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2025 in chess
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Major chess events in 2025 include the annual Tata Steel Chess Tournament, Norway Chess and Grand Chess Tour. Ju Wenjun defended her title against challenger Tan Zhongyi in the Women's World Chess Championship 2025. The FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament in Samarkand in September will determine two qualifiers for the Candidates Tournament 2026, while the Chess World Cup in Goa, India in November will determine three qualifiers. The 2025 FIDE Circuit, comprising top tournaments in 2025, will determine one qualifier. The annual World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships will take place in Doha in December.
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Timeline
January
- Jan 4 – World number one Magnus Carlsen married Ella Victoria Malone in a ceremony in Oslo.[1]
- Jan 8 – Vladimir Fedoseev won the Freestyle Chess play-in to qualify for the Weissenhaus Grand Slam, the first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.[2]
- Jan 11 – 9-year-old Roman Shogdzhiev became the youngest player to score an International Master norm.[3]
- Jan 11 – Magnus Carlsen made his debut for FC St. Pauli in the Chess Bundesliga, where he played for the first time since 2008, scoring 1½/2.[4][5]
- Jan 17 – The President of India, Droupadi Murmu conferred the Khel Ratna Award on World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju.[6]
- Jan 24 – The FIDE Council decided to allow the participation of teams consisting of neutral athletes, particularly Russian and Belarusian athletes, in youth competitions and events for players with disabilities.[7]
- Jan 27 – In a decision by the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission, Andrejs Strebkovs' ban from all FIDE-rated events was extended to 12 years, and his FIDE title of International Master was revoked.[8][9]
February
- Feb 2 – R Praggnanandhaa defeated Gukesh Dommaraju 2–1 in a blitz playoff to win the Tata Steel Masters, after both players finished on 8½/13. Gukesh lost his first game as world champion in the final round against Arjun Erigaisi. Thai Dai Van Nguyen won the Challengers and qualified for the 2026 Masters.[10][11]
- Feb 10 – FIDE announced that the Women's World Chess Championship 2025 between Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi would take place in Shanghai and Chongqing from April 1 to 23.[12]
- Feb 14 – Vincent Keymer won the first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour after defeating Magnus Carlsen in the semifinals and Fabiano Caruana in the finals.[13]
- Feb 21 – Magnus Carlsen won the Chessable Masters, the first leg of the Champions Chess Tour 2025. The top three – Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, and Ian Nepomniachtchi, qualified for the 2025 Esports World Cup.[14]
- Feb 27 – Aleksandra Goryachkina won the third leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–25 on tiebreaks, ahead of Koneru Humpy and Batkhuyag Munguntuul, who all scored 5½/9. Goryachkina took the lead in the Grand Prix standings.[15]
March
- Mar 6 – Ian Nepomniachtchi won the Aeroflot Open for the fourth time, ahead of Richárd Rapport and Andrey Esipenko.[16]
- Mar 7 – Aravindh Chithambaram won the Prague Chess Festival Masters, going undefeated with three wins and six draws. Nodirbek Yakubboev won the Challengers after defeating Jonas Buhl Bjerre 1½-½ in a playoff.[17]
- Mar 7 – Pranav V and Anna Shukhman became the World Junior Chess Champions.[18]
- Mar 8 – Daniil Dubov played an exhibition blitz match against Hans Niemann in Moscow, winning 9½-8½.[19]
- Mar 15 – Vidit Gujrathi won the Freestyle Chess play-in to qualify for the Paris Grand Slam, the second leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour.[20]
- Mar 23 – Hikaru Nakamura won the American Cup, after beating Fabiano Caruana in the grand final. It was the second time he won the event, after first winning it in 2023. He also won the blitz tournament held the following day.[21]
- Mar 24 – Anna Muzychuk won the fourth leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–25, edging out Zhu Jiner on tiebreaks.[22][23]
- Mar 26 – The FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission sanctioned Kirill Shevchenko with a worldwide ban of three years, with one year of the sanction suspended, after finding him guilty of breaching Article 11.7(e) of the Disciplinary Code by attempting to cheat using an electronic device in the Spanish Team Championship.[24][25]
- Mar 27 – Matthias Blübaum won the European Individual Chess Championship, becoming the first player to win it twice. Frederik Svane and Maxim Rodshtein finished on the same score as Blübaum, but came second and third on tiebreaks, respectively.[26]
April
- Apr 2 – Vidit Gujrathi married Nidhi Kataria in a wedding held at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune. It was attended by World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju, five-time World Champion Viswanathan Anand, Arjun Erigaisi and Anish Giri, among others.[27][28]
- Apr 14 – Magnus Carlsen won the second leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour after defeating Fabiano Caruana in the semifinals, and Hikaru Nakamura in the final.[29]
- Apr 16 – Ju Wenjun defeated Tan Zhongyi by a score of 6½-2½ to win the Women's World Chess Championship 2025, retaining her title and becoming world champion for the fifth time.[30][31]
- Apr 21 – Magnus Carlsen scored a perfect 9/9 in the inaugural Grenke Freestyle Open and won the tournament. Aswath S tied with Brandon Jacobson with 8/9 in Classical Open but won on tiebreaks.[32]
- Apr 23 – Koneru Humpy won the fifth leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–25 on tiebreaks, ahead of Zhu Jiner.[33]
- Apr 27 – Vasily Ivanchuk won the 4th Menorca Open with 8/9.[34]
- Apr 30 – Vladimir Fedoseev won the GCT Rapid & Blitz Poland with three rounds to spare, scoring 26½/36. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished second with 21½/36, while R Praggnanandhaa finished third with 20½/36.[35]
May
- May 3 – Christopher Yoo won the Sardinia Chess Festival with a score of 7.5/9.[36]
- May 6 – Aleksandar Inđić won the Baku Open 2025 with a score of 7/9.[37]
- May 9 – Christopher Yoo was slapped with a 60-day provisional suspension (9 May – July 8) after multiple harassment complaints, previously under USCF domestic ban since November 14, 2024.[38][39]
- May 15 – Bardiya Daneshvar won the Asian Chess Championship which was his maiden title. He had tied with Nihal Sarin by 7/9 but won by tiebreaks. The defending champion Shamsiddin Vokhidov finished third with 6.5/9. Song Yuxin won in the women's section.[40]
- May 16 – There was a three-way tie for first between R Praggnanandhaa, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alireza Firouzja in the Superbet Chess Classic on 5½/9. Praggnanandhaa won the blitz playoff to win the tournament.[41]
- May 16 – Anna Muzychuk won the final leg of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–25 on tiebreaks, ahead of Zhu Jiner. Thus Zhu Jiner and Aleksandra Goryachkina who finished as winner and runner-up of the FIDE Women's Grand Prix 2024–25 both qualified for the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026.[42]
- May 23 – Vincent Keymer won his maiden German Chess Championship, held in Munich.[43]
- May 25 – Anish Giri won the Sharjah Masters ahead of Aleksandar Indjic and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.[44]
- May 26 – Javokhir Sindarov won the TePe Sigeman & Co chess tournament ahead of Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and Nils Grandelius.[45]
- May 31 – Sam Shankland won the American Continental Championship for third time in his career. José Martínez and Alexandr Fier finished second and third place respectively.[46]
June
- Jun 1 – World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju defeated world number one and former world champion Magnus Carlsen for the first time in a classical game in the sixth round of Norway Chess.[47]
- Jun 4 – Aleksey Grebnev won the Dubai Open with a score of 7/9, ahead of Alan Pichot.[48]
- Jun 6 – Aravindh Chithambaram won the Stepan Avagyan Memorial on tiebreaks ahead of R Praggnanandhaa and climbed into the world's top ten in live ratings for the first time.[49]
- Jun 6 – Magnus Carlsen won Norway Chess for the seventh time, while Anna Muzychuk won the women's event.[50]
- Jun 13 – Team MGD1, led by Arjun Erigaisi, won the World Rapid Team Championship.[51]
- Jun 15 – The WR Chess Team defended their title at the World Blitz Team Championship.[52]
- Jun 27 – There was a three-way tie between R Praggnanandhaa, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov for first place in the UzChess Cup Masters with 5½/9. Praggnanandhaa won after two blitz playoffs to win the tournament. Nikolas Theodorou won the Challengers section with 6½/9.[53]
- Jun 30 – Alexey Sarana won the Aktobe Open with a score of 7/9, ahead of Aryan Chopra, Zhamsaran Tsydypov and P. Iniyan.[54]
July
- Jul 1 – FIDE extends the domestic suspension of Christopher Yoo to take effect worldwide, banning him from FIDE-rated events until 14 November, following a request by the USCF. Additionally, he has been put on probation until 14 November 2030.[55]
- Jul 1 – For the first time since the inception of FIDE rating lists, Russian players were absent from the world's top ten, after Ian Nepomniachtchi dropped to number 14.[56] On the other hand, Anish Giri returned to the top ten after over a year.[57]
- Jul 6 – Magnus Carlsen won the SuperUnited Rapid & Blitz Croatia with a score of 22½/36. Wesley So finished second with 20/36, while Gukesh Dommaraju finished third with 19½/36.[58]
- Jul 20 – Levon Aronian won the fourth leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour after defeating Fabiano Caruana in the semifinals, and Hans Niemann in the final.[59]
- Jul 23 – IM Divya Deshmukh defeated former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi in the semi-finals of Women's Chess World Cup 2025.[60]
- Jul 24 – Vladimir Fedoseev won the Biel Masters Triathlon on tiebreaks, ahead of Aravindh Chithambaram. Nikolas Theodorou won the Challengers Triathlon.[61] The traditional open tournament was won by Karthikeyan Murali with a score of 8/10.[62]
- Jul 27 – Former Women's World Champion Tan Zhongyi defeated Lei Tingjie in the match for third place in the Women's Chess World Cup 2025 and qualified for the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026.[63]
- Jul 28 – Divya Deshmukh defeated Koneru Humpy in final of the Women's Chess World Cup 2025 with 2½–1½ and became the third Women's World Cup Champion. Both the winner and the runner-up secured a spot for the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026.[64]
August
- August 1 – Magnus Carlsen, signed with Team Liquid, won the inaugural chess event at the Esports World Cup, defeating Alireza Firouzja (Team Falcons) in the final.[65]
- August 7 – There was an exhibition Blitz match between Jan-Krzysztof Duda & Gukesh D hosted in Katowice, Poland. Duda won the match with a score of 5–1 despite losing the first game.[66]
- August 15 – Vincent Keymer won the Chennai Grand Masters with one round to spare and reached into the World's Top ten in live ratings for the first time. Pranesh M won the Challengers section with 6½/9.[67]
- August 15 – Levon Aronian won the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz with 24½/36. Fabiano Caruana finished second with 21½/36 while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished third with 21/36. [68]
- August 24 – Denis Lazavik won Abu Dhabi Masters on tiebreaks with 7/9, tying with four other players Zeng Chongsheng, Arkadij Naiditsch, Aleksey Grebnev & IM Maksim Tsaruk.[69]
- August 24 – Nodirbek Yakubboev won the 61st Rubinstein Memorial with 6½/9 ahead of Radosław Wojtaszek & Matthias Blübaum.[70]
- August 26 – FIDE announced that the Chess World Cup 2025 would take place in Goa, India from October 31 to November 27.[71]
- August 28 – There was a three-way tie for first place between Wesley So, R Praggnanandhaa & Fabiano Caruana at the Sinquefield Cup. Wesley So won the tournament after blitz playoffs, with the help of a victory against R Praggnanandhaa.[72]
- August 29 – FIDE revokes the Grandmaster title of Kirill Shevchenko in their final decision regarding the cheating scandal.[73]
September
- September 1 – Pranav V won the inaugral Fujairah Global Championship scoring 7/9, with the big upsets of top seeds Nihal Sarin & Amin Tabatabaei.[74]
- September 8 – Sixteen year old Abhimanyu Mishra defeated the reigning World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju in the fifth round of FIDE Grand Swiss and became the youngest player in history to defeat a reigning World Champion.[75]
- September 15 – Anish Giri won the FIDE Grand Swiss with 8/11. He qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2026 along with the runner-up Matthias Blübaum.[76]
- September 15 – Vaishali Rameshbabu won the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss defending her previous title, and became the first player to win multiple Women's Grand Swiss events. She along with the runner-up Kateryna Lagno, qualified for the Women's Candidates Tournament 2026.[77]
October
- Oct 3 – Fabiano Caruana won the Grand Chess Tour 2025 after defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the Grand Finals by 15–13. Levon Aronian finished third after defeating R Praggnanandhaa in the third-place match by 20–8.[78]
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Events
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Perspective
Major tournaments
FIDE World Championship cycle events are marked in blue.
Opens
Rapid & Blitz events
Women's events
FIDE World Championship cycle events are marked in blue.
National events
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Deaths
- 5 January — Robert Hübner, four-time World Championship candidate[81]
- 2 February — Peter Enders, German grandmaster[82]
- 27 February — Boris Spassky, 10th World Chess Champion[83]
- 4 April — Friðrik Ólafsson, Icelandic grandmaster and President of FIDE (1978–1982)[84]
- 28 April — Petr Neuman, Czech grandmaster[85]
- 12 May — Vlastimil Hort, Czech-German grandmaster[86]
- 18 June — Tigran Nalbandian, Armenian grandmaster[87]
Notes
- The rapid portion of the tournament is a single round robin, while the blitz portion is a double round robin.
- Part of the 2025 Esports World Cup tournament series held in Riyadh. This tournament is part of the Champions Chess Tour 2025, which uses Chess.com and not a standard board.
- Not a national championship
References
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