The season-ending World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship 2025 got underway in Doha on Friday. The five-day event, which starts with the Rapid Championship that runs for the first three days till December 28 and is followed by the Blitz Championship for the last two days on December 29 and 30.
Russia’s Volodar Murzin is the defending champion in the Rapid format, while Norwegian Maestro Magnus Carlsen and two-time World Championship runner-up Ian Nepomniachtchi are the defending joint-winners in the Blitz format. India’s Koneru Humpy is the reigning Women’s World Rapid Champion and will look to defend her title this time.
A total of 42 Indians are in action in the Rapid event, with 29 featuring in the Open category, while 13 are in the women’s event. Arjun Ergaisi is the highest-seeded Indian in the Open section, while defending title holder Humpy is the highest-seeded Indian in the women’s category.
World Rapid Championship 2025 – Indians in action in Open section
Seeding – Player – Rating
9 – GM Erigaisi Arjun – 2714
16 – GM Gukesh D – 2692
24 – GM Nihal Sarin – 2664
25 – GM R. Praggnanandhaa – 2663
43 – GM Harikrishna Pentala – 2623
50 – GM Sadhwani Raunak – 2611
58 – GM Pranav V – 2595
62 – GM Aravindh Chithambaram VR. – 2590
66 – GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar – 2585
67 – GM Narayanan S L – 2582
86 – GM Chanda Sandipan – 2553
91 – GM Sasikiran Krishnan – 2548
96 – GM Puranik Abhimanyu – 2542
110 – GM Pranesh M – 2520
121 – GM Adhiban B. – 2503
126 – GM Mendonca Leon Luke – 2498
135 – GM Mitrabha Guha – 2487
140 – GM Bharath Subramaniyam H – 2475
144 – GM Karthik Venkataraman – 2467
155 – GM Iniyan Pa – 2450
159 – GM Aditya Mittal – 2440
165 – GM Raja Rithvik R – 2428
167 – GM Sankalp Gupta – 2425
170 – GM Pranav Anand – 2421
182 – GM Raja Harshit – 2396
187 – IM Goutham Krishna H – 2392
210 – IM Sharan Rao – 2320
215 – GM Harikrishnan. A. Ra . – 2293
224 – IM Harshavardhan G B – 2216
World Rapid Championship 2025 – Indians in action in Women’s section
Seeding – Player – Rating
8 – GM Koneru Humpy – 2448
9 – GM Harika Dronavalli – 2435
13 – GM Divya Deshmukh – 2419
25 – GM Vaishali Rameshbabu – 2359
34 – IM Vantika Agrawal – 2321
47 – IM Padmini Rout – 2290
67 – IM Savitha Shri B – 2238
82 – WGM Nandhidhaa P V – 2186
85 – WGM Priyanka Nutakki – 2176
89 – WIM Sharma Isha – 2168
112 – WGM Rakshitta Ravi – 2082
120 – WIM Parnali S Dharia – 2021
126 – WFM Charvi A – 1962
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World Rapid Championship 2025 – Schedule
December 26, 2025 (Day 1)
- Round 1: 4:30 PM
- Round 2: 5:50 PM
- Round 3: 7:10 PM
- Round 4: 8:30 PM
- Round 5: 9:50 PM
December 27, 2025 (Day 2)
- Round 6: 4:30 PM
- Round 7: 5:50 PM
- Round 8: 7:10 PM
- Round 9: 8:30 PM
December 28, 2025 (Day 3)
- Round 10: 4:30 PM
- Round 11: 5:50 PM
- Round 12: 7:10 PM
- Round 13: 8:30 PM
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