Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India will host the chess World Cup, scheduled for October 30 to November 27, the world body FIDE announced on July 22. It added that the announcement of the host city will be released in due course. 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 prestigious FIDE World Cup is coming to India this year! Scheduled for October 30 to November 27, 2025, the tournament will feature the world’s best players battling for the coveted title and qualification spots in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament. Further details, including the announcement of the host city, will be released in due course,” FIDE said in a statement.
India have also recently hosted major events, including the FIDE Chess Olympiad 2022, Tata Steel Chess India, the FIDE World Junior U20 Championships 2024 and the 5th leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix (April 2025). The FIDE World Cup 2025 will feature 206 players competing in a knockout format – a dynamic and unpredictable system where the losing player in each round is eliminated – for the coveted title and qualification spots in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament.
The event has used several formats over the years, but since 2021, it has followed a single-elimination format. Each round spans three days: two classical games on the first two days, followed by 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.
“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. To enhance the experience, FIDE is committed to organising numerous side events, featuring tournament participants and chess legends,” FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky said.
