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Arjun, Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana Lead As Carlsen Falters; Roebers Takes Sole Lead
Arjun watches Carlsen defend against Grischuk. Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE.

Arjun, Vachier-Lagrave, Caruana Lead As Carlsen Falters; Roebers Takes Sole Lead

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NM AnthonyLevin
| 69 | Chess Event Coverage

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

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.

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.

Two days will be devoted to blitz chess, and on Tuesday we will crown this year's world champions. In both the Open and Women's tournaments, the defending champions have struggled; Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi are a point behind the leaders, and GM Ju Wenjun is a virtually insurmountable three points behind the leader.

The time control is 3+2 and, at the end of the Swiss portion, four players will advance to their respective single-elimination Knockouts, which will feature four-game matches.

The massive playing hall. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.

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

Arjun, Vachier-Lagrave, and Caruana have taken the lead even after each lost a single game in the first half of the day.

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 Jorden van Foreest was the man of the hour in the first half of the day and was the last player on a perfect score after six games.

Van Foreest may not have been everyone's first pick to lead the tournament. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.

A critical win for Van Foreest in those early rounds came against GM Alireza Firouzja in the fifth, and it was also an instructive endgame. With four seconds against 15, Firouzja made an instant decision: he traded knights and realized with horror that the pawn endgame was lost.

The next game, Van Foreest faced the only other player on a perfect 5/5, Arjun, and won after the Indian GM blundered an entire rook. Warning: more hanging rooks ahead in this report.

Van Foreest, who started with such momentum, didn't win another game after this game. He went on to lose two games and draw four (one against Carlsen) to finish with eight points. And Firouzja landed on 8.5.

Consistency was the name of the game, and after that tough loss Arjun—who has yet to earn a medal in the world blitz championship—went on to win three games and draw four. His viral victory against Carlsen came in round nine.

Arjun and others watch an ongoing game. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.

After a risky opening experiment in the French Defense went south, Carlsen was fighting with his back against the wall and lost on time as he captured the a-pawn, but not quickly enough—he only had four seconds at the start of his turn. Carlsen gave the table a proper slam, as he did against World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju in Norway Chess earlier this year, and the innocent GM Alexander Grischuk briskly walked by. You can see all that in the clip below.

In terms of chess, Arjun won a nicer game against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who by round 10 had won seven games, lost one, and drawn just one. Arjun won with a beautiful attack in a heavy-piece endgame after a combination that started with 28...Bxf2!. GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the Game of the Day below.


Arjun next made draws with Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, and finally GM Daniil Dubov to finish in the shared lead. Abdusattorov, on the other hand, would lose again to Vachier-Lagrave in round 11, draw against GM Javokhir Sindarov, and then beat GM Rudik Makarian to finish the day on a still-in-there 9/13 score.

Abdusattorov is down but not out. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.

The 2021 Blitz World Champion Vachier-Lagrave blundered a piece in round two against Chilean GM Pablo Salinas, but that would be his only loss of the day. He went on to win seven games, and draw four. One of those wins came against Gukesh in round seven, where the Frenchman with three names sacrificed an exchange (temporarily) to win the entire kingside.

Will Vachier-Lagrave win his second blitz world title? Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.

Gukesh, who said at the start of the event that classical chess is his focus, finished the day on 8.5 points. Curiously, all but one of his games were decisive and he only made one draw the entire day, against GM Vladislav Artemiev in round six.

Caruana, who has previously won silver in 2014 and bronze in 2022 (Carlsen won gold in both), is the third player on 10 points. He lost just one game, against GM Rauf Mamedov in round five, but otherwise won eight and drew four.

Caruana drew against both of his co-leaders. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.

A pretty win was against 2024 Rapid World Champion Volodar Murzin, where Caruana offered his queen for a checkmating attack.

He played Carlsen in round 12 and won. Carlsen actually had just gained an advantage in the time scramble, but Caruana instantly won when his opponent hung an entire rook and resigned.

Speaking of hanging rooks, GM Peter Leko called the following blunder a "mouse slip," though it was played over the board.

You can also watch GM Hikaru Nakamura's recap video below to see more details about Carlsen's games and others.

There were a number of upsets, with the most impressive players appearing twice: IM Isanzhulov Arystan, who's on 8/13, and IM Goutham Krishna, who was pulling upsets in the rapid portion as well and is the only international master in the top 20 of the standings.

8 Notable Upsets On Day 1

Round White Player (Seed) Fed Rating Result Black Player (Seed) Fed Rating
1 IM Ahmad Khagan (175) 2421 1-0 GM Aravindh Chithambaram (49) 2625
1 GM Levon Aronian (6) 2774 0-1 IM Faustino Oro (132) 2503
3 FM Sergey Sklokin (202) 2400 1-0 GM Gukesh Dommaraju (47) 2628
4 IM Isanzhulov Arystan (188) 2403 1-0 GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (42) 2631
5 GM Javokhir Sindarov (40) 2632 0-1 IM Isanzhulov Arystan (188) 2403
7 GM Ian Nepomniachtchi (3) 2801 0-1 GM Pranav V (57) 2606
10 IM Goutham Krishna H (208) 2392 1-0 GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (48) 2627
12 IM Goutham Krishna H (208) 2392 1-0 GM Hans Moke Niemann (13) 2734

There was one near-upset that ended tragically. GM Vahap Sanal was up two pawns against Firouzja in round two and decided to attack the opponent's queen, forgetting about his own.

We saw another queen blunder from GM Pranav Venkatesh in round four, though in an equal position. With 41.Qd3 Arjun proposed a queen trade, and Black declined.

The stakes get higher in the last six rounds as everyone will fight to finish in the top four. The leaders have already played each other, so we will see them take on others with 9.5 points in tomorrow's first round.

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 As Almost All Favorites Struggle

Roebers leads the tournament. Behind her are mostly expected names, except for WIM Umida Omonova. Readers of our 2025 FIDE Women's World Cup reports may remember her incredible run there, however, and not be surprised.

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. 

Roebers started with a win and three draws before she took off with six wins in a row. So far, she has a performance rating of 2512.

Nineteen-year-old Roebers is playing the tournament of her life so far. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.

Her most important win came against Goryachkina, and it was that much sweeter that it came from the white side of a King's Gambit. She looked to take a page out of Nepomniachtchi's opening book, and showed Romantic chess isn't dead.

Despite that loss, Goryachkina is still only a half-point behind Roebers. She otherwise won seven (!) games in a row and made just two draws. She won her first world championship title last night and is very much in the running to still win her second.

Nineteen-year-old Omonova may become a player we see more often in speed chess events. Slated to gain 63 rating points already, she seems to still be a bit underrated. She won her first six games in a row—against the likes of players like GMs Koneru Humpy, Elina Danielian, and three-time blitz champion Kateryna Lagno.

Omonova is another player from the powerhouse country Uzbekistan. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.

The last win in that streak, against IM Carissa Yip, was a one-sided beatdown.

The defending champion Ju has struggled, but she's not the only one. Goryachkina and GM Bibisara Assaubayeva are the only two players from among the top-10 seeds to finish the day in the top-20 standings. GMs Ju, Tan Zhongyi, Lei Tingjie, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Humpy, and Harika Dronavalli are all outside of the top-30.

As far as favorites go, Goryachkina has been the most successful. Photo: Lennart Ootes/FIDE.

You can see several of the day's upsets listed below.

9 Notable Upsets On Day 1

Round White Player (Seed) Fed Rating Result Black Player (Seed) Fed Rating
1 WFM Yakimova, Mariya (86) 2153 1-0 GM Dzagnidze, Nana (16) 2378
2 GM Dronavalli, Harika (14) 2389 0-1 WGM Khamdamova, Afruza (59) 2227
3 WGM Berend, Elvira (47) 2260 1-0 GM Lei, Tingjie (2) 2478
5 WIM Omonova, Umida (43) 2278 1-0 GM Lagno, Kateryna (4) 2448
5 WGM Yakubbaeva, Nilufar (88) 2149 1-0 GM Dronavalli, Harika (14) 2389
6 GM Koneru, Humpy (6) 2430 0-1 WGM Toncheva, Nadya (63) 2210
6 GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra (8) 2428 0-1 IM Badelka, Olga (65) 2208
9 WIM Wang, Chuqiao (38) 2297 1-0 GM Ju, Wenjun (1) 2489
9 WGM Francisco Guecamburu, C. (37) 2298 1-0 GM Lei, Tingjie (2) 2478

There are just five rounds left in the Women's tournament before we reach the Knockout. Only four will advance. You can see the round-11 pairings below, with the key matchup being Roebers vs. the dark horse Omonova.

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
How To Watch
You can watch the tournaments on Chess24 YouTube or Twitch channels. You can follow the action with GM Hikaru Nakamura's recaps on YouTube and also watch his stream on Kick. You can also check out the games on our dedicated events page.
GM Sahaj Grover and IM Rakesh Kulkarni, followed by GM Aman Hambleton and FM James Canty III hosted the broadcast.

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:

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