• Source:JND
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FIDE Chess World Cup 2025: India will hosts the prestigious FIDE World Cup 2025 from October 30 to November 27, with the host city to be named in "due course", the sport's world body announced on Monday.

A total of 206 players will battle for the coveted title and qualification spots in the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament. Notably, India last became a host in 2002 in Hyderabad, where the five-time World Chess Champion Viswanathan Anand won the title.

The event will be held in a knockout format, where the losing participants will be eliminated.

"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," FIDE stated in an official statement.

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The first round will see the top 50 players receiving byes, while the seeded players from 51 to 206 have to compete with a pairing 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," FIDE said.

Among the top names expected to compete for the coveted title are reigning world champion D Gukesh, 2023 World Cup runner-up R Praggnanandhaa and world number five Arjun Erigaisi. Meanwhile, World number one Magnus Carlsen has also qualified to contest in the biennial event that he won in 2023.

India have a rich experience of hosting big international chess tournaments, as the country recently hosted 2022 Chess Olympiad, Tata Steel Chess India, the 2024 World Junior U20 Championships 2024 and the FIDE Women's Grand Prix in April this year.

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"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," FIDE CEO Emil Sutovsky said in a press release.