Bibisara Assaubayeva ends season-long Candidates chase

Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan, who won her third Women’s World Blitz chess title on Tuesday, is not coy to admit that her main aim was not to win the championship. The 21-year-old women’s world No. 11 told a press conference in Doha that qualifying for the Women’s Candidates tournament, scheduled in Cyprus, was her top priority.

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She also said she was relieved to have made it to the eight-player double round-robin event for the first time. The winner will challenge China’s Ju Wenjun for the Women’s World Championship title. On her Blitz title and the New Year plans, Bibisara said, “I’ll take a couple of days off but I’ve to prepare for the Candidates. There’s a lot of work to do.”




Though qualifying for the Candidates was her top priority, she accepted a wild card for the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Tour over the Women’s World Cup in Georgia, though the latter offered three places for the Candidates. Bibisara also played the Grenke Freestyle Swiss League event in April. To win the Candidates spot via FIDE Circuit points, Bibisara had to finish the race ahead of her close rival Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine. Though both of them reached the Blitz title clash, Bibisara stole a march.

The No. 7 seed Bibisara, thanks to six successive wins, was the clear leader in the Swiss League phase of World Blitz with two rounds to go. However, a defeat in the 14th round to Valentina Gunina of Russia made the last round quite tense.

But Bibisara managed a draw against Antoaneta Stefanova and made it to the last four.

Abdusattorov fails to get Blitz title consolation

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa’s joint first-place finish in the open section of the London Chess Classic helped him lock up the 2025 FIDE Circuit and the final berth in the 2026 Open Candidates Tournament, a result that left Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov out of contention via that route. Abdusattorov then finished runnerup at the World Blitz Championship in Doha, losing the final 2.5-1.5 to Magnus Carlsen and taking home 50,000 euros as second prize.