The 2025 European Rapid & Blitz Chess Championships took place from 27 November – 1 December in Pristina, Kosovo.
The event gathered nearly 400 players coming from 38 European federations, and commenced with the Rapid Championship which was played from 28-29 November in 11 rounds (swiss system).
GM Paulius Pultinevicius (LTU, 2566) emerged as the sole Winner of the European Rapid Chess Championship 2025 with the score of 10 points. Playing for gold in the final round, Pultinevicius defeated GM Vasyl Ivanchuk on time, in the intense direct encounter for the first place. He finished full point ahead of GM Levan Pantsulaia (GEO, 2518) and GM Daniel Dardha (BEL, 2583) who tied for the second place scoring 9 points each. Having better tiebreak criteria, Levan Pantsulaia won silver and Daniel Dardha claimed bronze medal.
WGM Beloslava Krasteva (BUL, 2153) was the best-rated woman player in the event with the score of 7 points, WFM Kler Caku (ALB, 2095) was second with the same score but lower tiebreaks, and FM Johanna Paasikangas (FIN, 2064) finished third, ahead of WFM Elise Tomasi (FRA, 2132) who had the same score of 6.5 points but lower tiebreak criteria.
GM Jorden Van Foreest (NED, 2646) emerged as the sole Winner of the European Blitz Chess Championship 2025 with the score of 11/13 points. He scored important win in the final round against the top-seeded GM Baadur Jobava (GEO, 2649), to win the event and defend the title. Van Foreest finished half a point ahead of GM Eduardo Bonelli Iturrizaga (ESP, 2630) and GM Vojtech Plat (CZE, 2562) who scored 10.5 points each. Having better tiebreaks, Eduardo Bonelli Iturrizaga claimed silver and Vojtech Plat won bronze medal.
The best-ranked woman player in the event was FM Johanna Paasikangas (FIN, 2013) with the score of 8 points and better tiebreaks than WFM Evangelia Siskou (GRE, 1866). WFM Kata Karacsonyi (HUN, 2070) was third with the score of 7.5 points.
The Closing ceremony of the event took place at the Emerald hotel, with the attendance of the President of the Kosovo Chess Federation Mr. Armend Budima and ECU Vice President Mr. Alojzije Jankovic. The Chief Arbiter of the event Mr. Panagiotis Nikolopoulos read the results and announced the Winners.
Final rankings can be found here.
Detailed information about the event can be found on the Official website.