FIDE World Chess Cup 2025 in India
FIDE World Chess Cup 2025 is going to take place October 20 – November 27 in India. It will feature 208 players in 8 knockout rounds of classical games. The FIDE World Cup 2025 will award three spots to the Candidates 2026.
Format
The FIDE World Chess Cup has used several formats over the years, but since 2021, it has followed a single-elimination knockout format. Each round spans three days: two classical games (90 min for the first forty moves + 30 mins for the rest of the game and 30 sec increment from move 1) on the first two days, followed by rapid and blitz tie-breaks on the third day, if necessary. In the first round, the top 50 players receive byes, while players seeded from 51 to 206 compete, with pairings based on the principle of the top half versus the reversed lower half.
FIDE World Chess Cup participants
Players can qualify for the World Chess Cup 2025 through various avenues, including:
- Reigning World Champion as of June 1, 2025
- Top four finishers from the FIDE World Cup 2023
- Reigning Women’s World Champion as of June 1, 2025
- 2024 World Junior Champion U-20
Spots | Africa | Americas | Asia | Europe |
---|---|---|---|---|
Granted | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
Top 8 juniors | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
Top 60 players | 0 | 9 | 26 | 25 |
Total | 3 | 12 | 35 | 30 |
- Qualifiers from Continental events, accounting for 80 spots
- The highest-rated players in the June 2025 FIDE standard rating list, 13 players, who have not qualified by any of the above listed path
- Top 100 national federations from the 2024 Chess Olympiad open section, each receiving one spot
- 4 nominees of the FIDE President
- 2 nominees of the Organiser
FIDE: “India is a chess powerhouse”
This year’s World Cup being held in India is particularly exciting. India has become a dominant force in the chess world, thanks in part to five-time World Champion and FIDE Deputy President Viswanathan Anand, whose efforts and legacy have been instrumental in popularizing chess in the country.
India’s young stars include Gukesh Dommaraju, who became the youngest FIDE World Chess Champion at 18, Praggnanandhaa R, the runner-up of the 2023 World Cup, and Arjun Erigaisi, currently ranked world number five.
In 2024, both the Indian Open and Women’s teams claimed their first-ever gold medals at the Chess Olympiad—a historic achievement further highlighted by four individual gold medals won by Gukesh, Erigaisi, Deshmukh, and Agrawal. Additionally, Koneru Humpy secured gold at the 2024 FIDE Women’s Rapid Championship, and Vaishali Rameshbabu earned bronze at the 2024 FIDE Women’s Blitz Championship.