FIDE World Blitz Championship 2025: Arjun Erigaisi in joint-lead with Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave after 13 rounds
Arjun Erigaisi shared the lead with two others at the end of the 13th round of the FIDE World Blitz Championship in Doha on Monday. Earlier in the day, he had stunned the top-seeded Magnus Carlsen with black pieces in the ninth round.
Erigaisi has 10 points, the same as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Fabiano Caruana.
The three leaders are followed half-a-point behind my six players, but none of them is Indian. M. Pranesh, H. Goutham Krishna, who turned heads in the World Rapid Championship too, R. Praggnanandhaa, Raunak Sadhwani and S.L. Narayanan are all on nine points.
World champion Gukesh had a below-par outing on the first day. He lost to 12-year-old Sergey Sklokin in the third round and was 26th with 8.5 points.
Six rounds remain in the league phase. The semifinals and the finals will be played on Tuesday.
The women’s event though has been a big disappointment for India. The best-placed Indian at the end of the 10th round is Divya Deshkukh. The World-Cup winner was lying 34th with six points, way behind the sole leader Eline Roberts (8.5). The Dutch player is followed half-a-point behind by Aleksandra Goryachkina, Umida Omonova and Antoeneta Stefanova.
Koneru Humpy, who won the bronze in the rapid event just a day ago, was on five points.
Published on Dec 29, 2025