Two days after winning the rapid chess title, Carlsen went on to win the world blitz championship. He finished just 0.5 points ahead of runner-up Daniil Dubov, but that was enough to secure his seventh title, after 2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022. "I'm relieved and exhausted," he said after his victory. "I felt adrenaline flowing through me all day. But the other players were also struggling, so no one was playing at their best."

In the final game, Dubov was 0.5 points behind Carlsen, and took the initiative to quickly tie with his compatriot Dmitry Andreikin. Seeing the draw at the next table, Carlsen also tied with Levon Aronian, because the red result was enough for him to win. There were many games where Dubov did not dare to risk winning, because there was a risk of losing a lot of prize money if he lost.

If Dubov had not been deducted 0.5 points for fixing the match with Ian Nepomniachtchi yesterday, he could have won the championship. Because then he would have been equal in points with Carlsen but with a better tiebreaker. However, in that case, Carlsen might have taken a riskier approach to get ahead of the 27-year-old.

Carlsen also fell one point off the top of the rankings, after losing the first game of the final day to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. However, he won six games in a row after that, to take sole possession of the top spot. The 33-year-old received $60,000, the same as his previous rapid chess prize. Dubov took home $50,000, Artemiev finished third with 15 points, earning $40,000, and Vachier-Lagrave finished fourth with $30,000.

Carlsen has won 17 world titles in chess, including five standard, five rapid and seven blitz. This is also the fourth time he has won both rapid and blitz in the same year, after 2014, 2019 and 2022.

The World Blitz Chess Championship took place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan from December 29 to December 30, with 21 rounds of Swiss-style scoring. Each player had three minutes to play, plus two seconds for each move. In the final games, the Russians Dubov and Vladislav Artemiev were chasing Carlsen closely. However, they did not take any chances in their bid for the championship.

This is the 16th edition of the World Blitz Chess Championship, with Carlsen winning five of the last six. The only other player to have won more than once is Alexander Grischuk, who won three titles in 2006, 2012 and 2015. Vietnam's number one player Le Quang Liem also won the championship in 2013, when Carlsen was absent. However, Quang Liem will not be participating in this year's World Championship.

Xuan Binh