Overview
- Faustino Oro, 12, finished day one of the Rapid with 2 points from five rounds after facing four top‑20 rapid players: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Leinier Domínguez, Wesley So and Levon Aronian.
- Candela Belén Francisco Guecamburu, 19, has 1.5/4 in the Women’s Rapid, highlighted by a win over Eline Roebers and a draw with Irina Krush before losses to Nurgyul Salimova and Vantika Agrawal.
- The FIDE World Rapid & Blitz Championship is being played at Qatar University in Doha, with Rapid running Dec 26–28 and Blitz set for Dec 29–30.
- Event formats and stakes include 13 Open and 11 Women’s Rapid rounds, 19 Open and 15 Women’s Blitz rounds, and prize funds of €350,000 for the Open and €155,000 for the Women’s events.
- Results here do not count toward Grandmaster norms; Oro already holds two norms with a 2500+ Elo and has until March 7 to earn a third via classical time controls.