Assaubayeva stuns Carlsen, Abdusattorov at Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot
Kazakh chess player Bibisara Assaubayeva scored five points after two rounds of the group stage at the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot 2026 in Budapest putting her ahead of Magnus Carlsen and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in points, Qazinform News Agency cites Sports.kz.
Following two days of play, Assaubayeva holds fourth place in Group D finishing with five points.
Group D standings:
1. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) — 8 points.
2. Hans Moke Niemann (USA) — 8.
3. Arjun Erigaisi (India) — 5.
4. Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan) — 5.
5. Wesley So (USA) — 3.
6. Rameshbabu Vaishali (India) — 1.
After two rounds, Magnus Carlsen collected four points and sits in fifth place in Group C, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov, representing Uzbekistan, also has four points and currently holds fourth place in Group A.
In the preliminary blitz tournament on November 10, Bibisara Assaubayeva suffered eight consecutive defeats and finished 24th, scoring only half a point.
However, on November 11, she drew both of her games against American Wesley So. The next day, she made a huge statement by outplaying India’s Arjun Erigaisi, who beat her in the reverse Fast Classical fixture. He is the highest-rated opponent Assaubayeva has ever faced in her career.
The Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot 2026 tournament is taking place from November 10 to 20. Twenty-four chess players are participating in the event, which features a total prize fund of 650,000 US dollars.