The World Rapid & Blitz Championships crown four speed-chess world champions every December — open and women’s, rapid and blitz. Below is the complete list of champions by year for the modern annual era (2012–2025), followed by the records worth bragging about. Spoiler: one name shows up a lot. (Reigning open champion in both disciplines as of July 2026: Magnus Carlsen.)
World Rapid Champions by year
| Year | Host | Open champion | Women’s champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Astana, Kazakhstan | Sergey Karjakin | Antoaneta Stefanova |
| 2013 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | not held |
| 2014 | Dubai, UAE | Magnus Carlsen | Kateryna Lagno |
| 2015 | Berlin, Germany | Magnus Carlsen | not held |
| 2016 | Doha, Qatar | Vassily Ivanchuk | Anna Muzychuk |
| 2017 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Viswanathan Anand | Ju Wenjun |
| 2018 | Saint Petersburg, Russia | Daniil Dubov | Ju Wenjun |
| 2019 | Moscow, Russia | Magnus Carlsen | Humpy Koneru |
| 2020 | not held (COVID-19) | — | — |
| 2021 | Warsaw, Poland | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Alexandra Kosteniuk |
| 2022 | Almaty, Kazakhstan | Magnus Carlsen | Tan Zhongyi |
| 2023 | Samarkand, Uzbekistan | Magnus Carlsen | Anastasia Bodnaruk |
| 2024 | New York, USA | Volodar Murzin | Humpy Koneru |
| 2025 | Doha, Qatar | Magnus Carlsen | Aleksandra Goryachkina |
In 2012 the women’s rapid was held separately in Batumi, Georgia. The women’s championship isn’t staged in every edition — it was not held in 2013 or 2015.
World Blitz Champions by year
| Year | Host | Open champion | Women’s champion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Astana, Kazakhstan | Alexander Grischuk | Valentina Gunina |
| 2013 | Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia | Lê Quang Liêm | not held |
| 2014 | Dubai, UAE | Magnus Carlsen | Anna Muzychuk |
| 2015 | Berlin, Germany | Alexander Grischuk | not held |
| 2016 | Doha, Qatar | Sergey Karjakin | Anna Muzychuk |
| 2017 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Magnus Carlsen | Nana Dzagnidze |
| 2018 | Saint Petersburg, Russia | Magnus Carlsen | Kateryna Lagno |
| 2019 | Moscow, Russia | Magnus Carlsen | Kateryna Lagno |
| 2020 | not held (COVID-19) | — | — |
| 2021 | Warsaw, Poland | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | Bibisara Assaubayeva |
| 2022 | Almaty, Kazakhstan | Magnus Carlsen | Bibisara Assaubayeva |
| 2023 | Samarkand, Uzbekistan | Magnus Carlsen | Valentina Gunina |
| 2024 | New York, USA | Carlsen & Nepomniachtchi (shared) | Ju Wenjun |
| 2025 | Doha, Qatar | Magnus Carlsen | Bibisara Assaubayeva |
As with the rapid, the women’s blitz was not held in 2013 or 2015, and the whole event paused in 2020 for COVID-19.
Records & milestones
- Most rapid + blitz titles — Magnus Carlsen, and it’s not close. He owns six World Rapid (2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025) and nine World Blitz (2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024-shared, 2025) open titles — fifteen speed-chess world crowns in all.
- The Carlsen double. He’s swept both the Rapid and Blitz in the same edition multiple times, including Dubai 2014, Moscow 2019, and Almaty 2022.
- First-ever shared world blitz title. In New York 2024, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi agreed to share the open blitz title after their playoff stayed level; FIDE allowed it, making them the event’s first co-champions (Nepo’s first blitz title, Carlsen’s eighth).
- Most women’s blitz titles — Bibisara Assaubayeva. She’s won it three times (2021, 2022, 2025), the most of anyone; Valentina Gunina, Anna Muzychuk, and Kateryna Lagno each have two.
- Double women’s rapid champions. Ju Wenjun (2017, 2018) and Humpy Koneru (2019, 2024) have each won the Women’s World Rapid twice.
- Youthful upsets. Nodirbek Abdusattorov won World Rapid 2021 at 17, and 18-year-old Volodar Murzin stunned a stacked field to take World Rapid 2024.
Notable results
- 2014 (Dubai): Carlsen, then also the classical World Champion, added the Rapid and Blitz crowns in the same week — a rare triple-format dominance.
- 2017 (Riyadh): Viswanathan Anand won the World Rapid at 48 years old, proving class is permanent even when the clock is cruel.
- 2024 (New York): the wild one — Murzin’s surprise Rapid win, Humpy Koneru’s second Women’s Rapid title, the “jeansgate” dress-code saga around Carlsen, and the shared Carlsen–Nepomniachtchi blitz gold. Ju Wenjun took the Women’s Blitz.
- 2025 (Doha): Carlsen’s rapid–blitz double (10½/13 in the rapid; a 2½–1½ blitz final over Nodirbek Abdusattorov), plus Aleksandra Goryachkina’s Women’s Rapid and Assaubayeva’s third Women’s Blitz.
Frequently asked questions
Who has won the most World Blitz Championships? Magnus Carlsen, with nine open titles (as of July 2026). In the women’s event, Bibisara Assaubayeva leads with three.
Who has won the most World Rapid Championships? Magnus Carlsen again, with six open rapid titles.
Did two players really share the World Blitz title? Yes. At the 2024 World Blitz in New York, Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi agreed to share the open gold after their tiebreak stayed deadlocked, and FIDE permitted it — a first in the event’s history.
Who are the reigning champions? Rapid: Magnus Carlsen (open) and Aleksandra Goryachkina (women). Blitz: Magnus Carlsen (open) and Bibisara Assaubayeva (women) — all from Doha, December 2025.
Explore more
Read how the format works and follow the next edition on the World Rapid & Blitz hub · Compare it with the classical World Chess Championship · Browse full profiles of the players who move fastest.
Researched and fact-checked by the Chess Lab Academy Editorial Team · Verified against FIDE, Wikipedia, and Chess.com · Champions and records current as of July 2026 · Last verified 2026-07-11 · How we verify content.