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World Blitz 2025

The World Blitz Championships has a different format to the Rapid, rather than being a straight race in a Swiss open, the blitz medals were decided in a subsequent knockout final. In both the open and women's events there was real heartbreak as players missed out by the narrowest possible margins after failing to convert winning positions that would have cemented their place in the final four.

Carlsen's route to the final was definitely not comfortable. His problems started with his round 9 game against the eventual winner of the Swiss phase Arjun Erigaisi, Carlsen was in trouble but in a time scramble where both were playing on the increment Carlsen literally dropped his queen and lost on time trying to fix it. Three rounds later, again in a time scramble, Carlsen hung a rook against Fabiano Caruana, then finally he lost to Haik Martirosyan in Round 14, the first game of the final day, again demolishing the pieces and not having enough time to fix things. With five rounds to go Carlsen's qualification for the final stages was definitely not certain, but wins against Rudik Makarian, Bu Xiangxi, Ihor Samunenkov and MVL fixed this. In the last round Carlsen faced Nodirbek Abdusattorov who had also come out of the pack with a similar late run, a draw was enough for Carlsen, and as it turned out his opponent too. MVL liquidated into a winning King and Pawn endgame against Nepomniachtchi but quickly messed it up and only drew.

Arjun Erigaisi won the Swiss Open section with 15/19, a point clear of Fabiano Caruana, Magnus finished 3rd half a point further back and there was a six way tie for 4th place, Abdusattorov had the best tie-break, just above MVL who was left to rue his failure to convert the winning endgame in the final round.

In the knockout semi-finals over four games Abdusattorov won the first three games against Erigaisi whilst Carlsen overcame Caruana with wins in games three and four.

Abdusattorov won the first game of the final with black against Carlsen. In game two Carlsen wove some endgame magic, then game three was drawn. Carlsen won game four to take the title, he set problems in what started off as an innocuous looking endgame which quickly became difficult, and then finally lost for Abdusattorov.

Carlsen has earned his 20th World title with this win. He won five World Chess Championship matches in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2021. He has won the rapid championship in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025 and the blitz in 2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 (shared), 2025 with five of these rapid and blitz doubles.

In the Women's event there was an added complication that there was a Candidates place at stake as part of their chess tour, this being the final event. Bibisara Assaubayeva needed to reach the final to claim the place, Anna Muzychuk was also in with an outside chance. Absolute madness occurred in the final round of the Swiss section where Muzychuk needed a win to qualify for the final stages and dropped a piece early on against Valentina Gunina. Gunina had offered a draw in the first few moves and was offered one back now she was a piece up, which she declined. Gunina then astonishingly blundered her entire position away with one awful move and then missed out on the final stages altogether, she could be seen sat alone and pretty inconsolable afterwards.

Assaubayeva took care of business in the finals crushing Zhu Jiner 3-0 and edging past Muzychuk 2.5-1.5. Assaubayeva won the FIDE Women's Events 2024–25 Grand Prix (best results in the major women's events over two years) and took the final Women's Candidates place alongside Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Divya Deshmukh, Humpy Koneru, Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali Rameshbabu and Kateryna Lagno. That event will take place alongside the Open Candidates event in Cyprus, 28th March to 16th April 2026.

I personally think that the straight race in an open has its attractions although the new final stage blitz knockout amongst the top four has some merit. I did like the way that there was alternation between two open games then two women's games in the semifinals and finals, I thought that worked well. That said, I can't help feeling that Arjun Erigaisi's impressive domination of the open swiss went unrewarded.

World Blitz 2025 Doha QAT Fri 26th Dec 2025 - Tue 30th Dec 2025 Leading Final Round 19 Standings:
Rk	SNo	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	10	Erigaisi, Arjun	GM	IND	2749	15	219	226	2684
2	8	Caruana, Fabiano	GM	USA	2751	14	215.5	225.5	2663
3	1	Carlsen, Magnus	GM	NOR	2881	13.5	217	226	2656
4	7	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	GM	UZB	2768	13	216.5	225	2666
5	12	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	GM	FRA	2745	13	214	222.5	2681
6	5	So, Wesley	GM	USA	2790	13	203.5	211	2611
7	25	Nihal, Sarin	GM	IND	2681	13	203	212.5	2583
8	53	Lazavik, Denis	GM	FID	2617	13	196.5	204.5	2583
9	66	Matlakov, Maxim	GM	FID	2591	13	185	192.5	2551
10	4	Dubov, Daniil	GM	FID	2795	12.5	217	227	2672
11	30	Lu, Shanglei	GM	CHN	2657	12.5	216	225	2670
12	37	Radjabov, Teimour	GM	AZE	2646	12.5	212.5	220	2660
13	3	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	GM	FID	2801	12.5	207.5	217	2606
14	40	Sindarov, Javokhir	GM	UZB	2632	12.5	207.5	216	2646
15	2	Firouzja, Alireza	GM	FRA	2813	12.5	206	213.5	2628
16	9	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	GM	POL	2750	12.5	204.5	212	2609
17	14	Artemiev, Vladislav	GM	FID	2733	12.5	202.5	210	2616
18	74	Hakobyan, Aram	GM	ARM	2581	12.5	190.5	198.5	2550
19	143	Samunenkov, Ihor	GM	UKR	2487	12.5	190.5	197	2602
20	19	Yu, Yangyi	GM	CHN	2704	12	210.5	219	2625
21	15	Bu, Xiangzhi	GM	CHN	2719	12	210	217.5	2631
22	28	Grischuk, Alexander	GM	FID	2665	12	208	217	2628
23	31	Van Foreest, Jorden	GM	NED	2657	12	207.5	216.5	2622
24	95	Pranesh, M	GM	IND	2553	12	206	214	2620
25	194	Pranav, Anand	GM	IND	2393	12	205	214	2649
26	26	Martirosyan, Haik M.	GM	ARM	2679	12	202	211	2597
27	6	Aronian, Levon	GM	USA	2774	12	200	206	2576
28	110	Paravyan, David	GM	FID	2528	12	199	205.5	2674
29	54	Mamedov, Rauf	GM	AZE	2612	12	197	205.5	2583
30	44	Moussard, Jules	GM	FRA	2629	12	196	204.5	2579
31	52	Narayanan, S L	GM	IND	2619	12	196	204	2626
32	36	Murzin, Volodar	GM	FID	2647	12	196	204	2592
33	23	Le, Quang Liem	GM	VIE	2695	12	195	203.5	2551
34	51	Alekseenko, Kirill	GM	AUT	2620	12	189	197	2529
35	29	Esipenko, Andrey	GM	FID	2659	12	188.5	197.5	2538
36	84	Uskov, Artem	GM	FID	2569	12	188.5	195	2535
37	175	Ahmad, Khagan	IM	AZE	2421	12	188	196.5	2601
38	62	Keymer, Vincent	GM	GER	2599	12	187.5	195	2578
39	55	Santos Latasa, Jaime	GM	ESP	2611	12	182.5	190.5	2499
40	33	Salem, A.R. Saleh	GM	UAE	2651	11.5	197	205.5	2573
41	69	Ponomariov, Ruslan	GM	UKR	2589	11.5	194.5	201.5	2592
42	137	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	GM	TUR	2497	11.5	188	195	2625
43	76	Naiditsch, Arkadij	GM	BUL	2577	11.5	184	192	2553
44	56	Amar, Elham	GM	NOR	2610	11.5	179.5	187.5	2540
45	115	Gholami Orimi, Mahdi	GM	IRI	2521	11.5	177.5	182	2505
46	108	Nesterov, Arseniy	GM	FID	2531	11.5	177	183.5	2528
47	57	Pranav, V	GM	IND	2606	11	208	217	2578
48	34	Jobava, Baadur	GM	GEO	2649	11	207	216	2594
49	11	Bortnyk, Olexandr	GM	UKR	2748	11	201.5	210.5	2577
50	35	Sadhwani, Raunak	GM	IND	2649	11	199	207	2600
252 players

World Blitz Women 2025 Doha QAT Fri 26th Dec 2025 - Tue 30th Dec 2025 Leading Final Round 15 Standings:
Rk	SNo	Name	Ti	FED	Rtg	Pts	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	7	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	GM	KAZ	2428	11	130.5	137	2312
2	13	Muzychuk, Anna	GM	UKR	2397	11	125.5	132	2247
3	17	Roebers, Eline	IM	NED	2377	11	125.5	131	2288
4	9	Zhu, Jiner	GM	CHN	2425	11	121	127	2285
5	33	Gunina, Valentina	GM	FID	2314	11	120.5	126.5	2288
6	21	Stefanova, Antoaneta	GM	BUL	2367	10.5	130	136.5	2312
7	5	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	GM	FID	2439	10	136.5	144.5	2324
8	43	Omonova, Umida	WIM	UZB	2278	10	133	138.5	2347
9	66	Shukhman, Anna	WGM	FID	2204	10	132	136	2377
10	20	Song, Yuxin	IM	CHN	2371	10	126	132	2253
11	26	Salimova, Nurgyul	IM	BUL	2336	10	126	132	2251
12	30	Nurman, Alua	WGM	KAZ	2324	10	125.5	130.5	2238
13	10	Garifullina, Leya	IM	FID	2407	10	122	128	2239
14	50	Bulmaga, Irina	IM	ROU	2251	10	120	125	2218
15	35	Munkhzul, Turmunkh	WGM	MGL	2307	10	111	117.5	2220
16	118	Iudina, Veronika	WFM	FID	2037	9.5	129.5	136.5	2300
17	1	Ju, Wenjun	GM	CHN	2489	9.5	125	132	2260
18	22	Arabidze, Meri	IM	GEO	2356	9.5	121	128.5	2209
19	4	Lagno, Kateryna	GM	FID	2448	9.5	121	128	2291
20	31	Injac, Teodora	IM	SRB	2323	9.5	120	125.5	2258
21	65	Badelka, Olga	IM	AUT	2208	9.5	120	125	2298
22	15	Divya, Deshmukh	GM	IND	2388	9.5	115.5	121.5	2259
23	6	Koneru, Humpy	GM	IND	2430	9.5	113.5	119.5	2236
24	32	Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra	IM	POL	2323	9.5	113.5	119.5	2189
25	40	Kamalidenova, Meruert	IM	KAZ	2295	9.5	108	113	2206
26	34	Yip, Carissa	IM	USA	2313	9	132.5	138.5	2288
27	64	Nurgaliyeva, Zarina	WIM	KAZ	2209	9	132	133	2344
28	19	Muzychuk, Mariya	GM	UKR	2373	9	126	133	2298
29	120	Khafizova, Diana	WFM	FID	2033	9	126	132	2335
30	28	Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene	WIM	MGL	2329	9	125.5	132	2260
31	68	Nomin-Erdene, Davaademberel	IM	HUN	2201	9	117.5	119.5	2293
32	8	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	GM	SUI	2428	9	113.5	119.5	2209
33	75	Mammadova, Gulnar	IM	AZE	2185	9	113	118.5	2324
34	53	Charkhalashvili, Inga	WGM	GEO	2248	9	111.5	116.5	2227
35	23	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat	IM	ESP	2352	9	110.5	117	2169
36	29	Mammadzada, Gunay	IM	AZE	2326	9	99.5	105	2164
37	42	Buksa, Nataliya	IM	UKR	2281	8.5	131	137	2349
38	18	Danielian, Elina	GM	ARM	2373	8.5	123	129	2262
39	12	Shuvalova, Polina	IM	FID	2399	8.5	120.5	127	2244
40	98	Vo, Thi Kim Phung	WGM	VIE	2122	8.5	118.5	123	2308
41	76	Jiang, Tianyu		CHN	2183	8.5	117	122.5	2305
42	114	Charvi, A	WFM	IND	2062	8.5	115	121.5	2260
43	47	Berend, Elvira	WGM	LUX	2260	8.5	114.5	120	2270
44	94	Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim	IM	UZB	2133	8.5	112.5	118	2332
45	82	Kurmangaliyeva, Liya	WGM	KAZ	2167	8.5	112	117	2275
46	3	Tan, Zhongyi	GM	CHN	2457	8.5	110	116	2235
47	11	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	GM	IND	2401	8.5	108.5	115	2208
48	67	Nguyen, Hong Anh	WIM	VIE	2203	8.5	107	111.5	2149
49	14	Dronavalli, Harika	GM	IND	2389	8.5	106.5	112	2174
50	37	Francisco Guecamburu, Candela Be	WGM	ARG	2298	8	127.5	133	2302
140 players

World Blitz Final KO 2025 Doha QAT Fri 26th Dec 2025 - Tue 30th Dec 2025 Leading Final Round 2 Standings:
Rk	Name	Pts
	Final
1	Carlsen, Magnus	2.5
2	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	1.5
	Semi-final
1	Carlsen, Magnus	3.0
2	Caruana, Fabiano	1.0
1	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2.5
2	Erigaisi, Arjun	0.5
4 players

World Blitz Women Final Doha QAT Fri 26th Dec 2025 - Tue 30th Dec 2025 Leading Final Round 2 Standings:
Rk	Name	Pts
	Final
1	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2.5
2	Muzychuk, Anna	1.5
	Semi-final
1	Muzychuk, Anna	2.5
2	Roebers, Eline	1.5
1	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	3.0
2	Zhu, Jiner	0.0
4 players

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