Timeline
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Magnus Carlsen | 2831 | 0 |
| 2 | 2 |  Fabiano Caruana | 2803 | -2 |
| 3 | 3 | Hikaru Nakamura | 2802 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 |  Arjun Erigaisi | 2801 | 0 |
| 5 | 5 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 2777 | -6 |
| 6 | 6 |  Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 2768 | -9 |
| 7 | 7 |  Alireza Firouzja | 2763 | 0 |
| 8 | 8 |  Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2754 | -1 |
| 9 | 9 |  Wei Yi | 2751 | -2 |
| 10 | 10 | Viswanathan Anand | 2750 | 0 |
January
- Jan 4 – World number one Magnus Carlsen married Ella Victoria Malone in a ceremony in Oslo. [1]
- Jan 8 – Vladimir Fedoseev won the Freestyle Chess play-in to qualify for the first event of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour. [2]
- Jan 11 – 9-year-old Roman Shogdzhiev became the youngest player to score an International Master norm. [3]
- Jan 11 – Magnus Carlsen made his debut for FC St. Pauli in the Chess Bundesliga, where he played for the first time since 2008, scoring 1½/2. [4] [5]
- Jan 17 – The President of India, Droupadi Murmu conferred the Khel Ratna Award on World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju. [6]
- Jan 24 – The FIDE Council decides to allow the participation of teams consisting of neutral athletes, particularly Russian and Belarusian athletes, in youth competitions and events for players with disabilities. [7]
- Jan 27 – In a decision by the FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission, Andrejs Strebkovs' ban from all FIDE-rated events was extended to 12 years, and his FIDE title of International Master was revoked. [8] [9]
| Rank | Prev | Player | Rating | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Magnus Carlsen | 2833 | +2 |
| 2 | 2 | Fabiano Caruana | 2803 | 0 |
| 3 | 3 | Hikaru Nakamura | 2802 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | Arjun Erigaisi | 2801 | 0 |
| 5 | 5 | Gukesh Dommaraju | 2777 | 0 |
| 6 | 6 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 2766 | -2 |
| 7 | 7 | Alireza Firouzja | 2760 | -3 |
| 8 | 9 | Wei Yi | 2755 | +4 |
| 9 | 8 | Ian Nepomniachtchi | 2754 | 0 |
| 10 | 10 | Viswanathan Anand | 2750 | 0 |
February
- Feb 2 – R Praggnanandhaa defeated Gukesh Dommaraju 2–1 in a blitz playoff to win the Tata Steel Masters, after both players finished on 8½/13. Gukesh lost his first game as world champion in the final round against Arjun Erigaisi. Thai Dai Van Nguyen won the Challengers and qualified for the 2026 Masters. [10] [11]
- Feb 10 – FIDE announced that the Women's World Chess Championship 2025 between Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi would take place in Shanghai and Chongqing from April 1 to 23. [12]
