Haik Martirosyan produced one of the biggest results of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot in Budapest, defeating Magnus Carlsen to move into the outright lead in Group C after the third day of the Fast Classic group stage.

Martirosyan’s victory handed Carlsen his first defeat of the event, ending a run of four consecutive draws. The Armenian grandmaster added a draw in their return game to collect four points from the two encounters and reach 10 overall.

There was another major upset in Group A, where Andrew Hong beat leader Alireza Firouzja to claim his first victory of the tournament. Firouzja recovered in the return game, however, winning with White to remain at the top of the group.

Friday’s fifth and sixth rounds produced 10 decisive games from 24 encounters. With players facing the same opponents twice, switching colours for the return match, the scoring system awarded three points for a win and one for a draw.

After six games per player, all four groups have established outright leaders. Fabiano Caruana holds the biggest advantage, leading Group B by four points, while Firouzja, Martirosyan and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave top the other groups.

Hong hands Firouzja first defeat, but leader responds

Hong made his breakthrough against Firouzja in a complicated first encounter, securing his maiden Fast Classic win of the event. The French-Iranian grandmaster responded emphatically in the return, using the advantage of the White pieces to force favourable exchanges and convert the game.

The split results leave Firouzja on 11 points, with Hong on six. Jorden van Foreest also enjoyed a productive day, taking four points from his two games against Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Van Foreest won the opening encounter before the pair drew the return, moving him to eight points while Abdusattorov remains on five.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Levon Aronian shared the points in both games. Duda sits second in the group on nine points, two behind Firouzja, while Aronian has seven.

Caruana builds commanding Group B advantage

Caruana strengthened his position at the top of Group B with a win and a draw against Vincent Keymer. Playing Black in the first game, the American took control in the endgame and converted his advantage before settling for a draw in the return.

The unbeaten Caruana now has 14 points from four wins and two draws, opening a four-point gap over the chasing field. Keymer ended the day on four points.

Liem Le collected two draws against Richard Rapport to reach 10 points, while Rapport has five. There were also two drawn games between Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Vladislav Artemiev, with their opening encounter stretching to 89 moves. Artemiev has five points and Praggnanandhaa four.

Martirosyan ends Carlsen’s unbeaten run

The day’s headline result came in Group C, where Martirosyan found a way through Carlsen’s defences. Playing White, he built a dangerous attacking position and eventually broke through to claim a memorable victory.

The return game ended in a draw, giving Martirosyan the outright lead on 10 points. Carlsen, who had opened the event with four successive draws, remains on five.

Anish Giri also made progress, moving into second place on nine points. He drew his first game against Ian Nepomniachtchi before winning the return with White after a prolonged battle. Nepomniachtchi finished the day on seven points.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Abhimanyu Mishra drew both games, leaving Mamedyarov on seven points and Mishra on five.

Vachier-Lagrave takes control of Group D

Vachier-Lagrave strengthened his grip on Group D by winning the decisive second game of his two-match contest against Hans Moke Niemann. After an opening draw, the Frenchman applied sustained pressure with White and converted his advantage to move to 12 points.

That leaves him three points clear of Niemann, who has nine. Arjun Erigaisi also reached nine after taking three points from Wesley So, winning their first encounter after initially coming under pressure before drawing the return. So has four points.

There was a split of wins in the all-women’s contest between Bibisara Assaubayeva and Vaishali Rameshbabu. Assaubayeva won the first game with White, but Vaishali hit back with an attacking victory in the return to register her first Fast Classic win of the event. Assaubayeva has eight points, while Vaishali has four.

The group stage continues on Saturday, November 14, with Games 7 and 8. Each player has four games remaining before the final group standings determine their places in the six knockout brackets.