FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025: Updated schedule, format, players list & live streaming details
The FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025 will take place from December 26 to 30. Qatar’s capital, Doha, will host the event for the second time, marking a return after a nine-year hiatus.
The tournament will feature the participation of top male players from around the world in a high-stakes competition. The rapid and blitz sections both have a total prize fund of €350,000 each, with the winner taking home €70,000.
Let’s take a detailed look at the format, list of players, and schedule of the much-awaited tournament.
When and where will the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025 be held?
Qatar University’s Sports and Events Complex in Doha will be the host of the tournament. The Rapid event is scheduled to take place from December 26 to 28, while Blitz will be played from December 29 to 30.
Who is the defending champion of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025?
Volodar Murzin emerged as the World Rapid champion in 2024 after beating Alexander Grischuk. Meanwhile, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi were the joint World Blitz champions.
FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025 format:
The rapid event will follow a 13-round Swiss format, with a time control of 15 minutes + 10 seconds increment.
Meanwhile, the Blitz event will have two stages, starting with a Swiss qualifier consisting of 19 rounds. The ultimate winner will then be decided by a 4-player knockout final. Here, the time control will be 3 minutes + 2-second increments.
Where and how to watch the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025 live streaming?
The official YouTube channel of FIDE chess will be live-streaming the competition for the fans.
FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025: Full list of participants
- Magnus Carlsen
- Ian Nepomniachtchi
- Levon Aronian
- Alireza Firouzja
- Fabiano Caruana
- Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
- Vladislav Artemiev
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov
- Arjun Erigaisi
- Jan-Krzysztof Duda
- Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
- Javokhir Sindarov
- Leinier Dominguez Perez
- Richard Rapport
- Wesley So
- Gukesh D
- Daniil Dubov
- Anish Giri
- Yu Yangyi
- Alexander Grischuk
- Dmitry Andreikin
- Parham Maghsoodloo
- Jaime Santos Latasa
- Nihal Sarin
- Praggnanandhaa R
- Teimour Radjabov
- Samuel Sevian
- Radoslaw Wojtaszek
- Ray Robson
- Andrey Esipenko
- Le Quang Liem
- Baadur Jobava
- Volodar Murzin
- José Eduardo Martínez Alcántara
- Alexey Sarana
- Olexandr Bortnyk
- Vincent Keymer
- Nils Grandelius
- Ruslan Ponomariov
- Haik Martirosyan
- Jorden van Foreest
- Vasyl Ivanchuk
- Eltaj Safarli
- Pentala Harikrishna
- A. R. Saleh Salem
- Rasmus Svane
- David Anton Guijarro
- Lu Shanglei
- Hans Moke Niemann
- Shant Sargsyan
- Raunak Sadhwani
- Kirill Alekseenko
- Rauf Mamedov
- Jules Moussard
- Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli
- Alexander Motylev
- Maxim Matlakov
- Maksim Chigaev
- Pranav V
- Bassem Amin
- Adam Kozak
- Daniel Dardha
- Aravindh Chithambaram
- Aleksandar Indjic
- Bu Xiangzhi
- Cristobal Henriquez Villagra
- Surya Shekhar Ganguly
- S. L. Narayanan
- Alexander Donchenko
- Nikolas Theodorou
- Bojan Maksimovic
- Amin Tabatabaei
- Varuzhan Akobian
- Alan Pichot
- Denis Lazavik
- Arkadij Naiditsch
- Bai Jinshi
- Jonas Buhl Bjerre
- David Paravyan
- Evgeniy Najer
- Mustafa Yilmaz
- Nijat Abasov
- Nodirbek Yakubboev
- Giga Quparadze
- Pouya Idani
- Andrew Hong
- Aleksandr Shimanov
- Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez
- Sandipan Chanda
- Denis Kadric
- Andrei Volokitin
- Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son
- Krishnan Sasikiran
- Mahammad Muradli
- David Gavrilescu
- Rinat Jumabayev
- Nikita Petrov
- Abhimanyu Puranik
- Arseniy Nesterov
- Aram Hakobyan
- Ivan Zemlyanskii
- Kazybek Nogerbek
- Augustin Droin
- Max Warmerdam
- Shamsiddin Vokhidov
- Aleksey Grebnev
- Denis Makhnev
- Samir Sahidi
- Rudik Makarian
- Aleksandr Rakhmanov
- Emre Can
- Pranesh M
- Levan Pantsulaia
- Mikhail Kobalia
- Le Tuan Minh
- Frode Olav Olsen Urkedal
- Pavel Ponkratov
- Jingyao Tin
- Brandon Jacobson
- Jakub Kosakowski
- Vahap Sanal
- B. Adhiban
- Ediz Gurel
- Dimitris Alexakis
- Lorenzo Lodici
- Leon Luke Mendonca
- Bardiya Daneshvar
- Niaz Murshed
- Nicola Altini
- Jakhongir Vakhidov
- Zhang Zhong
- Stelios Halkias
- Marco Materia
- Sergey Drygalov
- Faustino Oro
- Guha Mitrabha
- Savva Vetokhin
- Gleb Dudin
- Elham Amar
- Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux
- Bharath Subramaniyam H
- Konstantin Peyrer
- Read Samadov
- Johan-Sebastian Christiansen
- Karthik Venkataraman
- Mukhiddin Madaminov
- Vignir Vatnar Stefansson
- Artem Uskov
- Maksim Tsaruk
- Mahdi Gholami Orimi
- Nderim Saraci
- Arystan Isanzhulov
- Sumiya Bilguun
- Xiao Tong
- Sergei Lobanov
- Pa Iniyan
- Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus
- Ihor Samunenkov
- Pablo Salinas Herrera
- Aditya Mittal
- Zhandos Agmanov
- Khumoyun Begmuratov
- Sugar Gan-Erdene
- Alisher Suleymenov
- Rithvik R Raja
- Cem Kaan Gokerkan
- Nico Chasin
- Sankalp Gupta
- Havard Haug
- Artur Davtyan
- Pranav Anand
- Kirill Klukin
- Erdem Khubukshanov
- Sion Radamantys Galaviz Medina
- Mamikon Gharibyan
- Jagadeesh Siddharth
- Murad Ibrahimli
- Mukhammadzokhid Suyarov
- Mihail Nikitenko
- Sina Movahed
- Eldiyar Orozbaev
- Fy Antenaina Rakotomaharo
- Raja Harshit
- Lev Zverev
- Artiom Stribuk
- Praveen Balakrishnan
- Aldiyar Ansat
- Goutham Krishna H
- Roman Shogdzhiev
- Nikolay Averin
- Adelard Bai
- Emin Ohanyan
- Robert Piliposyan
- Florian Grafl
- James Morris
- Daniyal Sapenov
- Zanas Nainys
- Ergali Suleimen
- Gabriel Gaehwiler
- Hamed Wafa
- Tran Thanh Tu
- Mohamed Ezat
- Christos Krallis
- Meng Yihan
- Sauat Nurgaliyev
- Husain Aziz
- David George Samir
- Dau Khuong Duy
- Mazen Fandi
- Sharan Rao
- Armin Musovic
- Mohamed Tissir
- Edgar Mamedov
- Khagan Ahmad
- A. Ra. Harikrishnan
- Vitus Bondo Medhus
- Mark Smirnov
- Fred Berend
- Abilmansur Abdilkhair
- Sedrani Ammar
- Victor Muntean
- Miras Assylov
- Harshavardhan G B
- Sergey Sklokin
- Aram Chekh Adm Khedr
- Omran Al Hosani
- Tarik Anwoir
- Tsogtbileg Anand
- Omer Salah Fates
- Ala Eddine Boulrens
- Aashish Phuyal
- Yousef A. Alhassadi
- Ahmed Abdullah Alrehaili
- Jonathan Bodemar
- James Dinham
- Mohammed Damaj
- Salim Aliyan Al Mashikhi
- Ryan Blackwood
- Sushrut Dahal
- Ashwath Kaushik
- Emad Khayat
- Talab Rami
- Meshal Alsaqer
- Abdulaziz Alkhuriji
- Khaled Al Jamaat
- Hamad Al-Kuwari
- Ibrahim Al-Janahi
FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025: Full schedule and match timings (in IST)
RAPID
Friday, December 26
- Round 1 – 4:30 PM IST
- Round 2 – 5:50 PM IST
- Round 3 – 7:10 PM IST
- Round 4 – 7:30 PM IST
- Round 5 – 8:50 PM IST
Saturday, December 27
- Round 6 – 4:30 PM IST
- Round 7 – 5:50 PM IST
- Round 8 – 7:10 PM IST
- Round 9 – 7:30 PM IST
Sunday, December 28
- Round 10 – 4:30 PM IST
- Round 11 – 5:50 PM IST
- Round 12 – 7:10 PM IST
- Round 13 – 7:30 PM IST
BLITZ
Monday, December 29
- Round 1 – 4:30 PM IST
- Round 2 – 5:00 PM IST
- Round 3 – 5:30 PM IST
- Round 4 – 6:00 PM IST
- Round 5 – 6:30 PM IST
- Round 6 – 7:00 PM IST
- Round 7 – 7:30 PM IST
- Round 8 – 8:00 PM IST
- Round 9 – 8:30 PM IST
- Round 10 – 9:00 PM IST
- Round 11 – 9:30 PM IST
- Round 12 – 10:00 PM IST
- Round 13 – 10:30 PM IST
Tuesday, December 30
- Round 14 – 4:30 PM IST
- Round 15 – 5:00 PM IST
- Round 16 – 5:30 PM IST
- Round 17 – 6:00 PM IST
- Round 18 – 6:30 PM IST
- Round 19 – 7:00 PM IST
- Semi-finals – 8:00 PM IST
- Final – 9:45 PM IST
When is the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025 being held?
The tournament will take place from December 26 to December 30, 2025, with Rapid games scheduled from December 26–28 and Blitz games from December 29–30.
Where will the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025 be hosted?
The event will be held at the Sports and Events Complex, Qatar University, in Doha, Qatar.
Who are the defending champions at the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championships?
Volodar Murzin is the defending World Rapid Champion, while Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi are the joint defending World Blitz Champions.
How does the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025?
The Blitz event consists of a 19-round Swiss qualifier, followed by a four-player knockout stage to decide the champion, with games played at 3 minutes plus a 2-second increment.
What is the prize money for FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2025?
Both the Rapid and Blitz sections have a prize fund of €350,000 each, with the winners earning €70,000.
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Farzan is a journalist at Khel Now covering Indian Olympic sports and kabaddi. With five years of experience working with major sports organizations like Chennaiyin FC, Dabang Delhi K.C., Rajasthan Royals, and Yuva Kabaddi Series, he brings diverse expertise. Farzan has covered two Olympics, one Commonwealth Games, and one Asian Games, making his knowledge of Indian sports broad and versatile.
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