Magnus Carlsen Dramatic Comeback for 2025 World Rapid Chess Champion

Magnus Carlsen became the best in the 2025 FIDE Blitz Chess World Championship (Instagram/@magnus_carlsen).

JAKARTA - World chess number one, Magnus Carlsen, managed to bounce back from a dramatic deficit to win the 2025 FIDE Blitz Chess World Championship which took place in Doha, Qatar.

Carlsen won his 20th world championship title in his career after defeating Uzbek chess player Nodirbek Abdusattorov with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the final match at the Sports and Events Complex, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.

This result further shows why Carlsen is considered one of the greatest players in chess history. This title was won just a few days after lifting the World Rapid title.

The Norwegian star lost the first game, but bounced back to win the second game. He then played a draw in the third game before securing the title with a crucial victory using black pieces in the fourth game.

This victory closed Carlsen's full journey, which had previously experienced a difficult phase throughout the tournament.

On the same day, he even had to lose one point due to forfeit when playing against Armenian Grandmaster, Haik Martirosyan. Carlsen made a fatal mistake when handling the pieces under pressure. Although initially hesitant, Carlsen rose at the most decisive moment.

In the semifinals, the nine-time blitz world champion defeated the United States Grandmaster, Fabiano Caruana, with a score of 3-1 to advance to the final.

Carlsen called this tournament one of the hardest in his career so far.

"At first it was really hard, but after entering the knockout phase, the burden was lifted. I still made a lot of mistakes, but everything felt more controllable."

"In the final I was a little behind and the result could have been different, but I felt I played quite well," he said.

This latest victory brings Carlsen a total of five classical chess world titles, six rapid chess world titles, and nine blitz chess world titles.

In the women's sector, Grandmaster Kazakstan, Bibisara Assaubayeva, managed to win her third World Blitz title at the 2025 FIDE Women's Blitz Chess World Championship.

He climbed to the highest podium after defeating two-time champion Anna Muzychuk with a score of 2.5-1.5 in the final.