Doha rapid titles showed two ways a chess championship can be decided

Magnus Carlsen won his sixth World Rapid title in Doha on December 28, 2025, scoring 10.5/13. Aleksandra Goryachkina took the women's title through a blitz playoff against Zhu Jiner. One competition had an outright points leader; the other needed a further contest. ^[1]

Carlsen secured the title with a last-round draw. Goryachkina, Zhu and Humpy Koneru finished level in the women's event, but tiebreaks sent only the first two to the playoff. Goryachkina won one game and drew the other. Zhu took silver and Koneru bronze; equal rapid points did not give all three a playoff place. ^[1]

The women's regulations make that selection mechanism explicit. The event used eleven Swiss-system rounds, with a win worth one point and a draw half a point. Ties were ordered first by Buchholz Cut 1, then Buchholz, followed by the average rapid rating of opponents with one result cut, direct encounter and drawing lots. The top two players in the resulting standings were the ones entitled to contest a first-place playoff. The table's score and its ordering therefore performed different jobs. ^[2]

The playoff also changed the clock. The rapid games allowed each player 15 minutes plus ten seconds added per move from the first move. The title match consisted of two games at three minutes plus two seconds per move, with colors reversed in the second game. Under the same regulations, rapid prize money was divided equally among players with the same score. Title selection and prize sharing were thus separate decisions, even when the rapid points were identical. ^[2]

FIDE had announced the broader entry and support arrangements in September. National champions could enter alongside players meeting rating thresholds; it also allowed a reasonable number of nominees outside those criteria. Travel and accommodation support depended on higher rating thresholds, with additional accommodation support for the previous year's medalists. These provisions show that eligibility to compete and support for attending were different questions. They do not measure which players were prevented from traveling or establish that every promised payment was made. The announced rating thresholds were 2550 for Open entry and 2250 for women's entry; travel and accommodation coverage began at higher thresholds of 2750 and 2500 respectively. A player could qualify to compete without qualifying for that support. ^[3]

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