Top 10 Chess Moments Of 2025!
Hello, dear readers, and welcome to my final post of 2025!
Once again, I achieved my goal of writing two blogs per month. Thank you all for keeping me motivated!
First of all, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and loved ones. Although I don’t know most of you personally, my thoughts are with all the friends I have made here. Please accept this virtual hug as a way of starting the text with positive energy!
Today, we will do something very similar to what we did 12 months ago with the 'Top 10 Chess Moments of 2024!' article, looking back at some of the most remarkable and impactful chess events of the year.
2025 was certainly full of important occasions that we will not forget anytime soon. There were extraordinary players who achieved great success, brilliant games, and exciting tournaments, not to mention a rollercoaster of emotions for players and fans alike.
After thinking about it for a while, I have come up with my top 10 list, which you will find below. They obviously go from the 10th to the 1st and most amazing one at the end. In conclusion, I will leave a special New Year's message for everyone. I hope you enjoy it!
PS: This blog is not 100% complete (December 30th) as the World Blitz Championship is still going on until the morning of December 31st (NZ time zone). The results will be updated as soon as they are available.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
4. Rapid & Blitz World Championship
1. Wait! What can be above #2?
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We begin our list with an incredible feat achieved at the first days of December, when the Turkish prodigy Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş (read more about him here) became the youngest player ever to reach the top 50 in the world rankings. He beat a record previously held by none other than Magnus Carlsen.
This achievement followed a victory against French legend Maxime Vachier-Lagrave at an event called 'Clash of the Generations' in Monte Carlo, the capital of Monaco. I found this name very appropriate for the occasion, by the way.
Erdoğmuş is widely regarded as one of the most promising players in the world today. I would not be surprised to see him compete in the Candidates Tournament or the World Championship Match within the next decade. According to the 2700chess website, he is currently ranked 47th with a live Elo rating of 2669.
However, please note that the official FIDE ranking is only released at the beginning of each month, so this needs to be confirmed in two days, when the list will be published. Nevertheless, as there are no more important classical chess tournaments until then, the chances of him losing his place are extremely low.
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In ninth place comes a tournament that most readers probably haven’t followed too closely. However, since this is my personal blog, it is certainly worth mentioning. In January, the New Zealand Chess Congress, the most important event in the Kiwi national chess calendar, took place in Auckland, only 15 minutes from my home.
As well as the New Zealand Championship, this event features some other strong tournaments, including the Junior and Senior categories, the Rapid and Blitz competitions, and, of course, the Open Division. This makes it the greatest chess festival in the country by far!
FM Felix Xie was our national champion in 2025, scoring 7.5 points in nine games to clinch his first title without losing a single game. He was followed by Alphaeus Ang and Daniel Gong. However, what is really positive to me is seeing what such a big event represents for the development of the game here.
If all goes according to plan, my next blog post will be a recap of the 2026 edition, which is taking place in Invercargill from 2 to 12 January. One of my blogging friends, @theeldest1, will be playing there and may also share his thoughts. Stay tuned!
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How would you feel if you lost while playing at home in one of the most important chess events? That was exactly what happened to Magnus Carlsen in June. After being defeated by world champion Gukesh at the prestigious Norway Chess tournament, he was involved in one of the most iconic scenes of 2025.
You have probably watched it many times before, but since today's goal is to recap the year, here is the video of him slamming the table after realizing his position was beyond saving.
During an interview, Magnus talked about the incident and explained his reaction:
The loss just felt so dumb and unnecessary. It made me feel so washed and useless that I thought for a few days... I am not sure... why am I doing this? When I win, it feels good and normal. But when I lose, for a moment, the world just falls apart.
Gukesh, on the other hand, did not seem offended by it and appeared to be enjoying the situation.
I'm so glad we memed chess. There was a cat meme, the cat falls from the table. My whole feed is blessed with this meme. I was laughing for like 10 minutes.
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2025 was also when a different way of playing chess gained even more popularity. Although it didn't start this year, it was now that Freestyle Chess finally broke through and became more organized, with top players competing in prestigious events which were broadcast to large audiences.
If you are not sure what I am talking about, you might recognize it by other names, such as Chess960 or its original name Fischer Random Chess. The only difference from the standard rules is that the pieces on the last rank start in random positions, with 960 different possibilities.
The 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour was a series of five tournaments held in various cities around the world. Participants earned points in each tournament, which were used to determine the ultimate champion. Although they were not eligible for a FIDE rating, the winner's prize of $200,000 was certainly attractive to elite players.
Vincent Keymer won the first of these events, followed by two victories for Magnus Carlsen and the last two for Levon Aronian. However, thanks to his consistent performances, Carlsen became the overall winner of the tour. No matter what type of chess it is, he is always at the top.
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In September, during the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament, which will still be covered in this post, another record was broken. Sixteen-year-old GM Abhimanyu Mishra defeated world champion Gukesh Dommaraju in round five, becoming the youngest player ever to beat a reigning classical chess champion.
This result was shocking not only because of his young age, but also because Gukesh made a blunder on move 12, which is quite uncommon at this high level. His victory broke the previous record set in Dortmund 33 years ago, when 17-year-old Gata Kamsky beat world champion Garry Kasparov.
Although he had just achieved something incredible, Mishra was not entirely satisfied with his performance.
Even though I won the game, it doesn’t feel pleasing, because I had a winning position and basically just threw it away [...] overall it wasn’t a very clean game.
I am sure you want to watch the game. Find it below, analyzed by @GMRafPig:
Similar notable achievements include Teimour Radjabov beating Kasparov in 2003 at the age of 15, and Anish Giri defeating Magnus Carlsen in 2011 at the age of 16. However, despite being ranked number one at the time, neither Kasparov nor Carlsen were world title holders.
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On 24 June, the best game of the year took place in the UzChess Cup, between Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa from India, who will play in the Candidates tournament next year, and Richárd Rapport from Hungary, who participated in this same tournament in 2022.
But you don't have to take my word for it. Instead, I will leave you with some quotes from people who know much more about chess. Hopefully, they will convince you.
First, none other than Garry Kasparov:
Wonderful game by Rapport! And I thank him for refreshing some fond memories of my own games with 15... Nxd5! similar to what I played against Jan Timman in two games (Moscow 1981 & Linares 1992).
Followed by the Grand Swiss winner, Anish Giri:
Richie played a masterpiece, without warning anybody. Reminds me of the Kasparov games I was admiring as a kid.
And finally, Brazilian GM Rafael Leitão:
This isn’t just the best game of the year — it's one of the best games in recent memory. Given the opening play and the level of opposition, it immediately enters the pantheon of classical masterpieces.
Curious to watch? No worries, @GMRafPig not only praised it, but also kindly analyzed the game. See below:
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4. Rapid & Blitz World Championship
I must now talk about a tournament that is still ongoing as I write this text, but which may already have finished by the time you read it. The World Rapid & Blitz Championship is being held in Doha, Qatar. The last rounds of the Blitz competition will be played a few hours after my post is published.
Although less prestigious than the classical World Championship, these faster time controls have gained a lot of popularity in recent years and have already been the subject of much controversy, such as the infamous 'Jeansgate' incident involving Magnus Carlsen, or the Blitz title being shared by two players, both in 2024.
The fact that this event is held yearly makes it very interesting to watch, as the defending champion does not have any advantage, unlike in the classical format. In 2025, 231 players competed for the title, including renowned names such as Carlsen, Caruana, and Gukesh.
The Rapid Championship finished two days ago on 28 December. The winner of the open section was Magnus Carlsen, while the women's trophy went to Aleksandra Goryachkina. Information about the Blitz champions will be added below as soon as the tournament is over.
Open: Magnus Carlsen
Women: Bibisara Assaubayeva
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Opening the podium is an event that has already been mentioned in this post, in which Mishra beat the world champion, Gukesh. In September, the prestigious FIDE Grand Swiss 2025 took place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, with two places at the next Candidates Tournament up for grabs.
As the name suggests, this 11-round competition is played in the Swiss format. With an incredible average rating of around 2640, the Open section attracted more than 100 players and was by far the strongest tournament of its kind this year. There, a single move can mean the difference between glory and failure. (Oh, poor Keymer...)
In the end, the first spot was clinched by the experienced and excellent Dutch player Anish Giri, who has played in two previous Candidates tournaments (in 2016 and 2020/21). The other spot was secured by the German underdog Matthias Blübaum who, despite his relatively low rating of 2671, performed amazingly and finished in second place.
The new generation also demonstrated their potential: Sixteen-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra finished in 5th position, while fifteen-year-old Andy Woodward was 7th. For context, some famous strong names such as Super GMs Levon Aronian and Boris Gelfand finished in 84th and 97th place respectively.
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Now, we come to what was for me the most important and exciting professional chess event of 2025. In November, the FIDE World Cup took place in Goa, India, with 206 players participating. The three medal winners would also earn a place in the highly sought-after Candidates Tournament.
There were many surprising upsets along the way. Strong and famous players such as Gukesh, Abdusattorov, Arjun, and Praggnanandhaa were eliminated in the early stages. That’s why I find the knockout format far more interesting to watch than a Swiss format competition.
Those who finished on the podium and will compete for a place in next year's World Championship were Javohir Sindarov (gold), Wei Yi (silver), and Andrey Esipenko (bronze). My personal favorite to win was Vincent Keymer, but he was eliminated by the future bronze medalist in the fourth round.
The fact that three 'underdogs' won the spots always sparks debate about whether this competition should really be the gateway to tournaments like the Candidates. But honestly, they earned it on the board, as it should be. Granting more spots based on ratings would only lead to more manipulation and questionable strategies. Therefore, I am in favor of keeping it this way.
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1. BlogChamps Seasons 7, 8, and 9
And what could be more important in the chess world this year than an event offering three spots in the Candidates Tournament? Well, I hope the answer was obvious from the outset.
In 2025, we completed three seasons of the most exciting blogging championship on the internet. I am talking about BlogChamps! If you don’t know what this is, don’t hesitate to visit our homepage and find out more.
Season 7 was closed in January, setting an impressive record of 76 submissions in the qualifiers, followed by a further 30 posts in the knockout stages, making a grand total of 106. I had seriously thought that this record would never be broken.
Oh, how happy I was to be wrong! Season 8 finished in July with 131 submissions, and Season 9, which ended in October, received 128. The competition is certainly at its peak, with more than 300 new members in 2025! Congratulations to this year's winners: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess, @RookMindset, and @PokeGirl93.
But we are not finished or satisfied! Season 10 is currently in progress, and Week 2 of the qualifiers starts in four days. The first week saw 54 submissions, yet another record broken. Feel free to join us!
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Before jumping into the conclusion, I must clarify that I have not forgotten about Daniel Naroditsky's tragic death. It was certainly very relevant, but since the title of the post is 'Top 10', I decided to focus on positive things. Nevertheless, I would like to express my condolences once again.
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If you are still here, thank you very much for reading! I hope you enjoyed travelling through the best chess moments of 2025. Of course, 2026 has everything to be even better, with the Candidates Tournament and the World Chess Championship just around the corner.
Personally, I have had an amazing year where I could once again share with my readers all my passion for chess, its history, interesting stories, adventures, great players, and much more. If you are one of those who have always been with me, thanks a lot for the support!
Finally, I would like to end this post by wishing you all a very happy 2026! May it bring you joy, love, and happiness. I hope you achieve your goals and see your dreams come true. Remember to stay positive because life is like a rollercoaster, and the bad moments make the good ones even more special!
That’s all for today, dear friends! If you can think of anything else that might be worth mentioning, please let me know in the comments section below. We will meet again on 15 January for the first blog of the new year. Take care and see you soon!
