FIDE Introduces Armageddon Rule, Changes World Blitz Championship Format Again
The International Chess Federation (FIDE) has introduced significant changes for the 2025 World Blitz Championship in Doha, Qatar, most notably, a new rule to ensure the tournament ends with a clear winner.
FIDE's move, announced Tuesday, comes in the wake of the 2024 World Blitz Championship, which had one of the most controversial conclusions in chess history. GMs Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi agreed to share the title, despite regulations that required them to play on until there was a decisive result.
"We reached a point where it had been a long day. We played many games, we had three draws, and I felt that I could keep playing. But it was a nice solution to share the win, it was a good way to end it," Carlsen told Norwegian TV.
However, the last-minute rule change sparked a wave of negative reactions from the chess community, which has led FIDE to make a change ahead of 2025. Under the new regulations, if the score is tied after four blitz games in the final, just one Armageddon game will determine the winner. The time control for the game will be announced by June 1, FIDE said.
The 2025 World Rapid & Blitz Championship takes place in Doha, Qatar on December 26-30. The Rapid event remains unchanged with 13 rounds in the Open and 11 in the Women's, but the Blitz will see a few changes compared to the format introduced last year.
In 2024, FIDE scrapped the traditional 21-round Swiss in favor of a two-phase tournament. That edition featured a shortened 13-round Swiss, followed by an eight-player knockout.
The knockout format will return in 2025, FIDE announced on Tuesday. However, this year, the format will get even sharper as only the top four players from the Swiss stage will qualify for the Semifinals. The key change is that the number of rounds to decide qualification has been increased from 13 in 2024 to 19 in 2025. The Women's event will play 15 rounds of blitz before a knockout.
"The increased number of rounds in the qualifying part ensures that the strongest players will progress to the knockout. Also, the final match-up is ideally scheduled to suit audiences across all major chess hubs," FIDE CEO and GM Emil Sutovsky said.
The increased number of rounds in the qualifying part ensures that the strongest players will progress to the knockout.
—Emil Sutovsky, FIDE CEO
FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich added: "These format enhancements aim to make the event more dynamic while preserving the sport’s integrity and excitement for both players and fans."
Another notable change that will likely be welcomed by many, is that the rest day introduced in 2024 has been scrapped for 2025. That means the two events will go back to the five-day schedule, compared to six days in 2024, which resulted in extra costs for both players and visiting fans.
In addition, all players will compete on the second day, with six rounds in the Open and five rounds in the Women's event. That avoids the situation where the vast majority of the field found themselves not playing on the final day in 2024, though flights and hotels had to be booked in advance.
The prize fund for 2025 is set at €1 million (approximately $1.12 million USD), notably down from $1.428 million in 2024. The funds will be split across the Rapid and Blitz tournaments, with €700,000 allocated to the Open events and €300,000 to the Women’s.
“We are very much looking forward to hosting the chess world in Doha and are happy to see FIDE has introduced important enhancements to the regulations,” said GM Mohd Al-Mudahka, President of the Qatar Chess Association, adding: "We are proud to welcome this flagship event back to our capital, further strengthening our place on the global chess map."
