Tokyo, 31 December, /AJMEDIA/
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave finished first in the World Blitz Chess Championship with 15/21 in the Swiss tournament, after defeating GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda in their third blitz playoff game. Duda finished in second and GM Alireza Firouzja finished in third, each with 15/21 as well. With the same controversial tiebreak system as the rapid event, Firouzja did not play in the playoff games due to tiebreaks.
17-year-old Kazakh IM Bibisara Assaubayeva continued a nearly unstoppable streak of wins to finish first with 14/17, having an entire round to spare. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk finished in second with 12.5/17 and GM Valentina Gunina finished in third with 12/17. IM Polina Shuvalova, who finished with 12 points, had the inferior tiebreak and did not place in third.
