A Brutal Time Scramble The highly experimental Total Chess pilot event in Budapest kicked off with absolute chaos on the clock. Organisers introduced a rarely used "fast classical" format, giving players just 45 minutes on the clock instead of the traditional 90 or 120 minutes. India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu became an early victim of this unforgiving time control, suffering a tough defeat in the first round against French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The Frenchman held a massive 255-point rating advantage over Vaishali, who is currently