A sixth World Rapid title for Carlsen!
The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships reached the conclusion of its rapid section on Sunday in Doha. Magnus Carlsen captured his sixth World Rapid Championship title after finishing on 10½ points out of 13. The 35-year-old Norwegian began the final day a half point behind overnight co-leaders Hans Niemann and Vladislav Artemiev, but a near-flawless final stretch allowed him to overhaul both rivals.
Carlsen’s decisive run came in rounds ten to twelve. He first defeated Alexey Sarana, then scored back-to-back wins against Niemann and 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus. These results allowed Carlsen to more than compensate for his round-seven loss against Artemiev. By the end of round twelve, Carlsen stood as the sole leader, holding a full-point advantage over the same two players who had started the day at the top of the standings, Niemann and Artemiev. In the final round, a draw with the white pieces against Anish Giri was sufficient to secure the title outright.
Four players finished as the closest challengers on 9½/13. On tie-breaks, Vladislav Artemiev claimed the silver medal, with Arjun Erigaisi taking bronze. For both players, this marked their first-ever medal at the World Rapid Championship. Hans Niemann and Leinier Dominguez also finished on 9½ points but missed out on the podium due to inferior tiebreak scores.
Vladislav Artemiev claimed the silver medal after drawing all four of his games on Sunday, including his round-ten encounter against Hans Niemann | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
Arjun Erigaisi grabbed bronze despite losing his game with black against 14-year-old sensation Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
Since FIDE introduced the annual World Rapid Championship in 2012, thirteen editions of the event have been held, with the 2020 championship cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Carlsen has participated in eleven of those editions. He skipped the 2013 event, which was staged in June rather than at the end of the year, as his first World Championship match in classical chess was scheduled for November. He also withdrew from the 2024 edition after being fined for wearing jeans, which violated the tournament dress code.
With his victory in Doha, Carlsen has now won six titles in eleven participations. In the remaining five appearances, he finished tied for first once and either clear second or tied for second on three occasions. His weakest result came in 2021, when he ended the tournament 1½ points behind the winners. Remarkably, in ten of his eleven appearances, Carlsen has finished no more than one point behind the eventual champion or champions!
This latest success brings Carlsen’s total number of world championship titles to nineteen, comprising five in classical chess, six in rapid, and eight in blitz, confirming his sustained dominance across all time controls.
Let’s make it an even 19 world championship titles then
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) December 28, 2025
Magnus Carlsen gets the draw he needed against Anish Giri to become world rapid champion for a sixth time | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
Signing autographs in Doha | Photo: FIDE / Ann Shtourman
Carlsen scores crucial win over Niemann
Magnus Carlsen defeated Hans Niemann | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
Erigaisi beats Shimanov’s KID to grab bronze
Having fun in Qatar – Aleksandr Shimanov | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
Final standings
| 1 | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | 2824 | 10,5 | 99 | |
| 2 | GM | Artemiev, Vladislav | 2727 | 9,5 | 105,5 | |
| 3 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2714 | 9,5 | 98 | |
| 4 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | 2612 | 9,5 | 97,5 | |
| 5 | GM | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 2703 | 9,5 | 95,5 | |
| 6 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2730 | 9 | 100 | |
| 7 | GM | Sindarov, Javokhir | 2704 | 9 | 93,5 | |
| 8 | GM | So, Wesley | 2702 | 9 | 93 | |
| 9 | GM | Giri, Anish | 2685 | 9 | 92,5 | |
| 10 | GM | Esipenko, Andrey | 2649 | 9 | 91,5 | |
| 11 | GM | Sevian, Samuel | 2658 | 9 | 90,5 | |
| 12 | GM | Dubov, Daniil | 2686 | 9 | 90,5 | |
| 13 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2707 | 9 | 90 | |
| 14 | GM | Shimanov, Aleksandr | 2554 | 8,5 | 98,5 | |
| 15 | GM | Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan | 2446 | 8,5 | 98 | |
| 16 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram VR. | 2590 | 8,5 | 96 | |
| 17 | GM | Lazavik, Denis | 2576 | 8,5 | 96 | |
| 18 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 2751 | 8,5 | 95,5 | |
| 19 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | 2664 | 8,5 | 94,5 | |
| 20 | GM | Gukesh, D | 2692 | 8,5 | 92,5 | |
| 21 | IM | Meng, Yihan | 2355 | 8,5 | 92,5 | |
| 22 | GM | Lu, Shanglei | 2616 | 8,5 | 92 | |
| 23 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2717 | 8,5 | 92 | |
| 24 | GM | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 2669 | 8,5 | 91 | |
| 25 | GM | Gurel, Ediz | 2502 | 8,5 | 90 |
All available games – Open
Goryachkina beats Zhu in blitz playoff
Unlike the open section, the Women’s World Rapid Championship could not be decided by the final round alone. Three players finished tied for first place on 8½ points out of 11: Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina and Koneru Humpy. According to tournament regulations, when more than two players share first place, the top two by tiebreak score advance to a two-game blitz playoff to determine the champion.
Based on Buchholz Cut-1, Zhu Jiner and Aleksandra Goryachkina qualified for the playoff, while last year’s winner Humpy Koneru secured the bronze medal. In the subsequent blitz tiebreak, Goryachkina won the first game with the white pieces and then held a draw with black in the second, which was enough to claim the Women’s World Rapid Championship title.
Playoff games
The first blitz tiebreaker between Zhu Jiner (playing black) and Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
All three medallists completed the tournament undefeated, each scoring six wins and five draws – thus, all of their direct encounters during the main event ended in draws.
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Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: London System
The decisive moment of the tournament came in round ten. After nine rounds, five players were tied for the lead on 7 points: Zhu, Goryachkina, Humpy, Lei Tingjie and Bat-Erdene Mungunzul. In that round, Goryachkina defeated Mungunzul and Humpy overcame Lei Tingjie in the two clashes of co-leaders, while Zhu Jiner won with the black pieces against Kateryna Lagno, who had been sitting just half a point behind the leaders. Those results allowed Zhu, Goryachkina and Humpy to break clear.
Women’s world rapid champion Aleksandra Goryachkina | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
All three leaders drew their games in the final round to remain tied at the top, while none of the players trailing by half a point managed to score a win to force their way into contention. Three players finished just behind the leaders on 8/11: 18-year-old Savitha Shri of India, 2024 World Blitz bronze medallist Vaishali Rameshbabu also of India, and 2006 European women’s champion Ekaterina Atalik of Türkiye.
For Goryachkina, the title represents her first gold medal in the Women’s World Rapid Championship. Her previous best result had been bronze at the 2018 edition in Saint Petersburg. Zhu Jiner also reached a milestone in Doha, securing her first-ever medal in the event. Humpy Koneru, meanwhile, added another podium finish to an already extensive record, having previously won the title in 2019 and 2024, claimed silver in 2023, and bronze as far back as 2012.
Two generations of Indian rapid-chess specialists: Savitha Shri playing white against Humpy Koneru | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
Goryachkina punishes Mungunzul’s daring opening experiment
Aleksandra Goryachkina got the better of the brave Mongolian WIM Bat-Erdene Mungunzul | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
Lagno falters in sharp endgame against Zhu
Chinese star Zhu Jiner | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes
Final standings
| 1 | GM | Zhu, Jiner | 2435 | 8,5 | 72,5 | |
| 2 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | 2505 | 8,5 | 71,5 | |
| 3 | GM | Koneru, Humpy | 2448 | 8,5 | 69 | |
| 4 | IM | Savitha, Shri B | 2238 | 8 | 70,5 | |
| 5 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 2359 | 8 | 65 | |
| 6 | IM | Atalik, Ekaterina | 2328 | 8 | 62 | |
| 7 | GM | Lei, Tingjie | 2496 | 7,5 | 71,5 | |
| 8 | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2419 | 7,5 | 71 | |
| 9 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | 2452 | 7,5 | 68,5 | |
| 10 | GM | Tan, Zhongyi | 2507 | 7,5 | 68 | |
| 11 | GM | Kosteniuk, Alexandra | 2450 | 7,5 | 67 | |
| 12 | IM | Arabidze, Meri | 2333 | 7,5 | 66,5 | |
| 13 | IM | Shuvalova, Polina | 2360 | 7,5 | 65 | |
| 14 | GM | Muzychuk, Anna | 2398 | 7,5 | 63 | |
| 15 | GM | Batsiashvili, Nino | 2346 | 7 | 74 | |
| 16 | WIM | Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene | 2288 | 7 | 70,5 | |
| 17 | FM | Chen, Yining | 2143 | 7 | 70 | |
| 18 | GM | Muzychuk, Mariya | 2421 | 7 | 69,5 | |
| 19 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 2435 | 7 | 67,5 | |
| 20 | GM | Stefanova, Antoaneta | 2379 | 7 | 67 | |
| 21 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | 2425 | 7 | 66 | |
| 22 | WGM | Khamdamova, Afruza | 2365 | 7 | 64 | |
| 23 | IM | Song, Yuxin | 2375 | 7 | 63,5 | |
| 24 | IM | Maltsevskaya, Aleksandra | 2293 | 7 | 63,5 | |
| 25 | GM | Khotenashvili, Bella | 2373 | 7 | 62 |
All available games – Women’s
About the event
The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships 2025 will take place in Doha, Qatar from 25 to 30 December, bringing together the world’s elite chess talent for a thrilling end-of-year showdown. Held at the Sports and Events Complex, Qatar University, this edition features both Open and Women’s events in Rapid and Blitz formats, with a total prize fund of €1,000,000. Doha returns as host after nine years, underscoring Qatar’s growing stature in the chess world.
The full list of registered players can be found here:
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