• Source:JND

World Blitz 2025: India's star grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi had put up a brilliant performance to beat defending champion Magnus Carlsen and grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov to become the joint leader as he had scored 9 points after 11 rounds of the FIDE World Blitz Championship in Doha. There were still two more rounds remaining as Carlsen, who was aiming to win his 9th title, could still bounce back after suffering a few setbacks.

The other players, apart from joint leaders Erigaisi and Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, are Daniil Dubov, American GM Fabiano Caruana, and China's Yu Yangyi on 8.5 points, whereas eight players, Carlsen, leading title contender GM Alireza Firouzja, and India's Sunilduth Narayanan, are lying at the sixth position after scoring eight points.

R Praggnanandhaa and defending classical world champion D Gukesh have scored 7.5 points, where 21 players finished at 14th position.

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About 13 rounds were held on day 1 of the 'Open' category, and with two rounds remaining, a lot could have happened.

Watch the video here:

After winning a bronze medal, the young Erigaisi, who is known for playing aggressively, had won eight matches, two ties, and had lost just one match, and that's why he is leading the points table.

He won the game against Carlsen in the ninth round as he had won a Black and then had beaten Uzbek GM Abdusattorov in the 10th round, and took a half-point lead.

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In 2025, Erigaisi defeated Carlsen across various formats, including Norway Chess (classical format), and now in blitz here.

But since the 11th round against Caruana ended in a tie, he had to split a point.

The 14th to 19th round will be held on Tuesday, where the two teams will reach the semis, and then the summit clash will be held.


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