GMs Vladislav Artemiev and Hans Niemann lead the 2025 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship after day two with 7.5 points out of nine games. A half-point behind are four players: GM Magnus Carlsen, who bounced back from losing against Artemiev in round seven; GM Alexey Sarana, who remains undefeated; GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who is only 14 years old (!); and GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who completed a hat trick with a win against World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju in the last round.
Reigning Women’s Rapid World Champion Koneru Humpy caught GM Zhu Jiner in the lead of the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Rapid Championship on 6.5 points after eight games. Zhu made three draws with one win to maintain her position, while Humpy won three games and drew one to catch up.
This is a flash report. Come back later to this page to read the full report!
The last day of the rapid championships, with rounds 10-13 in the Open and nine-11 in the Women’s, is on Sunday, December 28, starting at 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CET / 4:30 p.m. IST.
Open: Artemiev, Niemann Lead Ahead Of Last Day
Open Standings After 9 Rounds | Top 20
| Rank | Title | Name | Fed | Rating | Points |
| 1 | GM | Artemiev, Vladislav | 2727 | 7.5 | |
| 2 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | 2612 | 7.5 | |
| 3 | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | 2824 | 7 | |
| 4 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | 2641 | 7 | |
| 5 | GM | Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan | 2446 | 7 | |
| 6 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2717 | 7 | |
| 7 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2730 | 6.5 | |
| 8 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2714 | 6.5 | |
| 9 | GM | Henriquez Villagra, Cristobal | 2586 | 6.5 | |
| 10 | GM | Mamedov, Rauf | 2610 | 6.5 | |
| 11 | GM | Gukesh, D | 2692 | 6.5 | |
| 12 | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | 2704 | 6.5 | |
| 13 | GM | Lazavik, Denis | 2576 | 6.5 | |
| 14 | GM | So, Wesley | 2702 | 6.5 | |
| 15 | GM | Shimanov, Aleksandr | 2554 | 6.5 | |
| 16 | GM | Sevian, Samuel | 2658 | 6.5 | |
| 17 | GM | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 2703 | 6.5 | |
| 18 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2707 | 6.5 | |
| 19 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 2669 | 6.5 | |
| 20 | GM | Robson, Ray | 2652 | 6 |
GM Rafael Leitao‘s analysis of the Game of the Day will be added later.
Open Round 10 Pairings | Top 10 Boards
Pairings will be added later when available.
Women’s: Humpy Joins The Lead
Women’s Standings After 8 Rounds | Top 24
| Rank | Title | Name | Fed | Rating | Points |
| 1 | GM | Zhu, Jiner | 2435 | 6.5 | |
| 2 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | 2448 | 6.5 | |
| 3 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | 2505 | 6 | |
| 4 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 2346 | 6 | |
| 5 | GM | Lei, Tingjie | 2496 | 6 | |
| 6 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 2435 | 6 | |
| 7 | FM | Chen, Yining | 2143 | 6 | |
| 8 | GM | Muzychuk, Mariya | 2421 | 6 | |
| 9 | WIM | Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene | 2288 | 6 | |
| 10 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | 2452 | 6 | |
| 11 | IM | Arabidze, Meri | 2333 | 6 | |
| 12 | WGM | Khamdamova, Afruza | 2365 | 6 | |
| 13 | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2419 | 5.5 | |
| 14 | GM | Tan, Zhongyi | 2507 | 5.5 | |
| 15 | GM | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2379 | 5.5 | |
| 16 | IM | Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat | 2356 | 5.5 | |
| 17 | GM | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2450 | 5.5 | |
| 18 | IM | Tokhirjonova, Gulrukhbegim | 2286 | 5.5 | |
| 19 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | 2425 | 5.5 | |
| 20 | IM | Savitha, Shri B | 2238 | 5.5 | |
| 21 | IM | Mammadzada, Gunay | 2315 | 5.5 | |
| 22 | GM | Muzychuk, Anna | 2398 | 5.5 | |
| 23 | WGM | Rudzinska, Michalina | 2210 | 5.5 | |
| 24 | IM | Atalik, Ekaterina | 2328 | 5.5 |
Women’s Round 9 Pairings | Top 10 Boards
| Board | Seed | Title | White | Rating | Points | Result | Points | Title | Black | Rating | Seed |
| 1 | 10 | GM | Zhu, Jiner | 2435 | 6½ | 6½ | GM | Koneru, Humpy | 2448 | 8 | |
| 2 | 22 | WGM | Khamdamova, Afruza | 2365 | 6 | 6 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | 2505 | 3 | |
| 3 | 4 | GM | Lei, Tingjie | 2496 | 6 | 6 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 2346 | 29 | |
| 4 | 96 | FM | Chen, Yining | 2143 | 6 | 6 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | 2452 | 6 | |
| 5 | 50 | WIM | Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene | 2288 | 6 | 6 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 2435 | 9 | |
| 6 | 31 | IM | Arabidze, Meri | 2333 | 6 | 6 | GM | Muzychuk, Mariya | 2421 | 12 | |
| 7 | 27 | IM | Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat | 2356 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Tan, Zhongyi | 2507 | 2 | |
| 8 | 33 | IM | Atalik, Ekaterina | 2328 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2450 | 7 | |
| 9 | 67 | IM | Savitha, Shri B | 2238 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | 2425 | 11 | |
| 10 | 35 | IM | Mammadzada, Gunay | 2315 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2419 | 13 |
The 2025 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships decide the world champions of rapid and blitz chess in Open and Women’s sections. For the rapid championships, the Open is a 13-round Swiss; the Women’s is an 11-round Swiss. The time control for both tournaments is 15 minutes plus a 10-second increment. The blitz championships feature 19 rounds in the Open and 15 rounds in the Women’s, followed by a Knockout played by the top-four finishers, with a time control of 3+2 for all games. The total prize fund is over €1,000,000.
Previous coverage: