The stage is set: Nearly 60 teams confirmed for the 2025 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships in London
Registration has officially closed for the 2025 FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships, and it’s the biggest edition yet! With teams from every corner of the globe confirmed, this year’s event has attracted nearly 60 teams, a remarkable increase from the 38 who participated in 2024 and 36 in the inaugural 2023 edition (which featured only the Rapid competition). With average team ratings ranging from 1747 to 2695, the tournament truly represents the global chess community – uniting elite super grandmasters, rising stars, and ambitious amateurs. Let’s take a closer look at the top contenders in the line-up: Once again, WR Chess has assembled a dream team. Organised by Wadim Rosenstein, the reigning Blitz champions, and 2023 Rapid champions, return with a slightly different cast of familiar faces. While Magnus Carlsen led the team in 2024, this year’s roster includes Alireza Firouzja, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, and the returning Wesley So (from the 2023 edition). Also returning are Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and former Women’s World Champions Hou Yifan and Alexandra Kosteniuk. With so much firepower and fan appeal, WR Chess will once again be the team to watch. But with fierce competition ahead, winning both titles will be no easy feat. Ranked second on the starting list is another powerhouse: Hexamind Chess Team. The team boasts a lineup led by seasoned Grandmasters Levon Aronian, Leinier Dominguez Perez, Vladimir Kramnik, and Peter Svidler, players who have long defined elite chess. Complementing their experience are Indian stars Vidit Gujrathi and Divya Deshmukh, alongside David Muradyan. The balance of generations and styles gives this team real championship potential. The 2024 World Rapid Team Champions, Al-Ain ACMG UAE, are also back to defend their crown. With a core lineup featuring Vladislav Artemiev, Daniil Dubov, Dmitry Andreikin, Volodar Murzin, Kateryna Lagno, and Wafiya Darvish al-Maamari, the team remains one of the most formidable in the field. One notable change is the absence of Parham Maghsoodloo, who has switched sides this year to play for KazChess, the fourth-ranked team. There, he joins Richard Rapport and Alexander Grischuk in one of the tournament’s most intriguing rosters. This reshuffling of players is part of what makes this event so fascinating for spectators. Unlike the Olympiad, where national teams are fixed, this championship allows a mix of backgrounds, bringing together unexpected partnerships and rivalries and teams that have played together in the past may have an edge when it comes to synergy and coordination. Another crowd-favourite team is ranked fifth. Freedom is led on board one by none other than Viswanathan Anand. The five-time World Champion leads a rich lineup including Le Quang Liem, Samuel Sevian, Haik Martirosyan, Anna Muzychuk, Sarbartho Mani, Alexey Sarana, Rauf Mamedov, and Teodora Injac (fresh off her 2025 European Women’s Championship title). With other big names such as Arjun Erigaisi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Vincent Keymer also in action, fans are guaranteed a feast of rapid-fire chess and high-stakes blitz battles. The full team list is available on the official website: worldrapidblitzteams2025.fide.com About the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships Now in its third edition, the FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Team Championships will take place from June 10–16, 2025, at the Novotel London West, London. The event is open to national federations, clubs, cities, universities, companies, or any formally organized teams of six to nine players. Each team must include at least one female player and one recreational player (unrated or rated under 2000). The tournament begins with the Rapid competition, held from June 11–13, following a 12-round Swiss format with a time control of 15 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move. This is followed by the Blitz tournament, which introduces a two-stage structure: a round-robin pool stage on June 14, and a knockout phase for the top 16 teams on June 15. Blitz games will be played with a time control of 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment per move. With a record total prize fund of €500,000 (€310,000 allocated to Rapid and €190,000 to Blitz) this edition will be the richest in the event’s history. Prizes will also be awarded to the best female teams, best mixed-gender teams, and top recreational players. For more information, visit the official website.
WGP Austria Round 6: Zhu and Tan shine in Grosslobming
Chinese stars Zhu Jiner and Tan Zhongyi led the charge with crucial victories, while Alexandra Kosteniuk and Vaishali Rameshbabu also bounced back with important wins. For the best part of round six in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix, it seemed that this would be a calm day on the chessboards. What began as a seemingly tranquil round turned into a thrilling display of sharp moves and nerves. Anna Muzychuk continues to lead with 4.5/6, after she drew with Nana Dzagnidze the only peaceful game of the day. Zhu Jiner scored her fourth victory, securing sole second place, half a point behind Anna. The two are the only players with a chance to win the overall 2024/2025 WGP season and get a spot in the 2026 Women’s Candidates. Congratulations go to former World Champion Tan Zhongyi, who ground down Salimova in what seemed to be a dead-drawn rook endgame. It was the longest game of the round, lasting five hours and 89 moves. The most intense game of the day was between Mariya Muzychuk and Zhu Jiner. In the Murphy Defence of Ruy Lopez, the position was even until the late stages of the middlegame when Muzychuk overlooked a tactical attack by Black. Mariya has just played the most natural move 31.Bg2? (after 31.Nh4 position is equal) but missed 31…Ndf4!! The knight is taboo – 32.gxf4 fails to 32…Nxf4 33.Re7 Nxg2 and if 34.Kxg2 then Qg4+, regaining piece, with a pawn advantage and a dominating position. White should have played 32.Qe3 here, defending the f3-knight, although, after 32…Rc3 her position is no fun. Instead, she blundered. 32.Rb1? Nxg2 33.Kxg2 Nf4+!! 34.Kg1 Nh3+ 35.Kg2 Rc2 36.Qe8+ Kh7 – and Black is completely winning. Although Zhu later gave Muzychuk a fleeting chance to equalise the Ukrainian missed her opportunity. Black should have proceeded with Nh3+ and g5, pressing and holding everything. Instead Zhu carelessly played 41…d5? giving respite to White in a position where she could almost not do anything! But Muzychuk erred. Instead of activating her knight with Nh4 and going for counterplay, she played 42.Qc3?, missing the only chance she got to save the game. In the next move, Zhu was on target – 42…g5! 43.Ne1 g4 44.Qd3 Removing the queens in the hope of a respite, but that didn’t help. 44…Qe4 45.Qxe4 dxe4 White ran out of moves. 46.Kh1 – giving up a pawn, but 46.d5 is met with 46…Rd2 followed by e4-e3) 46…Nxf2. The white king is in a mating web, and the pieces are pinned to the first rank. Five moves later Mariya capitulated. A well-deserved victory for Zhu – her fourth win in a row. Tan outlasts Salimova in a dead draw The second game that marked round six of the WGP in Austria was played by another Chinese – Tan Zhongyi, who defeated Bulgaria’s Nurgyul Salimova. After scoring her first victory in round five (an effective win against Kosteniuk), Nurgyul Salimova was in a buoyant mode against former World Champion Tan. Salimova played the King’s Indian Attack – an uncommon opening on grandmaster level. The Bulgarian was pushing on the queenside, but spent a lot of time thinking and didn’t succeed in creating any real opportunities. By move 28, the two transitioned to a rook endgame, where White had a 2:1 pawn advantage on the queenside. Still, Nurgyul had one major problem – time. With just six minutes on the clock (compared to Tan’s 46), Salimova needed to make 10 moves to reach the first time control, which isn’t easy in a rook endgame. Soon, a pair of rooks and pawns was exchanged. The two entered a rook endgame with White having a runner on the a-file. The position was even and everyone anticipated a quick draw. But Tan refused to settle. White soon abandoned her pawn, demonstrating the impregnability of her position, but Tan was determined to drain blood out of stone. And it eventually paid off. After White first lost her h-pawn, it was still a drawn endgame, but Tan had the psychological advantage. After 80 moves – 53 of which were spent on a rook endgame – Salimova finally broke. White should have moved her king to the corner with 81.Kh1, avoiding a double attack with …Rg2. If Black did go for 81..Rg2, she would then have a perpetual check from Black’s back ranks using the well known mad-rook motif. For example: 81.Kh1 Rg2 82.Rf8+ Ke5 83. Re8+ Kd5 84.Re5+! Kd4 (84..Kxe5 – stalemate!) 84.Rxe4+ and so on. However, Salimova played 81.Ra2?? and after 81…Rg2+ 82.Kh1 Kg4! Tan soon proceeded to take the second pawn and win. A remarkable show of perseverance from the former Women’s World Champion, who has so far had three victories, two defeats and one draw in the tournament. A great victory in a “miserable tournament” Another former Women’s World Champion – Alexandra Kosteniuk – also won. In the words of Grandmaster Emil Sutovsky, Kosteniuk had “a miserable tournament” so far – with just 1.5 points from five games. In round five she was upset by Salimova in a game where Kosteniuk had a significant advantage. Despite the shock, today she was back in good form and fighting spirit. Playing with the black pieces against Georgia’s Lela Javakhishvili, Kosteniuk achieved a solid position in the Colle system. As early as move 11, Javakhishvili gave up a pawn but got a sufficient compensation. On move 17, Black gave back the pawn but enjoyed a comfortable position. A few moves down the line, approaching time trouble – White made a heavy blunder. 23.Bb2? The optimal choice was to play 23.f3, giving up her d4-pawn but getting some activity after 23…Rxd4 25.Qb5. Any attempt to defend the d4-pawn is dangerous. As played, Black won the much more important e4-pawn after 23…Rxa1 24.Rxa1 Nxe4. Black has multiple things going in her favour: an extra pawn, a runner on the b-file, an excellent d5-square for the knight and the command of the c-file. White continued to resist, but Kosteniuk activated her king and broke
Asian Blitz Championship: Ivan Zemlyanskii and Alua Nurman capture titles
Asian Chess Federation (ACF) president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan (left) awards medals to the winners of the Asian Individual Blitz Chess Championship together with ACF General Secretary Hisham Al Taher (right). Fourteen-year-old Ivan Zemlyanskii emerged undefeated to win the Asian Individual Blitz Chess Championship, held on May 10, 2025, at the Danat Resort Hotel in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. The teen sensation, playing under the neutral FIDE flag, outpaced 30 grandmasters in a field of 111 players from 25 countries. The tournament was organized by the Al Ain Chess and Mind Games Club under the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) and the International Chess Federation (FIDE). Zemlyanskii scored an impressive 8 points out of 9 rounds to take clear first place. He began with five consecutive wins over IM G. Harshavardhan (IND), GM Nikita Matinian (FID), IM Kirill Shubin (FID), eventual runner-up GM Sina Movahed (IRI), and GM Leon Luke Mendonca (IND). After drawing with GM M. Pranesh (IND) in Round 6, Zemlyanskii secured victories against GM Subramaniyam Bharath (IND) and IM Rudik Makarian (FID), and concluded the event with a final-round draw against GM Murali Karthikeyan (IND). Fourteen-year-old Sina Movahed of Iran scored 7.5 points to finish alone in second place. IM Rudik Makarian (FID) placed third with 7 points, edging out GM Karthikeyan, IM Saha Neelash (IND), and untitled Jiang Haochen (CHN) on tiebreaks. Zemlyanskii earned $2,500 for first place, while Movahed and Makarian took home $1,500 and $1,000, respectively. Complete final standings – Open In the women’s section, WGM Alua Nurman of Kazakhstan clinched the title with 7.5 points, edging out runner-up GM Valentina Gunina (FID) on the basis of a superior opponents’ average rating. IM Song Yuxin of China placed third with 7 points, finishing ahead of IM Rout Padmini (IND) and WFM Elnaz Kaliakhmet (KAZ) on tiebreaks. Asian Chess Federation (ACF) president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan (left) awards medals to the winners of the Asian Individual Blitz Women’s Chess Championship together with ACF General Secretary Hisham Al Taher (right). The women’s field featured 86 players from 20 countries, including 2 GMs, 15 WGMs, 11 IMs, and 20 WIMs. Nurman won six consecutive games against compatriots WIM Ayaulym Kaldarova and WIM Assel Serikbay, WIM Sakshi Chitlange (IND), Madinabonu Khalilova (UZB), GM Valentina Gunina (FID), and Bat-Erdene Mungunzul (MGL), then drew with IM Leya Garifulina (FID) in Round 7. Despite a penultimate round loss to IM Song Yuxin (CHN), Nurman secured the title with a final-round victory over compatriot Xeniya Balabayeva. Nurman received $1,500 for her win, while Gunina and Song earned $1,000 and $500, respectively. Complete final standings – Women A total of $80,000 in cash prizes is at stake in the 2025 Asian Individual Chess Championship. The top ten men qualify for the FIDE World Cup, while the top two women earn spots in the FIDE Women’s World Cup. Classical games are scheduled daily at 3 p.m. until May 15, with the final round beginning at 10 a.m. Watch live games in Chess.com, Lichess, Chessbase (Men) and Chessbase (Women). Photos: Hossam El Baz Official website: asianchess.com/