NewzVille Sports Desk
India will host the FIDE World Cup this year. Scheduled for 30 October to 27 November, 2025, the tournament will feature the world’s best players battling for the coveted title and qualification spots in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament.
The FIDE World Cup 2025 will feature 206 players competing in a knockout format— the losing player in each round is eliminated.
Each round will be finished in maximum three days: two classical games on the first two days, followed by tie-breaks on the third day, if needed.
In the first round, the top 50 players will have the luxury of byes, while players seeded from 51 to 206 compete, with pairings based on the principle of the top half versus the reversed lower half.
The top three finishers of the 2025 World Cup will earn direct qualification for the 2026 Candidates Tournament, which determines the challenger for the World Chess Championship.
The announcement of the host city, will be released in due course.
Emil Sutovsky, CEO, FIDE expressed his excitement saying, “We are thrilled to bring the FIDE World Cup 2025 to India, a country with a deep-rooted passion and support for chess. Indian chess fans’ enthusiasm has always been remarkable, and we anticipate great interest in the event among local chess lovers, both on-site and online.”
India has become a dominant force in the chess world, thanks to five-time World Champion and FIDE Deputy President Viswanathan Anand, whose efforts and legacy have been instrumental in popularizing chess in the country.
Popularizing Chess, India’s young stars’ contribution is immense. The name include Gukesh Dommaraju, who became the youngest FIDE World Chess Champion at 18, Praggnanandhaa R, the runner-up of the 2023 World Cup, Arjun Erigaisi, currently ranked world number five, Koneru Humpy, D Harika, R Vaishali and the unending list.
