Sixty minutes plus 30 seconds is now a standard time control. It needs no special approval, is eligible for standard rating, and may be used for title norms. Forty-five minutes plus 30 seconds may be used in tournaments eligible for the FIDE Circuit, and in events where no player rated above 2400 takes part. 8
Two restrictions apply before either control counts for standard rating and norms. No more than two rounds may be held in a day; an event rated only for rating, with no norms or titles available, may hold more if total playing time stays within 12 hours a day. And no more than one norm from such events may count toward a single title. 8
The Qualification Commission will study the effect and recommend whether 45+30 should become a permanent standard control and whether the restrictions should be lifted. Federations will review the changes before an extraordinary General Assembly in December, and the Council may adjust the rules if they propose amendments. 8
"The world is changing rapidly, and chess is evolving with it. FIDE must adapt accordingly," said FIDE president Timur Turlov. "At the same time, we have a responsibility to preserve the prestige of chess titles and ensure a smooth transition without creating unnecessary burdens for players, which is why certain restrictions remain in place." 8
The Budapest group stage is playing at exactly 45+30, two rounds a day — the format the resolution now addresses. Levon Aronian objected on November 13: "I feel that anything below 1 hour 30 minutes per game should have K=5 or K=6 factor. Somehow it doesn't feel right to equate a 5-6 hour game to a 2.5 hour game." A lower K-factor would mean three rating points for a win between equals instead of five. 2
Vrnjačka Banja: five share the 50+, and Strutinskaia has already won
The FIDE World Senior Championship runs at the Hotel Zepter in Vrnjačka Banja, Serbia, from November 3 to 14. It has four sections — open and women's, 50+ and 65+ — over 11 rounds, with nearly 400 players from 65 countries and a prize fund of €50,000. The last round is on November 14. 9
After ten rounds:
| Section | Leader | Score | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open 50+ | Pavel Kotsur (KAZ) | 7½/10 | Four others also on 7½; Kotsur first on tiebreak |
| Women 50+ | Pia Cramling (SWE) | 8/10 | Monica Calzetta Ruiz 7½ |
| Open 65+ | Zurab Sturua (GEO) | 8/10 | Daniel Campora also 8; Sturua first on tiebreak |
| Women 65+ | Galina Strutinskaia (FID) | 9½/10 | Elena Krasenkowa and Irina Chelushkina 7; title clinched |
The open 50+ is the tightest of the four. Kotsur, Kiril Georgiev, Murtas Kazhgaleyev, Victor Mikhalevski and IM Maxim Barth Stanford are all on 7½. Stanford is the outlier: rated 2265 and seeded 35th, he is level with four grandmasters. Kotsur leads on the first tiebreak with 60 against Georgiev's 59; Kazhgaleyev has 56, and Mikhalevski and Stanford 52.5. Behind them, six players are on 7. 10
In the women's 50+, Cramling is half a point clear on 8. Calzetta Ruiz has 7½ and Maritza Arribas Robaina 7. 11
The open 65+ has two leaders on 8: Sturua and Campora. Sturua, the top seed at 2488, is first on the tiebreak, 62.5 to 52.5. Igor Glek and five others are on 7½. 12
Strutinskaia has settled the women's 65+ with a round to spare. She has 9½ from ten games, nine wins and a draw; Krasenkowa and Chelushkina are on 7, and Krasenkowa can reach only 8 with a final-round win. Nona Gaprindashvili, in the same section, is on 6½. 13
Also this window
- 3-0 Thursday, November 12. Dmitry Andreikin won the first two of the three 3+0 Thursday Swiss tournaments and finished second in the third behind Jeffery Xiong, half a point from the first sweep of all three in one week; no one has won more than two. Andreikin scored 9½ in the first, the day's highest, 9 in the second and 8½ in the third, from a combined prize fund of $3,000. In the first, 13-year-old Faustino Oro led late on 8½ and missed a fork in the last round; Parham Maghsoodloo, who started in round two, scored 9/10 and tied for second. Andreikin plays Denis Lazavik in the first round of the Speed Chess Championship next week. 14
- Freestyle Friday, November 13. IM Khuong Duy Dau, 15, of Vietnam, won with 10 points from 11 rounds, 1.5 clear — his first win in either Freestyle Friday or Titled Tuesday, and the first player to reach 10 points since the event resumed in early October. He earned $400. Volodar Murzin, Jeffery Xiong and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son finished on 8½, second to fourth on tiebreak; Veronika Shubenkova won the women's prize on 7. Oleksandr Bortnyk still leads the championship on 71, ahead of Pranav V on 65 and Nodirbek Yakubboev on 64. 15
- World Amateur Championships, Klang. Six titles were decided at the KSL Esplanade Hotel in Malaysia. Amir Tulegenov (KAZ) won the open U2300 on 7/9 on tiebreak over Tran Pham Quang Minh (VIE) and Tomasz Jaskolka (POL). Pavithra R V (IND) took the women's U2300 unbeaten on 7½/9. Aqil Ainuddin Naufal Akhramsyah Muammar Ubaidah (MAS) won the open U2000 unbeaten on 8/9, and Anastasiia Osadchuk (UKR) the women's U2000 on 7½/9. Javkhlan Bayarjargal (MGL) scored 8½/9 in the open U1700, and Dolgormaa Lkhavgasuren (MGL) took the women's U1700 on 7½/9 on tiebreak. 16
- Tata Steel 2027 Challengers. The Challengers field for Wijk aan Zee, January 15 to 31, is set: Aravindh Chithambaram (2673), Nikolas Theodorou (2639), Mukhiddin Madaminov (2612), Ihor Samunenkov (2610), Vaclav Finek (2609), Casper Schoppen (2561), Zhu Jiner (2559), Max Warmerdam (2553), Bibisara Assaubayeva (2532), Christian Gloeckler (2523), Dau Khuong Duy (2511), Sergey Sklokin-Bagiyan (2498), Alice Lee (2474) and Alua Nurman (2460). Samunenkov, 17, made the ceremonial opening move at Wijk aan Zee in 2020 as a ten-year-old after winning a competition at Judit Polgar's Global Chess Festival; he returns as a grandmaster and an Olympiad individual gold medallist for Ukraine. One Masters place is still to be announced. 17
- Tony Miles, 25 years. Anthony Miles died on November 12, 2001, aged 46, of a heart attack caused by diabetes. He was the first English player awarded the international grandmaster title by FIDE and was among the world's top ten for a time. 18
What to watch next
| Date (Europe/Sofia) | Event and location | Checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| November 14 | Total Chess rounds 7–8, Budapest | From 16:00; Carlsen–Mamedyarov and Le–Caruana, with the No. 1 spot on the line. 2 |
| November 14 | World Senior Championship, Vrnjačka Banja | Final round; four titles decided. 10 |
| November 14 | Salamanca Masters, Salamanca | Final rounds; Paco Vallejo opened 3/3, and Bodhana Sivanandan beat Elisabeth Paehtz in round three. 19 20 |
| November 14 | Bullet Brawl, online | From 19:00, the first edition since Nakamura's 73rd title. 21 |
| November 15 | Total Chess rounds 9–10, Budapest | The last group games before the knockout. 1 |
| November 17–20 | Total Chess knockout, Budapest | Semifinals November 17–18, finals November 19–20. 1 |
| November 22 – December 13 | World Championship match, Cologny/Geneva | Gukesh Dommaraju defends against Javokhir Sindarov; first classical game November 24. 22 |
| November 24 – December 7 | XTX London Chess Classic, London | Nodirbek Abdusattorov defends. 23 |
| November 27 – December 7 | 5th President Cup, Tashkent | $100,000 prize fund. 24 |
| December 26–30 | World Rapid and Blitz Championships, Istanbul | Four titles; Magnus Carlsen defends both open championships. 25 |
References
1ChessBase: Total Chess – totally complicated
2Chess.com: Caruana Hits 2800, Within 7.2 Points Of Carlsen's World No. 1 Spot
3Chess.com: Caruana, Niemann Sweep Praggnanandhaa, Vaishali; Assaubayeva Upsets Arjun
4Rediff: Magnus Carlsen Faces Losing World No. 1 Chess Ranking
5ChessBase India: Total Chess Pilot 2026 Day 3
6FIDE: Martirosyan defeats Carlsen on Day 3 in Budapest
7ChessBase: Double wins for Caruana and Niemann, first 2700+ scalp for Assaubayeva
8FIDE: Faster 60- and 45-minute time controls now eligible for ratings and norms
9FIDE: FIDE World Senior Championships 2026: Six rounds left, four titles at stake
10Chess-Results: FIDE World Senior Championships 2026 — Open 50+, ranking after round 10
11Chess-Results: Women 50+, ranking after round 10
12Chess-Results: Open 65+, ranking after round 10
13Chess-Results: Women 65+, ranking after round 10
14Chess.com: Andreikin Nearly Sweeps 3 0 Thursday Tournaments
15Chess.com: Khuong Duy Dau Wins Freestyle Friday
16FIDE: Six World Amateur Chess Champions crowned in Klang, Malaysia
17ChessBase: Top players and rising stars head to Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2027
18ChessBase: Tony Miles: 25 years since the sudden death of an English star
19ChessBase: Vallejo scores perfect 3/3 on opening day in Salamanca\
20Salamanca, Cradle of Modern Chess: the 9th Chess Festival, 10 to 14 November\
21Chess.com: Nakamura Bounces Back To Win 73rd Bullet Brawl Title\
22ChessBase: Salesforce FIDE World Championship Match 2026\
23ChessBase: Stellar line-up for 2026 XTX London Chess Classic\
24ChessBase: 5th President Cup Tashkent\
25Chess.com: Istanbul To Host 2026 World Rapid & Blitz Championships\
