All eyes on Doha: Carlsen, Gukesh & co. meet at the World Rapid and Blitz Championships

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
12/25/2025 – The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships 2025 will be held in Doha from 26 to 30 December, bringing together leading players from across the world in Open and Women's events. Played at Qatar University, the championships feature Swiss tournaments in Rapid and multi-stage competition in Blitz, with over €1,000,000 in prize money. The event marks Doha's return as host after nine years and concludes the international chess calendar. | Pictured: Classical chess world champion Gukesh Dommaraju | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman
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Spectator-friendly, highly competitive action

The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships are scheduled to take place in Doha, Qatar, from 26 to 30 December 2025, with all events held at the Sports and Events Complex, Qatar University. This edition reunites the world's leading players in both the open and women's sections across rapid and blitz time controls.

The total prize fund exceeds €1,000,000. Doha is staging the championships again after a nine-year interval, highlighting its increasing role as a host of elite chess competitions.

The championships bring together a large field of elite competitors across both genders and formats. Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and world number one Magnus Carlsen are among the many top GMs confirmed for the open events. The women's section is similarly strong, anchored by reigning women's world champion Ju Wenjun and multiple other established champions and contenders.

  • Open: 251 participants, 57 players with a 2600+ rating
  • Women's: 141 participants, 41 players with a 2300+ rating

See full lists of participants...

Magnus Carlsen

In the drawing of lots, Magnus Carlsen got the white pieces for the first round of the rapid event and the black pieces for the first round of the blitz | Photo: FIDE / Anna Shtourman

Ju Wenjun

Inversely, Ju Wenjun got the black pieces for the first round of the rapid event and the white pieces for the first round of the blitz | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

Eligibility and format

Participants in both rapid and blitz must either have reached a FIDE rating of at least 2550 in any of the 2025 FIDE lists (Standard, Rapid or Blitz), or be a national champion (Standard, Rapid or Blitz) of their federation. In addition, a number of players may be nominated by the FIDE President and the organiser.

Rapid

  • Open format: Swiss system with 13 rounds
  • Women's format: Swiss system with 11 rounds
  • Time control: 15 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move, from move one.
  • Tie-breaks for first place: If two players tie for first, a 2-game playoff (3 min + 2 sec) determines the champion; if still tied, one sudden death game is played. For more than two tied players, a knockout bracket with single sudden-death games decides the title.

Blitz

  • Stage 1 Open: Swiss system of 19 rounds with 3 min + 2 sec increment per move; the top four qualifiers advance to Stage 2. Ties for qualification slots are resolved via Buchholz (Cut 1) and other tiebreak criteria.
  • Stage 1 Women's: Swiss system of 15 rounds with 3 min + 2 sec increment per move; the top four qualifiers advance to Stage 2. Ties for qualification slots are resolved via Buchholz (Cut 1) and other tiebreak criteria.
  • Stage 2: 4-player knockout, four games per match at 3 min + 2 sec; a tie leads to a sudden death game.

Read the full regulations: Open | Women's

Mohammed Al-Mudahka

Mohammed Al-Mudahka, President of Qatar Chess | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

Top registered players — Open

The following are the top ten entries by rating in the Open Rapid section:

  1. GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR) – 2824
  2. GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID) – 2762
  3. GM Levon Aronian (USA) – 2756
  4. GM Alireza Firouzja (FRA) – 2754 (confirmed participation this week)
  5. GM Fabiano Caruana (USA) – 2751
  6. GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) – 2730
  7. GM Vladislav Artemiev (FID) – 2727
  8. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) – 2717
  9. GM Arjun Erigaisi (IND) – 2714
  10. GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) – 2711

This list reflects the registered field for the Rapid section; the Blitz standings show broadly similar top seeds and will include these players for the Blitz Open as well.

Top registered players — Women's

The following are the top ten entries by rating in the Women's Rapid section:

  1. GM Ju Wenjun (CHN) – 2530
  2. GM Tan Zhongyi (CHN) – 2507
  3. GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (FID) – 2505
  4. GM Lei Tingjie (CHN) – 2496
  5. GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) – 2461
  6. GM Kateryna Lagno (FID) – 2452
  7. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (SUI) – 2450
  8. GM Koneru Humpy (IND) – 2448
  9. GM Harika Dronavalli (IND) – 2435
  10. GM Zhu Jiner (CHN) – 2435

Many of these players also feature among the top seeds in the Women's Blitz entry lists, with similar ratings and standings.

Full schedule - Open

World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2025

Find the full schedule for the women's section here.

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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Topics: FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025
Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
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