Carlsen wins ninth world blitz title, Erigaisi takes bronze

Magnus Carlsen defended his world blitz crown in Doha, winning a record ninth title after beating Nodirbek Abdusattorov. India’s Arjun Erigaisi settled for bronze, becoming only the second Indian male after Viswanathan Anand to win a World Blitz medal

Doha: Relieved after defending his world blitz crown, chess star Magnus Carlsen said it was a very tough field and admitted he was fortunate to win a record-extending ninth title after early setbacks in the tournament.

World No 1 Carlsen showed his endgame skills again to add the blitz crown to the rapid gold medal he won last week by defeating Uzbek Grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2.5-1.5 in the title clash on Tuesday.

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Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, brilliant in the 19-round qualification (Swiss), suffered a meltdown in the semifinal and settled for bronze in the World Blitz Championship.

The third-place finish for 22-year-old Erigaisi not only gave him blitz and rapid bronze, it also made him only the second male chess player from India after Viswanathan Anand to win a World Blitz medal.

“This was a very tough event for me. It could have gone either way. But when we got to the knockouts, I thought I should really enjoy it, and it worked out,” Carlsen, who won both rapid and blitz gold, told FIDE.

Carlsen refused to accept a draw in the final against Abdusattorov and came up with a unique pawn move in the fourth game to win the contest after both players were tied at 1.5 points each.

The victory was sweeter for the Norwegian after a string of losses and a controversy in the qualifying rounds where he struggled to reach the semifinals. A draw in Round 19 against Abdusattorov saw Carlsen (13.5 points) and the Uzbek (13 points) secure the last two semifinal slots behind leader Erigaisi (15 points) and second-placed American GM Fabiano Caruana (14 points).

Carlsen then beat Caruana 3-1 to enter the final, while Abdusattorov inflicted a 2.5-0.5 defeat on Erigaisi.

Earlier, Erigaisi stunned Carlsen and Abdusattorov to lead with 10 points from 13 games on Monday, and continued strongly on Tuesday. He won four and drew two to finish with 15 points and secure a semifinal place.

The Indian was drawn against 2021 World Rapid champion Abdusattorov, who edged out Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on tie-break after both had 13 points.

With Erigaisi in form and having beaten Abdusattorov earlier, he was expected to go full steam. But he lost the opening game in 47 moves. Abdusattorov then turned the match his way in the second game by playing Rc5 on the 75th move and finishing in 83 moves.

Needing only half a point, Abdusattorov settled for a quick draw in the third game after 33 moves, making the fourth game redundant.

Carlsen courts controversy, penalised
Carlsen suffered a setback in the 14th round on Tuesday when he dropped a piece in time trouble for the second time in the tournament and lost.

In a tense position against Armenia’s Haik Martirosyan, Carlsen accidentally knocked off most pieces on the board with just two seconds left. As he scrambled to reset them, he pressed the clock, gaining two more seconds before the pieces were placed correctly, which was illegal.

The arbiters were called and Martirosyan was declared winner.

As per FIDE rules, “If a player brings the game into disrepute with the intention of preventing their time expiring, the player should expect to be penalised by losing the game.” Carlsen accepted the decision and shook hands with Martirosyan.

Assaubayeva takes women’s blitz title
Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva defeated Ukrainian Grandmaster Anna Muzychuk 2.5-1.5 to claim her third World Blitz title and qualify for the 2026 Candidates tournament.

Assaubayeva capitalised on the white pieces in the final game to beat Muzychuk, who stumbled in time trouble.

“It was hard, but it feels great. It’s not easy to do this once, let alone three times. And also to qualify for the Candidates – it’s thrilling. Now I will rest a bit, and in February start my preparation,” said Assaubayeva, who won her first two titles in 2021 and 2022.