Mumbai: India’s Arjun Erigaisi and Koneru Humpy clinched bronze medals in the men’s and women’s categories respectively at the 2025 FIDE World Rapid & Women’s World Rapid Chess Championships, which concluded in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina emerged champions in the men’s and women’s events.
Carlsen secured his sixth World Rapid Chess title after finishing with 10.5 points from 13 rounds. A tight contest followed behind him, with Vladislav Artemiev, Arjun Erigaisi, Hans Moke Niemann, and Leinier Dominguez Perez all tied on 9.5 points. Artemiev claimed the silver medal on superior tie-break (TB1 score of 105.5), while Erigaisi settled for bronze with a TB1 score of 98. Niemann and Dominguez finished fourth and fifth respectively.
Erigaisi surged into medal contention with a crucial victory over Aleksandr Shimanov on the fourth board in the final rounds. Other Indian players had respectable finishes, with Aravindh Chithambaram ending 16th (8.5 points), Nihal Sarin 19th (8.5), Dommaraju Gukesh 20th (8.5), and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa finishing 28th, also on 8.5 points.
In the final round, Carlsen played out a draw with Anish Giri, while Artemiev also drew with Wesley So of the United States on the second board.
In the Women’s World Rapid Championship, Koneru Humpy finished tied for first place on points with eventual champion Aleksandra Goryachkina and China’s Zhu Jiner, all scoring 8.5 points from 11 rounds. However, after tie-breaks, Zhu was ranked first and Goryachkina second, leading to a playoff between the two. Goryachkina won the tie-break match to claim the gold medal, while Humpy finished show third to take bronze.
The 38-year-old Humpy, a two-time World Rapid champion (2019 and 2024), was held to a draw in the final round by compatriot B Savita Shri. Savita finished on eight points, tied for fourth place along with India’s R. Vaishali and Turkey’s Ekaterina Atalik.