World Rapid 2025 Day 1: Great start for Goutham Krishna, Arjun shows true grit against Carlsen

by Shahid Ahmed - 27/12/2025

IM Goutham Krishna H made a great start at FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship 2025 Open. He scored an unbeaten 4/5 against all-star opponents. World no.1, Magnus Carlsen (NOR), Arjun Erigaisi and World Champion, D Gukesh are in a five-way lead 4.5/5 with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) and Vladislav Artemiev. Arjun showed incredible resilience against Carlsen in the fifth round. GM Sandipan Chanda and GM Nihal Sarin are at 4/5 each. Sandipan played some wild games to score a hat-trick of wins including victories against Levon Aronian (USA) and R Praggnanandhaa in consecutive battles. In the Women's section, GM Harika Dronavalli is trailing the leader by a half point at 3.5/5. Four rounds of Rapid games will be played today in each section. Round 5 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Shahid Ahmed

Arjun and Gukesh in a five-way lead 4.5/5, Sandipan makes a sensational hat-trick

It goes without saying that World Rapid and Blitz 2025 is the most exciting event in the entire calendar. A total of 247 players including 164 GMs and 49 IMs are taking part from 63 countries across the world in the Open, 141 players including 23 GMs, 32 IMs, 29 WGMs and 23 WIMs are taking part from 41 countries across the world in the Women. The sheer number of variety of strength from various part of the world makes this event a diverse and unique one, full of exciting moments and games each day.

IM Goutham Krishna H fared superbly against five all-star opponents on his first five rounds

Interview with the World Champion - GM D Gukesh | Video: ChessBase India

Round 1: Goutham stuns Indjic, Aronian escapes against Leon

Aronian - Leon

Position after 40.fxg4??

GM Levon Aronian (USA, 2756) blundered 40.fxg4?? allowing GM Leon Luke Mendonca (2498) to gain an exchange 40...Kd5-+. However, Leon soon misplayed and gave up his advantage. 41.axb6 axb6 42.Nc4 Kc6 43.Rxc5+ Kxc5 44.Ke3 b5 45.Nxe5 Kd5 46.Kf4 Rc3? was the final mistake 47.g5 Ke6 48.Nf3 and White managed to draw the game.

Shawn - Gukesh

Position after 57...c4

GM Shawn Rodrigue-Lemieux (CAN, 2478) was winning for the better part of the endgame against the World Champion, GM D Gukesh (2692). His final opportunity was in the above position. 58.h5 would have been winning for White. Instead, he played 58.g6?? c3! 59.Kxd3 Bf5+ 60.Kxc3 Bxg6 and Black escaped with a draw.

GM Karthik Venkataraman got a walk over against GM Dmitry Andreikin in Round 1

Bassem - Harshit

Position after 17...f5

GM Harshit Raja (2396) seized his opportunity when the Africa no.1, GM Bassem Amin (EGY, 2593) went wrong 17.b3?? f5-+ 18.Nc3 e4 and White cannot avoid the loss of material.

Goutham - Indjic

Position after 23.Nxe6!

Former European Individual champion, GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2587) made the mistake of playing 23...Rd8?? allowing IM Goutham Krishna H (2392) to pounce on his opportunity 24.Nxe6! fxe6 25.Bxe5 Bxe5 26.Qxe6+ White went on to beautifully convert his advantage into a win.

Govhar draws against the Women's World champion Wenjun

Former World Junior Girls champion, WGM Govhar Beydullayeva (AZE) drew against the reigning five-time Women's World Champion, GM Wenjun Ju (CHN)

Mariya - Nandhidhaa

Position after 31.Be2??

The newly crowned two-time National Women's champion, WGM Nandhidhaa P V (2186) got herself a great chance after the former Women's World Champion, GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR, 2421) blundered 31.Be2?? Qxa6 32.Rb1 now Qa4+ would have finished things in the next few moves.

Round 2: Sandipan and Arjun play a wild game, Padmini draws with Tingjie, Priyanka Nutakki beats Carissa Yip

GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2824) checkmated GM David Paravyan (2570) after both kings went on an adventure.

David Paravyan's king got hunted by the World no.1, Magnus Carlsen

Sandipan - Arjun

Position after 29...Rxc3

A wild sequence ensued where the evaluation swinged like a pendulum back and forth. 30.Qb5?? Qe8?? 31.Qxe8?? Kxe8 and Black ended up having too many pawns.

Sandipan Chanda and Arjun Erigaisi had a wild battle which could have gone either way

Anish Giri - Ivan Zemlyanskii | Video: ChessBase India

GM Abhimanyu Puranik - GM R Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

GM Pranesh M played a well contested draw against GM Vincent Keymer (GER)

UAE no.1, GM Salem Saleh (2621) fell into a simple tactics immediately after a positional inaccuracy against GM B Adhiban (2503).

Hans - Karthik

Position after 53.Qd2??

Find out why 53.Qd2?? was a game losing mistake by GM Hans Niemann (USA, 2612) against GM Karthik Venkataraman (2467).

Aravindh - Goutham

Position after 31...Rfg7

GM Aravindh Chithambaram (2590) needed to play 32.g3 to save his g2-pawn and keep the game going. He made the mistake of playing 32.f6? Rg5-+ 33.Qh6 Bxg2 34.Kf2 Qf7 35.Bxc5 Rh5 queen got trapped but White got a bit of a compensation 36.Bxd6 Rxh6 and Black won the game in the next few moves as the passed a-pawn proved to be a key factor.

World Champion, D Gukesh (2692) played beautiful chess to beat GM Sergey Drygalov (2489).

D Gukesh vs Sergey Drygalov | Video: ChessBase India

IM Padmini Rout played a solid draw against former Women's World Rapid champion, GM Tingjie Lei (CHN)

IM Savitha Shri B saved a difficult rook endgame against GM Bella Khotenashvili (GEO) | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

WGM Priyanka Nutakki played fine chess to beat IM Carissa Yip (USA) | Photo: FIDE / Lennart Ootes

Round 3: Goutham stuns Radjabov, Vaishali swindles Zhongyi

Magnus Carlsen (NOR) displayed beautiful technique in the queen vs rook endgame against Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli (ESP, 2605) to score a hat-trick of wins.

Arjun Erigaisi displayed his sheer will to win the game against GM Jinshi Bai (CHN)

Goutham - Radjabov

Position after 30...h6??

IM Goutham Krishna H (2392) pounced on his opportunity when the FIDE World Cup 2019 winner, GM Teimour Radjabov (AZE, 2661) blundered 30...h6?? 31.Ne4+- f5 32.Nd2 Kf7 33.Nc4 and it's over as material loss cannot be avoided.

IM Goutham Krishna H vs GM Teimour Radjabov (AZE) | Video: ChessBase India

IM Goutham Krishna H scored his hat-trick of wins in a fantastic way

GM Narayanan S L - GM Alireza Firouzja (FRA): 0.5-0.5

GM Liem Quang Le (VIE, 2646) and GM Abhimanyu Puranik (2542) played a 141-move marathon draw.

The reigning National Classical and Rapid champion, GM Iniyan Pa (2450) played beautifully to beat former European Individual champion, GM Aleksandar Indjic (SRB, 2587).

Zhongyi - Vaishali

Position after 30...Rb8

From a winning position to losing position happened in just a matter of few moves. 30...Rb8 31.Rc3? was the first mistake Bf8 32.Qxe5?? Qd1+ and checkmate is inevitable in the next move.

GM Zhongyi Tan vs GM R Vaishali | Video: ChessBase India

GM Harika Dronavalli made a huge turnaround against WFM Diana Preobrazhenskaya

IM Savitha Shri B (2238) checkmated GM Irina Krush's (USA, 2358) at the extended center after the latter overlooked her back rank weakness.

WIM Isha Sharma (2168) got the better of IM Khanim Balajayeva (AZE, 2272).

Round 4: Sandipan beat Aronian in a wild battle

GM Aram Hakobyan (ARM, 2539) arrived almost a minute late to the board against GM Arjun Erigaisi (2714). His aggressive approach on the board backfired. This win made Arjun coleader with the World no.1, Magnus Carlsen.

GM Aram Hakobyan's (ARM) ambitious play did not work out against the World no.5 - GM Arjun Erigaisi

IM Goutham Krishna H made his first draw of the event against the former three-time World Blitz champion, GM Alexander Grischuk

Gukesh - Pichot

Position after 51...g5+

World Champion, D Gukesh (2692) made the only move 52.Nxg5 hxg5 53.Kxg5 now White has practical winning chances. As it turned out, White had the exact same f and h-split passed pawns which his opponent, GM Alan Pichot (ESP, 2577) could not defend but Arjun did in the fifth round.

World Champion, D Gukesh won a nice game against Alan Pichot (ESP)

GM Sandipan Chanda won a wild battle against GM Levon Aronian (USA)

GM Harika Dronavalli - GM Nino Batsiashvili: 0.5-0.5

GM R Vaishali lost from a promising position against former Women's World Champion, GM Mariya Muzychuk (UKR)

IM Padmini Rout made almost a miraculous escape against GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) in a losing endgame

Round 5: Arjun Erigaisi showcases incredible resilience

Carlsen - Arjun: 0.5-0.5

Magnus Carlsen and Arjun Erigaisi were the coleaders 4/4, before their clash against each other. Arjun showed incredible defense in a four vs three rook and pawn endgame.

Position after 32...Ra2

33.Qxd5 Qxd5 34.Rxd5 the resultant rook and pawn endgame is theoretically drawn but if your opponent wants to test you, you have to defend it. Carlsen tested his opponent and Arjun prevailed finding some beautiful only moves and sequences.

Magnus Carlsen - Arjun Erigaisi, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

World Champion, D Gukesh played double rook and four minor piece endgame excellently to beat IM Sina Movahed (IRI)

Interview with IM Goutham Krishna H | Video: ChessBase India

IM Goutham Krishna H finished the day with a hard-fought draw against GM Anish Giri (NED)

Fabiano Caruana (USA) repeated moves in a winning position against Aravindh Chithambaram

GM Sandipan Chanda's (2553) all-out attack almost backfired until GM R Praggnanandhaa (2663) blundered at the end.

R Praggnanandhaa - Sandipan Chanda, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

GM Sandipan Chanda scored a hat-trick in an incredible way against GM R Praggnanandhaa

GM Mitrabha Guha had a decisive advantage in the endgame against the FIDE World Cup 2021 winner, GM Jan-Krzystof Duda (POL), however, the latter somehow managed to wriggle out a draw

GM Mohd. Al Mudahka, President, Qatar Chess Association and...

FIDE President - Arkady Dvorkovich, made the inaugural first move

Ceremonial first move on Magnus Carlsen and Lorenzo Lodici's (ITA) before Round 1

For more photos, please click here and here.

Watch live stream

Replay Live Commentary of World Rapid 2025 Day 1 by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal from 2 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 1-5 Open games

Replay Round 1-4 Women games

Round 5 Open results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
5	1	1	GM	Carlsen Magnus	2824	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2714	9
5	5	16	GM	Gukesh D	2692	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Movahed Sina	2405	179
5	6	187	IM	Goutham Krishna H	2392	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Giri Anish	2685	18
5	9	5	GM	Caruana Fabiano	2751	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram VR.	2590	62
5	13	83	GM	Hong Andrew	2556	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Nihal Sarin	2664	24
5	14	25	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2663	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2553	86
5	33	31	GM	Le Quang Liem	2646	2½	1 - 0	2½	GM	Pranesh M	2520	110
5	42	145	GM	Madaminov Mukhiddin	2465	2½	1 - 0	2½	GM	Pranav V	2595	58
5	45	155	GM	Iniyan Pa	2450	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Donchenko Alexander	2581	68
5	53	135	GM	Mitrabha Guha	2487	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Duda Jan-Krzysztof	2711	10
5	56	144	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2467	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Grandelius Nils	2639	38
5	57	39	GM	Ponomariov Ruslan	2639	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2475	140
5	59	43	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	2623	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Samadov Read	2469	143
5	61	151	GM	Bilguun Sumiya	2456	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2611	50
5	64	159	GM	Aditya Mittal	2440	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	2585	66
5	65	67	GM	Narayanan S L	2582	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Isanzhulov Arystan	2456	152
5	70	91	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2548	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Gokerkan Cem Kaan	2428	164
5	71	167	GM	Sankalp Gupta	2425	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Muradli Mahammad	2546	92
5	72	93	GM	Gavrilescu David	2544	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Pranav Anand	2421	170
5	73	165	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2428	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Jumabayev Rinat	2543	94

Details

Standings after Round 5

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	Rp
1	1	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2824	4,5	15	18	2627	2967
2	9	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2714	4,5	14,5	17,5	2622	2961
3	6	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	FRA	2730	4,5	13,5	14,5	2599	2944
4	7	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	FID	2727	4,5	13	14,5	2590	2936
5	16	GM	Gukesh, D	IND	2692	4,5	12	14	2522	2864
6	45	GM	Anton Guijarro, David	ESP	2619	4	14,5	16,5	2585	2793
7	51	GM	Sargsyan, Shant	ARM	2611	4	14	15,5	2588	2781
8	187	IM	Goutham, Krishna H	IND	2392	4	13,5	16	2653	2880
9	180	IM	Orozbaev, Eldiyar	KGZ	2405	4	13,5	15	2623	2853
10	113	GM	Hovhannisyan, Robert	ARM	2517	4	13,5	14,5	2655	2780
11	18	GM	Giri, Anish	NED	2685	4	13	15,5	2525	2738
12	86	GM	Chanda, Sandipan	IND	2553	4	13	15	2641	2818
13	12	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2704	4	13	15	2563	2788
14	29	GM	Robson, Ray	USA	2652	4	13	15	2546	2768
15	19	GM	Yu, Yangyi	CHN	2680	4	12,5	15	2493	2715
16	24	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2664	4	12,5	14,5	2518	2735
17	36	GM	Sarana, Alexey	SRB	2641	4	12	15	2516	2741
18	106	GM	Makarian, Rudik	FID	2524	4	12	13	2643	2784
19	48	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	USA	2612	4	11,5	13,5	2470	2687
20	56	GM	Matlakov, Maxim	FID	2602	4	11,5	13,5	2430	2662

Details

Round 6 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
6	2	9	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2714	4½	4½	GM	Artemiev Vladislav	2727	7
6	3	18	GM	Giri Anish	2685	4	4½	GM	Gukesh D	2692	16
6	5	86	GM	Chanda Sandipan	2553	4	4	GM	Yu Yangyi	2680	19
6	6	24	GM	Nihal Sarin	2664	4	4	GM	Sargsyan Shant	2611	51
6	10	48	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2612	4	4	IM	Goutham Krishna H	2392	187
6	14	62	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram VR.	2590	3½	3½	GM	Dominguez Perez Leinier	2703	13
6	32	111	GM	Kobalia Mikhail	2518	3	3	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2663	25
6	35	40	GM	Martirosyan Haik M.	2635	3	3	GM	Adhiban B.	2503	121
6	38	137	GM	Dudin Gleb	2483	3	3	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	2623	43
6	41	144	GM	Karthik Venkataraman	2467	3	3	GM	Amin Bassem	2593	59
6	42	151	GM	Bilguun Sumiya	2456	3	3	GM	Narayanan S L	2582	67
6	43	68	GM	Donchenko Alexander	2581	3	3	GM	Aditya Mittal	2440	159
6	44	76	GM	Bai Jinshi	2571	3	3	GM	Iniyan Pa	2450	155
6	48	170	GM	Pranav Anand	2421	3	3	GM	Hong Andrew	2556	83
6	56	32	GM	Jobava Baadur	2645	2½	2½	GM	Mitrabha Guha	2487	135
6	59	58	GM	Pranav V	2595	2½	2½	IM	Peyrer Konstantin	2470	141
6	66	162	IM	Gan-Erdene Sugar	2434	2½	2½	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	2548	91
6	70	100	GM	Nogerbek Kazybek	2538	2½	2½	GM	Raja Rithvik R	2428	165
6	72	104	GM	Grebnev Aleksey	2529	2½	2½	GM	Sankalp Gupta	2425	167
6	74	182	GM	Raja Harshit	2396	2½	2½	GM	Can Emre	2521	109

Details

Round 4 Women results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
4	2	9	GM	Dronavalli Harika	2435	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Batsiashvili Nino	2346	29
4	4	25	GM	Vaishali Rameshbabu	2359	3	0 - 1	2½	GM	Muzychuk Mariya	2421	12
4	5	13	GM	Divya Deshmukh	2419	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Salimova Nurgyul	2311	38
4	6	47	IM	Padmini Rout	2290	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Muzychuk Anna	2398	14
4	9	67	IM	Savitha Shri B	2238	2½	½ - ½	2½	IM	Shuvalova Polina	2360	24
4	17	65	IM	Buksa Nataliya	2241	2	0 - 1	2	GM	Koneru Humpy	2448	8
4	21	31	IM	Arabidze Meri	2333	2	1 - 0	2	WIM	Sharma Isha	2168	89
4	30	112	WGM	Rakshitta Ravi	2082	2	1 - 0	2	WIM	Omonova Umida	2289	49
4	35	86	WGM	Francisco Guecamburu Candela Be	2175	1½	0 - 1	1½	IM	Vantika Agrawal	2321	34
4	36	37	IM	Bodnaruk Anastasia	2311	1½	½ - ½	1½	WGM	Priyanka Nutakki	2176	85
4	57	120	WIM	Parnali S Dharia	2021	1	0 - 1	1	WCM	Bayasgalan Khishigbaatar	2188	81
4	58	82	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	2186	1	1 - 0	1		Abrar Mohammed Ahmad Almalki	1594	141
4	70	126	WFM	Charvi A	1962	0	1 - 0	0	WCM	Alsemairi Dalia	1712	137

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	Rp
1	10	GM	Zhu, Jiner	CHN	2435	4	8,5	10	2334	3098
2	29	GM	Batsiashvili, Nino	GEO	2346	3,5	9	11	2340	2612
3	3	GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	FID	2505	3,5	9	11	2338	2643
4	12	GM	Muzychuk, Mariya	UKR	2421	3,5	8	10	2280	2593
5	9	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	IND	2435	3,5	8	9,5	2308	2614
6	18	GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta	BUL	2379	3,5	7,5	8,5	2305	2584
7	19	IM	Song, Yuxin	CHN	2375	3,5	7	9	2251	2567
8	27	IM	Khademalsharieh, Sarasadat	ESP	2356	3,5	6,5	7,5	2203	2519
9	69	WGM	Zhapova, Yana	FID	2227	3	9,5	10,5	2386	2401
10	20	GM	Khotenashvili, Bella	GEO	2373	3	9	11	2239	2412

Details

Round 5 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
5	2	18	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2379	3½	3½	GM	Dronavalli Harika	2435	9
5	8	5	GM	Assaubayeva Bibisara	2461	3	3	IM	Padmini Rout	2290	47
5	10	8	GM	Koneru Humpy	2448	3	3	WIM	Mungunzul Bat-Erdene	2288	50
5	12	67	IM	Savitha Shri B	2238	3	3	GM	Divya Deshmukh	2419	13
5	18	112	WGM	Rakshitta Ravi	2082	3	3	GM	Vaishali Rameshbabu	2359	25
5	21	34	IM	Vantika Agrawal	2321	2½	2½	WGM	Rudzinska Michalina	2210	74
5	35	42	GM	Gunina Valentina	2297	2	2	WGM	Nandhidhaa P V	2186	82
5	36	46	WGM	Yu Jennifer	2293	2	2	WGM	Priyanka Nutakki	2176	85
5	39	89	WIM	Sharma Isha	2168	2	2	IM	Cori T. Deysi	2275	53
5	59	83	WGM	Gong Qianyun	2185	1	1	WFM	Charvi A	1962	126
5	66	141		Abrar Mohammed Ahmad Almalki	1594	1	1	WIM	Parnali S Dharia	2021	120

Details

Prize fund

The total prize fund combining Rapid and Blitz is €1000000, €700000 in Open and €300000 in Women. The top three prizes in Rapid Open are €70000, €50000 and €36000, for Women, they are €40000, €27000 and €19000.