Hayk Martirosyan finished 13th with 4.5 points as Magnus Carlsen won unbeaten on 7/9 in Budapest. The opening blitz sets tiebreak rankings and knockout advantages before the group stage.
Armenian grandmaster Haik Martirosyan, one of the leading players on Armenia’s national team, beat Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the second round of the Total Chess pilot’s Fast Classic group stage in Budapest on 11 November, recovering from a first-round loss.
The result followed the opening blitz on 10 November, when Magnus Carlsen beat Martirosyan with the black pieces in the final round. Carlsen won the nine-round event unbeaten with 7/9; Martirosyan placed 13th with 4.5 points.
Carlsen and Anish Giri drew both their games against each other. Each has 2 points from a possible 6, while Martirosyan has 3: the group stage awards 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw. Ian Nepomniachtchi leads Group C with 4 points after a win and a draw. Abhimanyu Mishra completes the group.
Only the 4 group winners advance to the title bracket. All other players continue in knockout brackets that decide places 5 through 24. Each group has 6 players, who meet each opponent twice over 5 days. Each player gets 45 minutes per game, with 30 seconds added after each move.
The blitz ranking is not the final tournament result. It breaks group-stage ties, determines semifinal pairings in all 6 knockout brackets and gives the higher-ranked player the choice of color in each knockout match’s first blitz game. In the semifinals, the best-ranked player faces the lowest-ranked.
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | 7 |
Armenia’s international master scored 9.5/13 in Al Ain, taking third on tie-breaks after sharing second through fourth place.
Carlsen and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave entered the final round tied on 6 points. Carlsen won, while Vachier-Lagrave drew with Hans Niemann. Erigaisi entered the final round half a point behind the leaders after beating Fabiano Caruana in round 8.
Aronian secured third by beating Arjun Erigaisi in the final round.
Norway Chess developed the format, which FIDE approved. It combines Fast Classic with the shorter rapid and blitz formats. The Budapest event is a trial for a planned 2027 competition to crown the first FIDE World Combined Champion.
Each knockout match is played over 2 days, with 4 blitz games, 2 rapid games and 1 Fast Classic game each day. The longer formats carry more weight in scoring.
The Fast Classic group stage began on 11 November 2026.
Group-stage rounds 3 and 4 are scheduled for 12 November, beginning at 15:00 Central European time (18:00 Yerevan time). The daily schedule also has a round at 18:30 Central European time (21:30 Yerevan time).
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Uzbekistan’s Khumoyun Begmuratov won the Open title with 7.5/9, while the Netherlands’ Eline Roebers took the Girls title with 7/9.
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FIDE announced on 29 October that the championships will take place in Türkiye on 26–30 December, with 4 world titles at stake.
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