Magnus Carlsen Secures Both World Rapid and Blitz Titles in Doha
Magnus Carlsen claimed victory in both the World Rapid and World Blitz Chess Championships held in Doha, Qatar. He secured his 19th World Rapid title by finishing first with a score of 10.5 out of 13, ahead of runners-up Artemiev and Arjun Erigaisi, who each scored 9.5. The Rapid champion received a prize of €70,000.
The World Blitz Championship included a format of 19 rounds with rapid time controls (3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment per move), followed by a knockout stage for the top four players. Despite numerous challenges, including a rook blunder against Fabiano Caruana and time troubles leading to a forfeit and precarious situations against Erigaisi and Haik Martirosyan, Carlsen advanced to the final. In the final match, he defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov with a score of 2.5 to 1.5, securing his 20th World Blitz title and an additional €70,000 prize.
In the women's competitions, Aleksandra Goryachkina won the World Women’s Rapid Championship, while 21-year-old Bibisara Assaubayeva claimed her third world Blitz title.
The tournament saw no British competitors in the World Rapid or Blitz events. However, Talab Rami, the Cornwall champion representing Syria and counted among England's top juniors, scored 5.5/13 in Rapid with a performance rating of 2325 and 7/19 in Blitz scoring a TPR of 2350.
At the closing press conference, Carlsen announced plans to participate in two or three classical chess events in 2026, with probable appearances at Norway Chess, the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan, and potentially the Sinquefield Cup or European Club Cup.
