Mumbai: India’s Arjun Erigaisi and Koneru Humpy won the bronze medals in the men’s and women’s sections, respectively, as Magnus Carlsen and Alexandra Goryachkina won the titles in the 2025 FIDE World Rapid & Women’s World Rapid Championships played in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday.
Carlsen finished with 10.5 points to claim his sixth World Rapid Chess title, with Vladislav Artemiev, Erigiasi, Hans Moke Niemann, and Leinier Domingues Perez finishing tied second with 9.5 points at the end of the 13 rounds.
Erigiasi jumped into a tie for the second spot with a crucial win over Aleksandr Shimanov on the fourth board, taking his tally to 9.5 points. Artemiev ended second with a TB1 score of 105.5, as against 98 for Erigaisi, while Niemann and Dominguez had TB1 scores of 97.5 and 95.5, thus finishing third and fourth.
Erigaisi thus finished third and claimed a bronze medal. Aravindh, Chithambaram (16th, 8.5), Nihal Sarin (19th, 8.5), Dommaraju Gukesh (20th, 8.5), and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa ended 28th with the same 8.5 points.
In the final round, Carlsen (10) drew with Anish Giri (8.5) while Artemiev drew with Wesley So of the United States on the second board.
In the women’s World Rapid Championship being held simultaneously, Humpy finished tied for the top spot with eventual winner Aleksandra Goryachkina, a two-time World Junior Girls’ Champion, and China’s Zhu Jiner, with 8.5 points from 11 rounds.
In the tie-break, Zhu was placed at the top with Goryachkina second, and Humpy ended third. Goryachkina and Zhu played a tie-break match-up, with the former winning it to claim the gold medal.
Humpy claimed the bronze in the Women’s World Rapid Chess Championship, in addition to the gold medal she has already won twice in 2019 and 2024. The 38-year-old Humpy was held to a draw by compatriot B Savita Shri, who ended on eight points to be tied for the fourth spot with fellow Indian R. Vaishali and Ekaterina Atalik of Turkey, who held eventual winner Goryachkina to a draw on the top board in the 11th and final round.
(IANS)
