Doha, Qatar: The FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025 get underway in Doha on Friday, with Qatar hosting the elite global event until December 30.
The tournament brings together the world's leading players to compete for four world titles in rapid and blitz chess across the men's and women's categories.
A total of 251 players will take part in the men's rapid championship, while 254 are entered in the men's blitz event. The women's competition features 142 players, including reigning world champions and several of the highest-ranked specialists in fast-format chess.
Play begins on Friday afternoon following the opening ceremony, with the blitz competition the first event to get under way.
Among the headline names are reigning classical world champion Gukesh Dommaraju of India, world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway, and Russian grandmaster Ian Nepomniachtchi, the 2024 world blitz champion. The field also includes Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Levon Aronian and Alexander Grischuk.
Several rising stars are also competing, including 15-year-old Russian grandmaster Ivan Zemlyanskii and 14-year-old Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, one of the youngest players in history to reach a 2600 rating.
Qatar will be represented by international master Hussein Aziz, alongside Khaled Al Jamaat, Hamad Al Kuwari and Ibrahim Al Janahi.
In the women's event, five-time world champion Ju Wenjun of China heads the field. The world number one won the women's blitz world title in New York in 2024 and is among the favourites once again.
She is joined by former world champions Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk, as well as Alexandra Goryachkina and Bibisara Assaubayeva, a two-time women's blitz world champion. Former champion Kateryna Lagno is also competing.
Speaking ahead of the tournament, Qatar Chess Federation president Mohammed Al Mudahka said the event had attracted a record number of participants, describing it as a landmark edition that would help raise the standard of chess in the country through exposure to the world's leading players.
Qatar last hosted the Rapid and Blitz World Championships in 2016, when Doha staged one of the most celebrated editions of the event.
FIDE president Arkady Dvorkovich said he was delighted by the scale of participation at the championships, describing the event as one of the most exciting on the global chess calendar.
The Rapid and Blitz World Championships organised by FIDE are among the most thrilling and widely followed chess events of the year, Dvorkovich said. "I would like to thank the local organising committee for its efforts in delivering what promises to be an outstanding tournament."
He praised Qatar's track record in hosting major chess competitions, citing events such as the Qatar Masters, and highlighted the country's broader experience in staging world-class sporting events.
More than 400 male and female players are competing in Doha, with a total prize fund of close to EUR 1m, a factor Dvorkovich said would ensure a highly competitive championship.
He added that the tournament follows a particularly strong period on the international calendar, including the Chess World Cup and the Global Chess League, meaning many of the same leading players are now contesting world titles in Doha.
World number one Magnus Carlsen said he was ready to defend his rapid and blitz titles, expressing his enthusiasm at competing in Qatar. The Norwegian, who stepped down as classical world champion in 2023, remains the reigning champion in both faster formats.
The total prize fund exceeds €1 million, with €700,000 allocated to the open competitions and €300,000 to the women's events, split evenly between the rapid and blitz championships.
Doha previously hosted the Rapid Chess World Championship in 2016, when Ukraine's Vasyl Ivanchuk claimed the title in a tournament featuring more than 150 elite players.
