Carlsen bests Abdusattorov in the Finals to clinch World Blitz 2025, Bronze for Arjun Erigaisi

Arjun claims a double Bronze in Rapid and Blitz, Eline Roebers earns an impressive Bronze

Arjun Erigaisi showed a great consistency by winning Bronze in both World Rapid and Blitz 2025 Open. The most important part that needs to be mentioned is that Arjun topped the Swiss stage scoring 15/19, finishing a full point ahead of the rest in Stage 1 (Swiss-League). Fabiano Caruana (USA) scored 14/19, the defending cochampion - Magnus Carlsen (NOR) 13.5/19 and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) 13/19. If there were no Knockout stage then Arjun would have become World Blitz 2025 Champion by a long shot. But there is no point in discussing about what-ifs as the tournament format was clear months before. However, in the last round, Arjun faced Nihal Sarin. If Arjun had lost the round game to Nihal, Nihal would have finished fourth. It means Arjun and Nihal would have faced each other in the Semifinals and one Indian was guaranteed in the Finals which means Silver medal would have been a minimum for India. Both Arjun and Nihal are honor bound, they do not game the system to their advantage, unlike what was probably done in the previous edition to keep a few players out of the KO stage.

Round 14 Open: Carlsen suffers a TKO loss against Haik

Generally, TKO loss is observed in combat sports where one of the player is declared lost by Technical Knockout. In chess, a player can lose a match via checkmate, resignation, losing on time or illegal move (the number depends on the format). However, in Round 14 against GM Haik Martirosyan (ARM, 2679), in a complex queen, rook and bishop endgame, Carlsen dropped several pieces, five to be exact - rook and four pawns - e4, e5, f3 and f4, he put only the rook back on g3 and the pawn on f4 (which is incorrect), pressed the clock, leaving only two seconds left on the clock. He had to correctly place the f3-pawn and also the remaining three pawns in less than two seconds. It was virtually impossible for him, thus he accepted the loss given by arbiter on technical grounds. So yes, it was a TKO. Not the best start for Carlsen. He needed to make 4.5/5 to make it to the Semifinals and he managed to do that.

Round 15 Open: Carlsen bounces back, Arjun and Nihal score

Magnus Carlsen won a virtually must-win game against GM Rudik Makarian (2601).

Round 16 Open: Carlsen, Arjun and Nihal win

Round 17: Carlsen, Arjun and Nihal win again

Round 18: Carlsen, Arjun and Nihal win four in-a-row

Round 19: Carlsen, Abdusattorov, Arjun and Caruana advance to the Semifinals

Arjun Erigaisi was running late for his game against Nihal Sarin. Nihal decided to wait for his opponent and not start the close as it makes a huge difference in Blitz if you are down by a few seconds on the clock.

Arjun was in a clear lead, so even if he had lost to Nihal, he still would have topped the Stage 1. Nihal on the other hand would have qualified to the Semifinals. It means one of them would have been guaranteed to make it to the Finals which can be surmised as Silver medal being guaranteed for an Indian, maximum would have been a Gold at World Blitz 2025. However, these kids are honor bound, they played honestly and drew when the position did not offer more than that.

Nihal and Arjun probably missed out on Silver and a potential Gold in this event because they did not want to game the system. It js just a matter of time when both players will win big. Both of them are now 2700+ in Classical and Blitz.

Semifinal 1 Open: Arjun - Abdusattorov: 0.5-2.5

Arjun Erigaisi lost the first two games and drew the third. Thus, Nodirbek Abdusattorov won the best of four games match by 0.5-2.5 and advanced to the Finals.

Replay Arjun - Abdusattorov games

Semifinal 2: Fabiano Caruana - Magnus Carlsen: 1-3

Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2751) drew the first two games against Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2881) and then lost the next two games to finish shared third with Arjun Erigaisi and get Bronze medal.

Replay Caruana - Carlsen games

Semifinal 1 Women: Jiner - Bibisara: 0-3

GM Jiner Zhu (CHN, 2425) got dominated by the two-time consecutive World Blitz Women's champion, GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2428) en route her third title.

Semifinal 2: IM Eline Roebers - GM Anna Muzychuk: 1.5-2.5

After a great performance in Stage 1 (Swiss-League), World Junior Blitz Girls 2025 Gold medalist, IM Eline Roebers (NED, 2377) started the Semifinals with a loss against former two-time World Blitz Women's champion, GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2397). The second game was a draw. Eline delivered the equalizer in the third game but lost the fourth. Thus, she ended up receiving a Bronze medal at a shared third place with GM Jiner Zhu. It was undoubtedly a great result for the 19-year-old World Rapid and Blitz Women debutant.

Final Open: Carlsen - Abdusattorov: 1.5-2.5

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) won the first game against Magnus Carlsen (NOR). Carlsen immediately delivered the equalizer in the second game. The third one ended in a draw. Carlsen won the fourth to win the Finals, ninth World Blitz and overall 20th World title. He is indubitably the greatest of all time and perhaps this was the toughest World title he has won among Rapid and Blitz.

Replay Carlsen - Abdusattorov games

Final Women: Anna - Bibisara: 1.5-2.5

After three draws, GM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) won the fourth game against GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) to win her third World Blitz Women title. Nine years ago, Anna won World Rapid and Blitz Women title in Doha, Qatar. To be in contention for the Gold in same city, nine years later is an incredible feat, despite not having the best results in the faster formats lately.

Replay Anna - Bibisara games

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Replay Round 14-19 and KO stage Open games

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Round 19 Open results

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Standings after Stage 1

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Semifinal results

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Final results

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Round 15 Women results

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Standings after Stage 1

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Semifinal results

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Final results

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Prize fund

The total prize fund combining Rapid and Blitz is €1000000, €700000 in Open and €300000 in Women. The top three prizes in Blitz Open are €70000, €50000 and €28000, for Women, they are €40000, €25000 and €15000.

Links

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Tournament Regulations: Open and Women

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