The FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 is set to be held in Goa, India, from October 30 to November 27. This marks the return of the prestigious tournament to India after a 23-year gap. The event will bring together 206 of the world's best chess players from over 80 countries, all vying for a share of the $2 million prize fund and, more importantly, a spot in the 2026 Candidates Tournament. The Candidates Tournament determines the challenger for the World Chess Championship.

Schedule

The tournament will officially commence on October 31 with the opening ceremony. The first round is scheduled for November 1. Each round will span three days, consisting of two classical games and a tie-break, if necessary.

Here is the schedule: * Round 1: November 1-3 * Round 2: November 4-6 * Round 3: November 7-9 * Round 4: November 11-13 * Round 5: November 14-16 * Quarterfinals: November 17-19 * Semifinals: November 21-23 * Finals: November 24-26 * Departures: November 27

There will be rest days on November 10 and November 20. All rounds are scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM IST.

Format

The FIDE World Cup 2025 will follow an eight-round, head-to-head, two-game knockout format. The top 50 players will receive a bye into the second round. In the first round, players seeded from 51 to 206 will compete, with pairings based on the principle of the top half versus the reversed lower half. The time control for each game is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with a 30-second increment per move from move one. The losers of the two semi-finals will play a match for third place. The top three finishers will qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2026.

Indian Contenders

A record number of 24 Indian players will participate in this year's World Cup. The top seed of the tournament is India's own World Champion, D. Gukesh. Other notable Indian participants include Praggnanandhaa R (2023 World Cup runner-up), Arjun Erigaisi, Aravindh Chithambaram, Nihal Sarin, and many more. Divya Deshmukh, the current Women's World Cup winner, has also received a wild card and will be the only female participant from India.

Here is a list of the Indian players participating: * D. Gukesh * Praggnanandhaa R * Arjun Erigaisi * Aravindh Chithambaram * Nihal Sarin * Harikrishna Pentala * Raunak Sadhwani * Leon Luke Mendonca * Iniyan Pa * Pranav V * Raja Rithvik R * Narayanan SL * Pranesh M * Harshavardhan GB * Karthikeyan Murali * Idani Pouya * Karthik Venkataraman * Surya Shekhar Ganguly * Neelash Saha * Diptayan Ghosh * Aromyak Ghosh * Himal Gusain * Lalit Babu MR * Vidit Gujrathi

Prize Money

The total prize fund for the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 is $2 million. The winner will receive $120,000, while the runner-up will get $85,000. The 3rd and 4th placed players will receive $60,000 and $50,000 respectively.

Live Streaming

The FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 will be live-streamed on FIDE's YouTube channel, Chess.com, and Chessbase.