Who is the world rapid and blitz chess champion?

The champions

FIDE holds the World Rapid and Blitz Championships every year, as one event. The latest was in Doha, Qatar, on December 25–30, 2025.

In the rapid, Carlsen won with 10½ points out of 13, a full point ahead of everyone else. In the women's event, three players finished on the same score, and Goryachkina beat Zhu Jiner in a blitz playoff.

The blitz began with a Swiss-system tournament, and the top four went on to semifinals and a final. Carlsen beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2½–1½ in the final. Assaubayeva beat Anna Muzychuk and took her third blitz title.

Carlsen's titles

Carlsen has won the World Rapid six times: 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2025. He has won the World Blitz nine times: 2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. In 2024 he shared the title with Ian Nepomniachtchi: after a long playoff, it was agreed that the two would share first place.

In classical chess he was world champion from 2013 to 2023. More on his page.

The time controls

In the World Rapid, each player has 15 minutes plus 10 seconds a move. In the blitz it's 3 minutes plus 2 seconds a move. How the formats differ is under How long does a chess game take?

The next championships

The 2026 championships are in Istanbul, Türkiye, with arrivals on December 25 and the last day of play on December 30. The names above may change then.

Since 2012, FIDE has held the rapid and blitz championships together, as a rule every year. The first blitz championship FIDE recognized as a world championship was played in Rishon LeZion, Israel, in September 2006.