2025 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship Day 1: Arjun, Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana Lead As Carlsen Falters

GMs Arjun Erigaisi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Fabiano Caruana lead the 2025 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship with 10 points out of 13 games, with six rounds left in the Swiss portion. GM Magnus Carlsen, who dominated the rapid world championship, suffered two losses and is a point behind.

IM Eline Roebers leads the 2025 FIDE Women’s World Blitz Chess Championship with 8.5 points out of 10 games. Starting in round five, she won six games in a row, notably with the King’s Gambit against GM Aleksandra Goryachkina in round nine.

This is a flash report. Come back later to read the full article here.

The blitz championships conclude on Tuesday, December 30, starting at 6 a.m. ET / 12:00 CET / 4:30 p.m. IST. We will see rounds 14-19 in the Open and 11-15 in the Women’s, followed by four-player Knockouts.

Open: Arjun, Vachier-Lagrave & Caruana Lead As Carlsen Falters

Final Open Standings After 13 Rounds | Top 20

#	Title	Name	Fed	Rating	Points
1	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		2749	10
2	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime		2745	10
3	GM	Caruana, Fabiano		2751	10
4	GM	Dubov, Daniil		2795	9.5
5	GM	Lu, Shanglei		2657	9.5
6	GM	Yu, Yangyi		2704	9.5
7	GM	Jobava, Baadur		2649	9.5
8	GM	So, Wesley		2790	9.5
9	GM	Grischuk, Alexander		2665	9.5
10	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek		2768	9
11	GM	Carlsen, Magnus		2881	9
12	GM	Bu, Xiangzhi		2719	9
13	GM	Pranesh, M		2553	9
14	IM	Goutham, Krishna H		2336	9
15	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R		2703	9
16	GM	Sadhwani, Raunak		2649	9
17	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian		2801	9
18	GM	Narayanan, S L		2619	9
19	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.		2679	9
20	GM	Sarana, Alexey		2704	9

See full standings here.

GM Rafael Leitao’s analysis of our Game of the Day will be added soon.

Round 14 Pairings | Top 10 Boards

Board	Seed	Title	White	Rating	Points	Result	Points	Title	Black	Rating	Seed
1	26	GM	Martirosyan, Haik M.	2679	9		9	GM	Carlsen, Magnus *)	2881	1
2	8	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	2751	10		9½	GM	Grischuk, Alexander	2665	28
3	19	GM	Yu, Yangyi	2704	9½		10	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2749	10
4	34	GM	Jobava, Baadur	2649	9½		10	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	2745	12
5	5	GM	So, Wesley	2790	9½		9½	GM	Dubov, Daniil	2795	4
6	3	GM	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	2801	9		9½	GM	Lu, Shanglei	2657	30
7	7	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2768	9		9	GM	Narayanan, S L	2619	52
8	15	GM	Bu, Xiangzhi	2719	9		9	GM	Pranesh, M	2553	95
9	35	GM	Sadhwani, Raunak	2649	9		9	GM	Sarana, Alexey	2704	18
10	208	IM	Goutham, Krishna H	2336	9		9	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2703	20

Women’s: Roebers Wins 6 In A Row

Final Women’s Standings After 10 Rounds | Top 30

#	Title	Name	Fed	Rating	Points
1	IM	Roebers, Eline		2377	8.5
2	GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra		2439	8
3	WIM	Omonova, Umida		2278	8
4	GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta		2367	8
5	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara		2428	7.5
6	IM	Song, Yuxin		2371	7.5
7	WIM	Nurgaliyeva, Zarina		2209	7
8	IM	Yip, Carissa		2313	7
9	GM	Muzychuk, Mariya		2373	7
10	WGM	Francisco Guecamburu, Candela Be		2298	7
11	GM	Danielian, Elina		2373	7
12	GM	Muzychuk, Anna		2397	7
13	WGM	Nurman, Alua		2324	7
14	WFM	Khafizova, Diana		2033	7
15	IM	Garifullina, Leya		2407	7
16	WIM	Wang, Chuqiao		2297	7
17	GM	Gunina, Valentina		2314	7
18	WGM	Shukhman, Anna		2204	6.5
19	WIM	Mungunzul, Bat-Erdene		2329	6.5
20	IM	Buksa, Nataliya		2281	6.5
21	GM	Lagno, Kateryna		2448	6.5
22	WFM	Iudina, Veronika		2037	6.5
23	IM	Salimova, Nurgyul		2336	6.5
24	WIM	Kaliakhmet, Elnaz		2144	6.5
25	IM	Arabidze, Meri		2356	6.5
26	IM	Injac, Teodora		2323	6.5
27	IM	Badelka, Olga		2208	6.5
28	IM	Shuvalova, Polina		2399	6.5
29	IM	Kamalidenova, Meruert		2295	6.5
30	GM	Zhu, Jiner		2425	6

See full standings here.

Round 11 Pairings | Top 10 Boards

Board	Seed	Title	White	Rating	Points	Result	Points	Title	Black	Rating	Seed
1	17	IM	Roebers, Eline	2377	8½		8	WIM	Omonova, Umida	2278	43
2	7	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2428	7½		8	GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	2439	5
3	21	GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta	2367	8		7½	IM	Song, Yuxin	2371	20
4	64	WIM	Nurgaliyeva, Zarina	2209	7		7	IM	Garifullina, Leya	2407	10
5	13	GM	Muzychuk, Anna	2397	7		7	IM	Yip, Carissa	2313	34
6	33	GM	Gunina, Valentina	2314	7		7	GM	Danielian, Elina	2373	18
7	19	GM	Muzychuk, Mariya	2373	7		7	WGM	Francisco Guecamburu, Candela Be	2298	37
8	120	WFM	Khafizova, Diana	2033	7		7	WGM	Nurman, Alua	2324	30
9	4	GM	Lagno, Kateryna	2448	6½		7	WIM	Wang, Chuqiao	2297	38
10	65	IM	Badelka, Olga	2208	6½		6½	IM	Shuvalova, Polina	2399	12

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:

Open: Arjun, Vachier-Lagrave & Caruana Lead As Carlsen Falters

Women’s: Roebers Wins 6 In A Row

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