Carlsen Channels Rage To Recapture World Rapid Crown For Sixth Time
The moment everyone will, inevitably, remember is when GM Magnus Carlsen shoved a camera on day two. Carlsen again caught in controversy, albeit minor.
But that should take nothing away from yet another victory in the FIDE World Rapid Championship. Here was a sporting icon in full flow: it was a joy to behold. We've said that before, so many times.
Total Dominance
Carlsen is now a six-time winner of this event after finishing a full point ahead of the field on 10.5/13. His record is astonishing. His dominance, camera rage incident aside, total.
Carlsen has now won 19 world titles: five in classical, six in rapid and eight in blitz. Next year, he has the opportunity to add the new FIDE-approved Total World Chess Championship to his collection.
The 2025 FIDE World Rapid concluded in Doha on Sunday evening with new World Champions in both the Open and the Women’s competitions.
The women's crown went to GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, of Russia, who defeated China's GM Zhu Jiner in a blitz playoff.
After his stumble on day two, Carlsen came back on the final day of the rapid in full force, scoring three consecutive victories – against GMs Alexey Sarana, Hans Niemann and the young Turk superstar announcing himself on the world stage Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş.
The Norwegian entered the final round with a one-point lead over the Russian GM Vladislav Artemiev and Niemann, of the U.S..
Facing Dutch number-one GM Anish Giri as White, he quickly drew, which was enough for Carlsen to claim his sixth crown in the World Rapid (2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2025).
"It was a big field with a lot of strong players," Carlsen after his victory. "The serious advantage that I have is that I play for first place when I'm appearing here, while most other players are thinking about getting a good prize and maybe a medal. That gives me a huge psychological advantage."
When asked to compare this Rapid crown to the previous five, Carlsen remarked: "What stands out is that I managed to beat everyone who is not a top player, something I'm very happy with. Overall, except for the start on day two, which was horrendous, everything else was really good for me here."
The second place in the World Rapid was shared by four players, all on 9.5 points: Artemiev, GM Arjun Erigaisi, Niemann, and GM Leinier Dominguez Perez.
Artemiev – the only player to defeat Carlsen in the event, which sparked that frustrated camera moment – took silver, while Erigaisi claimed bronze.
Niemann missed out on a medal by 0.5 Buchholz points (a tie-breaking system in chess that ranks players based on the sum of points of all of their opponents in the tournament).
In the Women’s Rapid, three players were tied for the lead before the final round: Zhu, Goryachkina, and defending champion GM Humpy Koneru, all on 8/10 points.
In Round 11, both Zhu and Goryachkina drew their games. Koneru, the only leader with a chance to take sole first place, had a completely winning endgame against compatriot GM Shri B. Savitha but misplayed in time trouble, allowing Savitha to escape with a draw.
According to the regulations, in case of a tie for first place, only the top two players (based on tiebreaks) went to the playoff finals. To Koneru's misfortune, she wasn’t one of them.
Instead, Goryachkina and Zhu contested two blitz games. Goryachkina quickly won the first and drew the second to secure the title. This is the first World Rapid crown for Goryachkina, who was the World Champion challenger in 2020 in classical time control.
Zhu, who led for most of the tournament, finished in second place. After winning gold in New York in 2024, Koneru takes home the bronze medal from Doha.
The action continues on Monday, December 29, with the start of the two-day World Blitz Championship in both the Open and Women’s categories.
All the action can be followed live on the FIDE YouTube Channel, featuring expert commentary by GMs Maurice Ashley, Peter Leko and IM Jovanka Houska.